INSIDE THE MIND OF MIUCCIA PRADA

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

Miuccia Prada is someone I have respect for as a woman, and as a designer. Mrs Prada has never, not even for a moment, lost her integrity, and seems to put her family and core beliefs about how to live a good, intelligent life before some of the more shallow trappings of success. Prada still lives in the same apartment she raised her two sons in, and at 62, is more interested in evolving as a human being than swishing around being fabulous. I guess the point is, with her rigour, she has no need to put on a front. Her pleasures are internal. As a designer she keeps things interesting by being avant garde, and, well, most designers go off the boil for periods of their career, but not her. Miuccia Prada is never, ever boring.

So it was a rare pleasure on Saturday morning to read an interview with Prada in the Times Magazine by my favourite fashion grande dame Sarah Mower. The interview served to reinforce my thoughts on the woman and renewed my interest in her body of work. Sarah's perceptive piece truly captured the essence of the woman and nailed her approach to work and feelings about success in a warm and moving way that only increased my admiration for both of them. For those who missed the magazine, I've scissored my favourite bits, saves you going through the paywall.

Miuccia Prada (image from landryedux.blogspot.com)

ON BEING "THE EMPRESS OF FASHION"

“I don’t have a sense of it. Thank God!” she laughs. “Otherwise I would not sleep at night. I’ve always obsessed about what I had to do but never looking at myself from the outside. Probably I am highly ambitious – but in the sense that I want to do intelligent things. I want to be good. I never think about the corporation.”

Prada SS12 (image from cat walking.com)

....

ON BEING THE SUBJECT OF THE LATEST MET MUSEUM SHOW

"..I’m curious about what she thinks of being the subject of an exhibition she hasn’t curated. The fashion world is full of control freaks who would have a meltdown at the very thought. But Prada respects the Metropolitan Museum’s independence. “They wanted to analyse the similarities between me and Schiaparelli. I don’t know if there are that many, but anyhow. Neither of us trained as a fashion designer, so we were interested in a wider sense of the world. We both started later in life. But I’m happy that they think she was a fashion revolutionary, and that… er… I am in my time.”

She’s pleased by the scale and importance of the event, clearly, but I don’t think Miuccia Prada gets her satisfaction, or her motivation, from public recognition. What she cares about above anything else is originality. “Some seasons I know what I’m doing, and others I realise as I’m working on the collection. I never know the title of a collection until two days before [a show].”

Elsa and Miuccia (image from Glamazondiaries.com)

                                                                         ....

ON THE "PRADA LOOK"

"But when I ask her to sum it up by answering a dumb-simple question – “What is the Prada look?” – she stops in her tracks. “I don’t have an answer to that,” she says. “It is bad for commerce! But, eh,” she continues, “it is an advantage as well as a disadvantage, because in the end you can change and update. If you fix on one look, and that look goes out of fashion, what do you do?” So that means you just want to lead? She leans forward and practically shouts, “Yes! And that’s since ever!” She said it.

Prada's Bad Taste collection, 1996 (image from styleregistry.livejournal.com)

 ....

ON HER MOTIVATION AS A DESIGNER

Bertelli [her husband] only winkled out her designing ambition when he said they’d have to hire someone else if she refused to do it. As a PhD in political science and an ex-member of the Communist party and active feminist, she was mortified. “I probably had high resistance because of the political situation. It was seriously a nightmare. I was so ashamed,” she sighs. “Obviously, I liked it. But I had serious difficulty finding myself a fashion designer.”
Even when the troubles had died down, the big-shouldered executive suits of Armani and the sexy glitziness of Versace grated on the young feminist’s sensibilities. Her response was to design minimal styles using plain fabrics derived from army, school and maids’ uniforms. “Minimalism was a way of obstructing ideas. I wanted to hide my ideas and my thinking.”

Prada AW09  (image from luxuryblog.org) 

...

ON BEING CLEVER

“I’m happy when I think I do something very clever,” she says as I leave. “It happens once or twice a year, when I feel I’ve done something that makes sense. But actually, I never reflect on what I do, because I’m always busy.” So busy, in fact, that she must be the only female guest who hasn’t planned what to wear to the Met gala – she’ll decide the day before, she says. I don’t know, but I’d like to see her nipping up those museum steps wearing trousers among all those trains."

Prada AW12 (image from catwalking.com)

I'd love to be able to send you to a website full of Prada's latest guipure and gem bombers and swirling car print skirts. Alas, none are to be had on the Internet. However, the Prada site does provide us with jewels, shoes and bags galore...

Go Faster clutch 620E Prada Store

Jewels 1290E Prada Store 

Perfect summer heels 570E Prada Store

THE WEEK IN FASHION: 16th-20th JANUARY

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Happy Almost-Weekend...

This week we start you off with a delightful preview of the award winning documentary about Bill Cunningham the original street style photographer; the film has its British premier on February the first. Bill is a living legend.

"Fashion is the armour to survive the reality of everyday life."

 Bill Cunningham

Chanel is off to Japan! Lagerfeld and his team have planned three events as a special treat for their Easternmost fans. In March, there will a winter couture show, a pop-up shop and an exhibition entitled 'The Little Black Jacket'. The exhibition, on for seven weeks, coincides with a book of the same name which Lagerfeld is working on with Carine Roitfeld, showing celebrities and other brand favourites, in their Chanel jackets.

Chanel waves the flag for Japan

More bumper business news from across the retail spectrum this week as Burberry, ASOS and Primark all posted recession defying results. At Burberry, there was a 22% increase in sales with particular strength, unsurprisingly, across Asia. It's the brand's stalwart pieces which are performing best- coats and luggage. While it is well-acknowledged that luxury labels aren't suffering as much as might be expected from the global downturn, word on the high street has been somewhat bleaker; Peacocks was the latest store to go into administration this week. However, Primark and ASOS are proof that the fittest survive. Primark announced a 16% leap in profits for the last quarter while ASOS saw an 18% increase in its share price after profits rose 10%, thanks in the most part to its global reach.

Cara Delevingne and Eddie Redmayne in their trench macs for the SS12 campaign (image from fashiongonerogue.com)

 After much wrangling amongst the organisers of the big four fashion weeks, the clash of dates which looked set to overshadow the SS13 season has been resolved. For attendees, this means that fashion month will kick off earlier than usual with the New York shows beginning on September 6th. Steven Kol, CEO at the CFDA rightfully pointed out that 'there's no value for the cities to compete'. So, there will be no choosing between Katrantzou and Gucci, or Pilotto and Versace for those who skip to all four events.

Piero Tosi with director Luchino Visconti and Dirk Bogarde on the set of Death in Venice in 1971 (image from vogue.it)

 Louis Vuitton has teamed up  with Rome's Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Italian National Film School) to bring the worlds of fashion and film closer together. Over three years, there will be a number of projects to support Italian film and young filmmakers, such as workshops and scholarships. One of the first schemes to get underway will be a costume workshop focusing on 17th century design, with Italian costume designer Piero Tosi acting as a key participant. Like Tods, which is in the process of taking on responsibility to restore the Colosseum, Vuitton has taken it upon itself to contribute private money to protect another integral part of Italian culture, at a time when the public purse cannot stretch to such limits.

Hatmaking at the film school (imae from WWD.com)

On January 24th, a Prada museum will pop-up in Paris for 24 hours. Conceived by Francesco Vezzoli and the AMO Think Tank it could have the potential to create a bit of a 'moment' as its brings together films and sculptures which represent iconic women including the likes of Lady Gaga. The event will kick off with an exclusive dinner and club night before opening up to the public, who will now doubt rock up early to see the invited guests tumbling out. The three museum spaces, historic, contemporary and forgotten, will provide the backdrop for Prada and Vezzoli's message about femininity now. It may sound a bit obscure, but anything with the Mrs Prada stamp on has got to be fab. Talking of Miuccia, she got herself in hot water this week when she appeared to criticise the Met's new exhibit which will compare her with Elsa Schiaparelli. She told WWD:

“It’s too formal; they are focused on similarities, comparing feather with feather, ethnic with ethnic, but they are not taking into consideration that we are talking about two different eras, and that [Schiaparelli and I] are total opposite,” said the designer before her show on Sunday. “I told them, but they don’t care,” she said with a shrug, resigned rather than upset.

A statement was later released by Prada which claimed her comments were 'taken out of context' and that she was  'honored and proud to be taking part in the exhibition'.

Miuccia Prada on the cover of iD in April 2009, designed by Francesco Vezzoli (image from designscene.net)

After last week's quick dip into the sartorial goings-on in the US Presidential election, FEAL's world news radar turns to the Olympics  where a row has broken out among the boxing community. The point of contention is whether female contenders should wear shorts or skirts. And it's not just a question of what is the best performing item, it does actually come down to the 'fashion' element. Skirts were first worn so that spectators could differentiate between the boy and girl boxers. Polish and Romanian coaches say that skirts should be worn because they create 'a more womanly impression' and are 'more elegant'. We're not sure that elegance is the first priority of any sportsperson looking to win a title so we're supporting  Elizabeth Plank's petition for boxers to able to choose, just like every other girl can!

The Menswear season is in full-swing, moving to Paris yesterday after Milan earlier in the week. At Louis Vuitton, Kim Jones fused Japanese and Parisian influences; the work of illustrator Antonio Lopez was cited by the designer  as a starting point. Further along, the Okujun silk spinning was used to create an ivory suit. The technique is UNESCO protected, and only 20cm of yarn can be produced in one day. The Vuitton show also mirrored a wider trend which began in womenswear to use more Asian models on catwalks.

One of the Asian models who walked at Vuitton (image from WWD.com)

Love this high shine parka/anorak, a nod to Japan on the belt (image from WWD.com)

 Lanvin is launching its first eyewear collection and has made a video to underline the artisan approach it's taken to the range. Along with De Rigo, Lanvin has applied the same levels of artistry to the glasses as it would to its clothes. While the video may not have the catchiness of the dance of late 2011, it serves to remind us of the level of craft which sets designers like Lanvin apart. The question on everyone's lips, which ones has Alber ordered?

DEAR SANTA... CAN I PLEASE HAVE A CHANEL, PRADA & MIU MIU CHRISTMAS?

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

So there might be Christmas lights going up and endless 3 for 2 offers on wrapping paper but we prefer to focus on the finer aspects of the impending festive season, namely what we dream of finding tucked under the tree on Christmas morning. But do we really dream anymore? Once you're past the age of 11, does Christmas become just a list of things to buy and do? Well, not if some of the Best Fashion Brands in the World have their way.

David Sims for Miu Miu Resort with Guinevere Van Seenus, one of the worlds best models.

Chanel, Prada and Miu Miu mostly trade on the fact that, for most people, they represent an escape from the reality of the day-to-day; I know the moment I pull on my one item of Chanel (some two-tone tights with the double C logo at the ankle) I feel lifted away like Wendy flying off to Never-Never land with Peter Pan. This is pretty much the same feeling I had opening my shiny new bike or Baby Born Doll (Ballerina Sindy in FashEd's experience). We may all be used to ooh-ing and aah-ing each February and September at the catwalk shows (just like I did at Toys'R'Us in my younger years)  but these savvy brands know that this is just the door to the Narnia of our imaginations. Once they've sown the seeds of desire, irresistible Christmas collections land in our inboxes and they know that this is the route to making Christmas just as full of anticipation and delight as back in those childhood dolly-loving days.

The selection below will cater to the woman and the girl in all of you. Crucially, each and every item shown is a classic which embodies the brand which has lovingly crafted it to give us a lifetime of satisfaction and a squeal of delight come December 25th.

An Under The Sea cuff

The Chanel Camellia- this could just as easily be from 1960 as it is from 2011. The heather shade is a wintry update
on the usual white.



I have a bit of a thing for pearl earrings- I like to think I wear them in a sort of ironic, eighties sloane ranger sort of way but it is quite likely that I don't really pull that off! Nevertheless, I cannot think of a more perfect combination than my beloved pearls, with that interlocked C Chanel logo hovering above as an explicit indicator of their provenance.

My friends and I have been unbelivably organised about our NYE plans this year. We are off to a Prohibition Party- this necessitates a full-on twenties flapper extravaganza in the wardrobe department. Thus, the shoes below are quite possibly the perfect starting point with their jewels and delicate T-bar. This image is going straight onto the mood board for my look and if I happen to come into a fortune between now and NYE then these will be mine!


All the above available in Chanel boutiques from November/December +44 207 493 5040
CHANEL.COM

 The Miu Miu seletion has a more fun element than the Chanel but then that's what the Prada's little sister is all about isn't it? All these jewels look like they're from a little rich girl's version of Claire's Accessories- in a really good way!


Miu Miu £295, available from November



Miu Miu £150, available from November

 The pearls and gems are a bit Queen meets Little Princess...


Do Miu Miu do Christmas Crackers? Can this fall out of one please?
£395, available from November



Note to anyone who knows me ;) £395, available from November

 We'll be needing this to carry about all our jewels and trinkets. I just really hope Tom Cruise doesn't buy up the entire stock for Suri...

Miu Miu £750, available from November

Even though Miuccia might like to have us think that Prada is all grown- up and ladylike, she has been messing with that very notion for some time now. Last season's banana motif and the flaming car for SS12 show that there is a very childish element to be enjoyed by a Prada woman. The Christmas collection only enhances that philosophy, mixing up modern essentials like leather iPad cases and purses with quirky key rings which could almost be stocking fillers bought in Hamley's.  This means the adult in us can justify the usefulness of the gift, while the little kid will just want to play at attaching the key ring to everything all Christmas day long (and beyond), win/win....

Happy Face Butterfly
All Prada and Miu Miu items range from £195-£990, available from November

Ahhhhhhh! Pengy.
All Prada and Miu Miu items range from £195-£990, available from November

Its Bichon Prada!
All Prada and Miu Miu items range from £195-£990, available from November

 This furry purse hints at the fraggle rock puppet fun fur theme from AW11...



Fraggle Wallet
All Prada and Miu Miu items range from £195-£990, available from November



YUUUUUUUUUUUMMMYY!

All images courtesy of Prada, Miu Miu & Chanel

THE WEEK IN FASHION: OCTOBER 10th-14th

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

The Week in Fashion is back after its fashion week hiatus - it simply wouldn't have been able to keep up with all the excitement but is now raring to go again, bringing you all you need to know each and every Friday. This week we bring you images from the Frieze Art Fair, gross feet and we congratulate Sarah Mower MBE, recognised for her Services to Fashion. 

SARAH MOWER MBE
While Sarah's journalism career is stellar, it was in fact her contribution to the NEWGEN program and role as Ambassador for Emerging Talent that earned her the MBE.It is worth noting Sarah has transformed the global reputation of London Fashion Week since 2004 when she decided as she says "to become a botherer, and get young talented recognised and supported". Young designers who have been talent-spotted and/or nurtured by Sarah almost always go on to great things. See Christopher Kane, Roksanda Ilincic, Erdem, Louise Gray, Holly Fulton, Meadham Kirchhoff, Jonathan Saunders, Richard Nicoll and so on... Onto the party now, hosted by Sarah and the British Fashion Council.

Sarah Mower MBE with Melanie Rickey (aka FashEd). Sarah is wearing a coat made for her by Christopher Kane straight from the runway of his SS12 show

Sarah's MBE (via @_lulukennedy)  

Sarah and Chris Kane

Sarah receives her MBE from The Queen at Buckingham Palace (Image from  metro.co.uk)

(To see the full set of photographs of the night go here)

Photographs: Christopher James

NOW ONTO FRIEZE ART FAIR...

Leila Lavari from StyleBop.com at Frieze in the Isabel Marant navajo cardigan everybody wants (Image from telegraph.co.uk)

On Wednesday, the Fash Ed and I both visited the Frieze Art Fair at various stages of the day. We came back having enjoyed the art, of course, but also buzzing with the fashion spying opportunities on offer, Rick Owens here, Maison Margiela there, Christopher Kane everywhere. I was very excited to spot Tracey Emin and see some of her latest work. The FashEd attended a brunch hosted by Cos in the Frame section which they sponsor, showcasing the work of up and coming artists. Here a few of her favourite pieces from the exhibit...

We're still getting over Dasha Zhukova's inaugural Garage magazine cover (the Damien Hirst peel away butterfly, lest you forget), and this week the girlfriend of Roman Abramovich has supported her man by wearing a quite beautiful Louis Vuitton outfit for the court battle between her boyfriend and fellow Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky. If the case were judged solely on the fashionableness of the participants' ladies then Abramovich would still be in possession of his £3.2 million right now but as it stands there is a load of legal wrangling to be getting on with.

Dasha arrives at court in Vuitton (image from dailymail.co.uk)

 I did bring you the news that this was on the cards, but it has now been officially confirmed that next year's Met exhibit will be a comparison of the work of Miuccia Prada and Elsa Schiaparelli. To add further creative juices to the mix, Baz Luhrmann will be overseeing the retrospective. The opening gala will be co-hosted by Carey Mulligan who is currently working with Luhrmann on filming for The Great Gatsby. And, by the by, Tiffany will be providing all the jewels for the Gatsby movie. We feel a major fashion moment coming on.

The image which Baz Luhrmann released to announce Carey Mulligan's role as Daisy Buchanan (from deadline.com)

Alexander Wang has been on the peripheries of the fashion who'll-go-where-and-when saga for some time now since his name was thrown into the Dior hat. This week he told WWD:

“I always take a meeting and I always want to hear what people have to offer, but at the same time, I’ve been very content with focusing on our own brand,” he said. Wang said that if he took on an additional design gig, it would have to be something outside his comfort zone.
“If I was to do something else, I would want to do something that would be completely different from me,” he said, adding: “Sometimes you don’t get to say all you want to say in your brand.”

We could fill a book (has someone thought of doing that?!) with all the possibly relevant, yet probably irrelevant, comments we've heard in the past months but you never know.

Wang does his happy end of show bow back in 2010, now there are rumours he's moving beyond his own brand (image from harpersbazaar.com)

You have probably gathered that fashion month plays havoc with the skin, diets and general routines of all those that attend but today we ask you to take a moment to consider the humble feet of fashion show attendees and models alike. In Paris, the dust of the walk to the Tuileries has ruined the heavily invested in shoes of many a blogger/ photographer/ editor. This phenomenon was well documented on twitter, see exhibit A below. Models are no luckier; these shocking pictures of the feet of Sojourner Morrell, who walked in some of the biggest shows of the season from Marc Jacobs to Jonathan Saunders to Louis Vuitton, are one of the most extreme examples of the injuries which walking in sample heels every day for nearly a month can do. Any aspiring models, look away now...

The scourge of 'Tuileires feet' as tweeted by @candicelake

Ouch! (Image from refinery29.com)

Finally, much love for the new Sir Paul and Lady McCartney a.k.a Nancy Shevell who had a lovely looking wedding last Sunday. Fashion pundits have already said that the fact that the dress was designed by Paul's daughter Stella is the way we know this one will last; the last time Sir Paul got married, the bride did NOT wear McCartney. Sometimes a dress can speak a thousand words...

The official wedding portrait, captured by Mary McCartney (image from dailymail.co.uk)

MY TOP TEN LOOKS FROM MILAN

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

One word can sum up the entire spring/summer 2012 catwalk shows so far, and that word is optimism. Everything is bright and sunny, light and airy, jolly and upbeat, go-getting and fun. You get the picture. Yellow is the colour of Spring 2012, and if a floral print is not your thing, god help you.

The main thing about Milan, was, well it was very Italian. Molto Italiano. Looking at Pucci, Gucci, Cavalli, Dolce with their big bouncy haired models, exuberant prints and multiple-colours, there was no where else in the world you could be. And, as this is a season of optimism, the Italian designers were ten times more jolly about it than London and New York was.

Well, apart from Prada, Jil Sander, and Marni the triumverate of  thoughtful greatness that resides in the city. Without further ado, here is my top ten which veers away from that Molto Italiano vibe focusing on Fashion. Amazingly there is only one dress - its all about separates in fashion these days.

Divine Arizona Muse at Marni. Love the craft and layering.

No 21 by Alessandro dell'Acqua. All over print but done in cool way.

Sporty, youthful and feminine chic by Christopher Kane for Versus

Dolce Gabbana, just beautiful no matter how you look at it 

Pucci's only beam of cloistered purity in a show of steamy prints

Fashion's man of the moment Raf Simons at Jil Sander asked the Picasso family for permission to use this face - taken from some of the artist's pottery - for this sweater which is top of my wish list for SS12

This Jil Sander look by Raf Simons is perfection itself. Love this neon paisley.

Guipure lace embroidered coat in a colour clash last seen on my childhood duvet cover at Prada.

Prada, taking it to the limit in its uniquely cerebral way. What may jar with you now will trranslate to gold in the shops next Spring. Trust.

You can't do Milano without some Mr Lagerfeld at Fendi. This outfit is luxe and relaxed

All photos by Catwalking.com

What is your top Milan Fashion Week look and collection?

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