Stephane Rolland Showcase @ Women’s Fashion Week 2011 Haute Couture Week

 

 

Stephane Rolland is a Couturier who understands world culture as he spent his childhood in Southern France, Argentina , Paraguay and the West Indies.He was born into a family of artists,painters,sculptors,photographers and architects but definitely the first Fashion Designer.

He later went on to study Fashion in Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. At age 20, he started working in Balenciaga and was promoted to the position of Creative Director of Men’s Wear and International licenses which he stayed at until  the age of 24 when he started his own Pret- a Porter company. 6 years later,Jean Louis Scherrer appointed Stephane Rolland to become the artistic manager of his Haute Couture Fashion House which Rolland occupied for the next 10 years. Rolland has since opened his own couture house in 2007 and was even invited to exhibit his works in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2010.

Stephane Rolland is also an award winning costume designer, winning the prestigious Moliere Awards and becoming an official partner for the Cannes Film Festival.

Rolland is also someone who believes in contrast likes the relationship between the ying and yang. The Masculine is balanced by a touch of the Feminine ……. striking the right balance. Some of his muses includes Cate Balnchett, Maria Felix, Martha Graham, Carmen Dell’Orefice ,Helena Rubinstein and Sheikha Mozah of Qatar.

His Fall/Winter collection for 2011 is a tribute to Asia….. Why ? Why not let’s leave them to you to decide and decipher ……..

More of Stephane Rolland’s work can be seen on his website at www.stephanerolland.com/

 

Anne Valerie Hash Showcase @ Women’s Fashion Week 2011

Passionate about Fashion since she was a child, Anne Valerie Hash knew she wanted to make it a career from the start. in 1991, she began schooling in Duperee Art School before receiving a Arts Scholarships from the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisenne . She has since worked for Chloe, Nina Ricci and Chanel.in 1995, she started her own bridal business and 5 years later became partners with Phillippe Elkoubi launching a collection of hand made preta porter collection inspired by 14 year old Parisian Lou Liza Lesage in 2001.

Citing her influences as Azzedine Alaia , Yohji Yamaoto, Martin Margiela, Albert Elbaz,Phoebe Philo and Madame Gres.  She seeks to gain happiness through her designs. Inspiration according to Anne Valerie Hash can come from anything around her….be it a book , a song , a trip or a leaf on a tree. Anne Valerie Hash sees Haute Couture as a form of spirit of fashion and not just about sewing and embroidery . It’s about the time and effort spent on the multiple fittings and handwork ….the serveral hundred hours taken to create the perfect dress.

In the tenth year since her becoming a grand couturier, Anne Valerie Hash continues to wow the fashion elite with her chic collections that eludes feminine charm and soft drapery along with masculine tailoring.

She has even postponed her holidays to grace Singapore with her presence for Women’s Fashion Week 2011. Making it extra special for her fans to be able to see their favourite female couturier in the flesh.

You can view more of her wonderful creations at http://www.a-v-h.com/en/

Alexis Mabille Showcase @ Women’s Fashion Week 2011 Haute Couture Week

Alexis Mabille is a couturier who knew what he wanted at a very young age of eight and worked towards it step by step. Born in Lyon, the young Frenchman has a profound of museums and theatres , creating party and theatre costumes growing up. Upon graduation from Paris’ Chambre syndicale de la Houte Couture in 1997, he undertook apprenticeships at Ungaro and Nina Ricci

He spent nine years in Christian Dior under John Galliano as well as the Dior Homme line under Hedi Slimane . Crediting family and friends as well as The Story of Charles Frederick Worth with the Empress Eugenie and Pauline Von Metternich as inspiration, Alexis has rosed to prominence as part of Fashion’s elite. In 2005, Alexis Mabille started his own line under his name and Treizeor – in which he singlehandedly made bow-ties popular again.

Counting Dita Von Teese , Marie Agnes Gilot as friends who have brought about a more feminine charm to his work, Alexis Mabille who prides himself in reinventing himself every season.

More of his work can be seen here at his own website: http://www.alexismabille.com

Dominique Sirop Collection @ Women’s Fashion Week 2011

Dominique Sirop can be said to be born into the Fashion Industry. At age 7, he was already intend to be a couturier after seeing his mother work as a mannequin in the House of Panquin. At age 17, Sirop was already an apprentice at Yves Saint Laurent before being hired as an assistant designer by Mr Hubert de Givenchy. One of his clients at that time was Audrey Hepburn of Breakfast at Tiffany’s Fame. He was also a designer for Hanane Mori. In 1995, Sirop was said to be the prefered choice of Hubert De Givenchy to take over as Head Designer of the Givenchy brand but the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy Conglomerate prefered someone with more mass appeal and went with John Galliano instead.

The Dominique Sirop woman is someone of character, free and a decision maker and not under the influence of brands or others. Sirop is a very down to earth person who does not believe Haute Couture is only for the elite and whose style is a reflection of current events and everyday life. His outfits are often languid and elegant, making women swoon over the creations of this master.

in 1996, Dominique Sirop started his own couture house and within a year, he was admitted into the prestigous Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisienne , gaining him the title of Grand Couturier . His work is showcased at 6 major Fashion Fest: Paris, Milan, Tokyo, London, Los Angeles and New York. His Clientale includes Queen Rania of Jordan, Queen Sonja of Norway, Joan Collins, Judith Godreche, Nan Kempner, Marie Therese Perrin and Helene David Weill.

His works can be viewed on his website at : www.dominiquesirop.com/

Christophe Josse Showcase @ Women’s Fashion Week 2011 Haute Couture Week

 

Christophe Josse studied art history for three years in Paris, followed by one year in stylisme then following an internship at Louis Féraud fashion house where he started working with Torrente.

Slightly tinted with classical historical references, his creations are soft, vaporous and romantic. The designer is well known for his sublime wedding dresses, which are often translucent, playfully exposing while concealing the body. Josse’s cuts express femininity in its most innocent and unveiled nature. The defining characteristics according to Christophe himself is a desire for exaggerated femininity, something very light, the act of composing a slender, somewhat fragile and very subtle silhouette.

His Spring/Summer 2010 collection was particularly wearable as he sort to create a Haute Couture collection that is wearable .His clientale includes a wide range of French clients, lawyers, bankers, business women but also have more “exotic” loyal customers mainly from the Gulf countries – Saudi princesses fancy evening dresses.

Christophe Josse’s works can be viewed at http://www.christophejosse.com/

Eymeric Francois Showcase at Women’s Fashion Week Haute Couture 2011

The charismatic French Couturier first got noticed after completing his Fashion Studies course in 1999 and participating in a Contest for Young French Designers in Dinard , Bretagne, France. During the competition in April 2000, a prize was created for him by LVMH’s Jean Jacques Picard in a competition where there was no Couture Prize. Eymeric Francois have also worked for design house like Thierry Mugler and Christian Lacroix, picking up valuable experience and skills along the way.

Viewing his models as his muse, the Frenchman often listens to Metal or Hard-Rock Music while he works, which does explain the explosive nature of his work. His couture style is not only elegant, Sensual with a tinge of Fetishism.
Gowns by Eymeric also tends to blow your mind as the designer seeks to make every woman a heroine and legend, inspired by mythical characters and legends, and creating breathtakingly ethereal outfits from the most unexpected materials. The models strutted the runway to goth-metal music that seem to fit the collection well and set an adventurous and dreamy , but yet edgy pace for his showcase in Women’s Fashion Week 2011 in Singapore. The friendly yet down to Earth designer is one who appreciates his clients, especially the first ones as they are the first to recognize his talents and believe in him.

View more of his collections @ www.eymericfrancois.org/

Gustavo Lins Collection @ Women’s Fashion Week Haute Couture Showcase 2011 Singapore

 

Gustavo Lins initially studied to be an architect in his native Brazil. He would be designing dwellings today if his professor hadn’t asked him to reconsider which materials he’d rather be working with – glass and steel or linen and silk?

Lins’ Fall/Winter collection of leather-piped wool shirts and jackets, paper-thin leather tunics, clean-lined drap de laine wool coats, and draped wool jersey dresses is his eighth. Roughly half of his 65-piece collection is destined for men, an “efficient” and “systematic” wardrobe of coat/jacket/shirt/knitwear/trousers like a uniform that he designs with himself and his needs in mind. Lins’ womenswear shares a similar slim, straight-shouldered silhouette but also has an almost medieval allure this season. “The collection is a blend of armure souple and drapé,” Lins says.

Fashioned from the most exclusive fabrics – cashmere, silk jersey, cool wool, wool crepe and softest lambskin – Gustavo Lins’ clothes are quietly luxurious. As a fledgling designer, he apprenticed with John Galliano, Lecoanet Hemant and Jean-Paul Gaultier Couture, and worked alongside a woman who used to be Cristobal Balenciaga’s chef d’atélier. These were experiences that taught Lins the rigors of cut, the importance of fit, and instilled in him a love of fine fabrics. In the early years of his label, he moonlighted as a modéliste for other big name brands, and his preoccupation with taking the two-dimensional design of a garment and making it a three-dimensional reality still informs his work. Lins is obsessed with the way clothes hang on a body, and fits all his pieces on a mannequin. His garments, many of them reversible and as beautiful on the inside as on the outside, are displayed on three-dimensional torsos, “so that people can see the garment’s inside as well as its outside.”

The men and women who wear Lins’ clothes are a select bande d’initiés . They recognize each other by the topstitching that articulates the “joints” of their jackets and trousers; the slim leather piping finishing the edges of a jacket lapel or detailing the drape of a dress collar. Another giveaway would be the Gustavo Lins label, but you’d have to really look for it. His name is there, certes, but completely hidden, under an architect’s triangle of smooth leather stitched at the back of the neck.

Gustavo Lins Collection can be viewed at his website @ http://www.gustavolins.com

Maxime Simoens Haute Couture Collection @ WFW Singapore 2011

  

 

The 26 year old Frenchman has emerged as the must watch fashion designer in only his second season showing in Paris’s Haute Couture Calender. Celebrities like Beyonce and Dita Von Teese are all fans of his work. Maxime Simoens who was deeply influenced by cinema and theatre growing up switched to Fashion Design only at the age of 17. Citing Marilyn Monroe and Louise Brooks and the 1920s as his favourite era, the young designer also draws on musicians like Mozart, Aphex Twin, Beth Ditto and The Gossip or Vanessa Paradis as some of his other influences.

Using a Barcode as a logo, Maxime Simoens seeks to combine an edgy practical approach to luxury with his primary concern being to deliver quality at a reasonable price. Maxime Simonen’s 2011 Autumn / Winter Collection  work was inspired by Murnau’s Nosferatu which manifests itself in his neo-gothic aesthetics and the expressionist style. The shapes are highlighted against darker backgrounds and the Art Deco like Geometry seems to be another key aspect in this collection. Following like a narrative from piece to piece, the collection seems to move from the monochrome to a more romantic flow with capes that flow like the rainbow reflecting off a river on a hot sunny day.

Maxime Simoens website can be viewed here at : www.maximesimoens.com

Frederick Lee Collection @ Women’s Fashion Week Haute Couture Showcase

Frederick Lee’s flamboyant and theatrical’s style has made him one of the most sought after in Singapore. His innovative and challenging personality has him pushing the envelope and pushing the boundaries in cut , fabric and form.

Frederick Lee is a multiple award winning designer and was named ‘Designer Of The Year’ at the Singapore fashion Awards 2004, ;Best Costumes Designer at the 4th  and 10th Straits Times Life! theatre awards;. Cleo Fashion Awards Designer of the Year 2006, nominated Asian Top Fashion Designer 2009 by Fashion Asia China  and his successful couture boutique – Frederick Bridal was named “The Best of Singapore’  3 years consecutively since 2006 by the Singapore Taltler.He was also the director of costumes for National Day Parade 2008/ 2009 and the Youth Olympic Games 2010.

For WFW 2011, Frederick created a collection from Ethnic and Tribal influences of Northern India, Kenya and Burma. This montage of Oriental, Asian and African styles with a modern twist has made this collection an eye turner.

Frederick’s site is available at : http://www.frederickbridal.com

Dita Von Teese @ Zirca for The Cointreauversial Show

Dita Von Teese – The Burlesque Icon was in Singapore at Zirca for the Cointreauversial Show on 22 October 2011. Dita Von Teese was born Heather Renée Sweet ( September 28, 1972 ) Rochester, Michigan . She is inspired by 1940s Cinema and classic retro style. Her mother who had a big influence on her life was a fan of Golden-Era Hollywood Films, in particular Betty Grable. Dita was also trained in ballet and had her first solo at age 13.

Dita started performing Burlesque in 1992. Her acts consists of elaborate dances with props and characters, often inspired by 1930s and 1940s musicals and films. Some of her more famous dances included carousel horse, giant powder compact, a filigree heart and a clawfoot bathtub with a working shower head as props. Her act in Singapore was with her trademark giant Martini glass and it certainly did not disappoint as the audience were all on their feet throughout the routine , cheering her on in ecstasy.