1996 and 1997 was a good year

well 1996 and 1997 was the year i started an affair with this thing called beer. we're still going strong even though we've been through a lot of things and have changed tremendously. but i digress, i also fondly remember these two years for producing some of my most favorite collections of all time.


(l-r) comme des garcon f/w '97, calvin klein s/s '96, versace f/w '97, helmut lang f/w '96

comme des garcons- okay ignore the grudge make-up and witness the paradigm of rei kawakubo. asides from the obvious manipulations of western archetypes that she plays around with season after season, here she also manipulates the female dimension. adding padding and sculpting fabrics to exaggerate proportions. an idea she proposed along with vivienne westwood and was recently seen in dolce and gabbana's latest collection.

calvin klein- one of the purest example of calvin klein's mastery of minimalism. here klein was at the peak of his game. pushing the bounderies of minimalism beyond the neutral colour pallete. this is color use and color blocking in a thoroughly modern, rothko like sense with a little '60s mod touches with the square toed shoes and hipster pants. probably one of the best summer collections i've ever seen.

versace- okay i know i've been going on and on with the versace references coming out right now but i mean honestly, who could forget this collection. let's face it, gianni has been guilty with sending out some clothes that were so elborately decorated it verged on being full on tacky, but with this collection he schooled us that he also has the control to send out some of the best party dresses to ever come out of milan. and those chain link dresses, if i was into girls, this collection is a thousand times better than a six year subscription to maxim magazine.

helmut lang- this was helmut's first collection he showed in new york. and him and that city was a marriage like claire and cliff huxtable. they were perfect for each other. i mean this is gotham city, and helmut is like batman's costume designer. there's always been this urban warrior element to helmut's clothes. with their linear silhouettes and futuristic, military vibe, it obviously became the uniform for urban soldiers. and i'm gonna let you in on a little secret, the first time i went to holt renfrew many many years ago, his section was the first place i went to and i saved up all my wal-mart paycheques to buy helmut lang jeans, and when i finally saved enough i rushed to grab them but my size was gone. its been one of my top three fashion regrets of all time. i am so lame.


(l-r) gucci f/w '97, alexander mcqueen s/s'97, dior haute couture s/s '97, prada s/s '96

gucci- okay i hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate tom ford because i find him so insanely arrogant and conceited but i fucking love, love, love, love, love, love this collection. i mean everything about this collection was fucking brilliant. from the golden eye make-up, those velvet pant suits, the military elements and those white jersey dresses with gold buckles...arghhhh....its too much. and also, all my favorite models were present at this collection. oh guinevere van seenus...where are you????

alexander mcqueen- this is the collection that propelled mcqueen to the upper echelons of the fashion world. this was the collection that started the magnificent sense of theatre that is consistent to all of his shows. i remember when i used to tape every episode of fashion file, fashion television, and style with elsa klench and i would watch this collection over and over and over again. this is the first time i finally got mcqueen's romantic vision. however scary and twisted some of it can be, there's always that underlying sense of beauty because you can see how much of it he puts into his work. its almost like his passion is so heart wrenching that it pulls you in and it holds you, even after ten years.

christian dior haute couture- john galliano has been guilty of givng the world more than its share of fashion moments, but his first collection for house of dior, positively shook the world. celebrating monsieur dior's 50th anniversary of the infamous "new look", john lived up and exceeded anyones expectation with his first collection, with the added pressure that it was also a couture collection. here john showed everyone his mastery for romantic ideas, multi-cultural influences, and a high sense of drama. the dress i posted is my favorite dress of all time. i am absolutely in love with that dress and i've said this to my friends, when i have enough money and i finally buy my own place, i am not gonna have any furniture besides a bed and a mannequin at the middle of my house wearing that dress. and i'm fucking serious.

prada- in my opinion, this collection is the most influential collection to have come out in the last decade. the press named this collection "geek chic", but it was much more than that. it challenged the idea of what is beautiful because she intentionally showed patterns, colours, and cuts that nobody after the 70s thought was beautiful. this collection was shown at a time when even minimalism was pretty and clean, and at the other end was versace's and gucci's ultra glam, ultra sexy look and it totally changed the direction of fashion. one has to wonder, without this collection, where would marc jacobs, chloe, or marni be? companies that have made a profit out of making best sellers out of whimsical, off beat pieces. makes you wonder how she's gonna change the way we dress again. oh wait she already has, like at least 3 times already after this collection.


photo: firstview.com

better than celebrities

(left to right; top to bottom)

lara stone - i am like obsessed with this girl's bone structure. she's got this weird overbite and gap toothed smile and a slightly butch lesbian-esqe thing about her face. but what can i say, i love lesbians. and her editorial on the new w magazine is fucking bananas.

daiane conterato - ever since her debut at prada's fall/winter 06 show, this young brazillian has become one of my favorites. she's got that weird, gangly thing about her. kinda like the same thing that first endeared me to stella tenant. there this aloofness and distance that comes off of her. but not in a snotty naomi kinda way. but a "i'm only 16 and i got plucked from my little village in brazil and i can't believe i'm here" kinda way. its cute.

kim noorda - this girl has the sweetest, sweetest voice. at first i wasn't too keen on her. but i was always intrigued by her. well i was just liked how she swings her arms when she's walking down the runway. but when i saw her being interviewed and she was so shy and she had the most angelic voice, she was so cute i just wanted to punch her in the face. out of love of course.

catherine mc neil - the valedectorian of the recent fall/winter collections. this girl came out of nowhere and basically showed up on all the important shows in milan and paris. but jesus christ, look at that face. she looks like a mucha painting. she looks like one of those girls that would hurt too much to look at because in your mind you're thinking "her pores are perfect, mine are probably as big as a dinner plate".

suvi koponen - following the footsteps of daria, gemma, and sasha, suvi was one of the lucky girls plucked from obscurity by ms. prada herself and bestowed the all important role of opening a prada show. and she didn't disappoint afterwards. she's got that strong, scandinavian face. but not your typical blonde scandinavian bombshell, but those brooding, intellectual ones who looks like they read jung backstage while their getting their make-up done.

coco rocha - there's always a canadian girl the fashion world falls in love with. of course there was linda and yasmeen, then came shalom, followed by daria and stam, and now its coco. and after riverdancing it down the gaultier show a few month's back, i'm pretty sure more hearts were warmed to her. at first her overbite kinda irked me, because she seemed like she was pouting all the time, but after her italian vogue editorial i too succumbed to the overbite. oh and apparently anna wintour also succumbed, she's on the new vogue cover heralding "the world's new supermodels".

agyness dyne - she first caught my attention last year with her joan of arc-esque haircut. but then i start seeing more and more of her and she deserves the best dressed award outta all the models here. i think the reason for her success is that she, alongside irina, crystalizes fashion's current obsession for that young, rock and roll, mishmash of cultures and influences look. not only is she a model she's also a musician and fast becoming london's new "it" girl. i mean if henry holland makes a t-shirt out of you, you're instantly an underground celebrity.

freja beha - the great dane of the modelling world who still has the most first exits for the past year. freja is one of those girls that i really can't pinpoint why i like her so much. i mean she doesn't walk very well, and her forehead is kinda big, but then again so is mine, so maybe thats why i relate to her. anyways, what i do like about her a lot is....i really really don't know what it is. maybe thats why she's so succesfull. she just has "it". whatever that may be. good on her.

irina lazareanu - this is the girl who booked the most shows in the history of modelling. she did a staggering amount of shows in her first full collections and she was seen on every major runway from new york to paris. irina's appeal is her authenticity. she doesn't fake it. with fashions current fascination with everything now and young, irina actually lives that life. you can't be more current than co-writing with the infamous pete doherty on a song whose chorus was sung by none other than kate moss. its her life outside of fashion, her passion for music for instance, that becomes the fire the fashion moths gets drawn too. oh and those bangs...can't forget those bangs which has been copied by every downtown girl i've seen.

sasha pivovarova - my most favorite editorial model right now. okay when i see pictures of her on style.com at shows i'm like "girl...you need to put some cucumber on your eye before you go to bed". but god bless the power of photoshop and good lighting because these girl takes the most amazing pictures. i have never seen an editorial with her that i was disappointed or just blasse. perfect example is her editorial for italian vogue with meisel for december '05, i must've look like a rabid dog drooling when i first saw it. oh and she was an art history student...she's my homegirl yo.


but of course none of these girls can hold a candle close to kate moss.



photo: style.com

sweet adolescence

if this kid can be this fucking dandy at twelve years old, i give up. there is no use for me trying to look good when teens in their puberty are stepping up their game by this much. no wonder those french guys get laid so much. they start looking pimped out earlier.



photo: laperolog.com