beauty delux

From Paris to Berlin fashion week: first impressions

It seems that everyone is into Couture these days…the Haute Couture week in Paris just ended with more designers and participants than there was actually Couture.  Let’s face it either Couture has changed or even a sweater dress hanging in the middle of a loft can be regarded as Couture…Meanwhile in Berlin the Mercedes-Benz Berlin Fashion Week began yesterday, the day before if you are reading this tomorrow…If you don’t well it never happened!

The  fashion week has a new home this season, a few kilometers away from its former residence…It is the first time that the shows will take place in the former East Berlin, they will also be sharing real estate with the Siegssäule, the nineteenth-century Victory Column that was also the center of the legendary Love Parade…Think of it as a huge spring break in Cancun only with more sex and beer and heavy German Rock.

Among the participants this year  two that stood out for me where Dawid Tomaszewski and Kaviar Gauche.

The first took a somewhat more avant-garde direction, although with a sensible dose of German awkwardness…ergo the feathers in the middle of the model’s face;  only Giambattista Valli Couture show with the models with a butterfly in the mouth came close.

Tomaszewski has a penchant for drama I guess or absurdities of sort,  which has made him an editorial darling in Germany. His signature strapless gowns require yards and yards of fabric — this season a Portuguese tile-inspired print in deep burgundy. Sheer white silk was also put to flowing effect in a simple A-line dress, short in the front with a parachute’s worth of train in the back. There were also subtly detailed and more accessible looks. As for the men’s wear, the design development seems still to be in its early stages…but showing promise.

Kaviar Gauche, one of the city’s strongest brands, closed out the first day, showing its signature ultra-feminine and always wearable looks, this time in shades of yellow, mustard, ocher, and black.

I think I am going to have some beer and Bratwurst tonight….

You thought I was kidding about the sweater dress…Couture  fall 2012 Maison Rabih Kayrouz