I will use this page to collect various fashion articles that inspire me in some way to build a reference page for our projects on the course.

http://thecuttingclass.com/
http://thecuttingclass.com/post/3876082176/sequins-autumn-winter-2011

The trimming has been given a sense of irony by Prada and Louis Vuitton where sequin inspired materials were pushed to a larger size and appeared like giant scales or rectangles, sometimes even mimicking the texture of fur.

And at Comme des Garçons tiny gold sequin discs were plastered all over the hair of the models as a hint of the golden finale which ended the show.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashionweek/womenswear/ss11/article/9454/1/iris-van-herpen-ss11-haute-couture

Iris Van Herpen S/S11 Haute Couture

Influenced by digital technology, Van Herpen let art, fashion and sculptural shapes blend into her Haute Couture collection.

Iris Van Herpen’s latest collection is one influenced by the increasing digitalization of the world around us – which affects both her technique and designs. As always on her catwalk, art, fashion and sculpture melt into one, bringing in materials commonly used for product design and architecture. Short dresses with the appearance of scales, white scrunched plastic that looked like Game Boy cloud animation, gigantic, curved shoulder pads resembling sketches on Adobe Illustrator – we had to squint to realize we weren’t looking at a 3D animation. As for the hats, courtesy of hat maestro Stephen Jones, they were made out of technological bits and pieces. Remnants of computers and loud speakers were worn as head pieces, swaying to the sound of modem-like beeps. After this trip into our computer, we met Iris who told us about her literal and philosophical exploration of technology.

Dazed Digital: Where do you draw the line between art, fashion and product design?
Iris Van Herpen: It’s a mix of everything. It’s important to work round the body, and my work is about fabric, shape and new techniques. I used a lot of fabrics commonly used in architecture –I like to bring new techniques into fashion, because otherwise I cannot breathe nor continue creating.

DD: You said digital technology was a core influence of the collection – how has it impacted on the clothes?
Iris Van Herpen: There is a lot of digital knowledge in the clothes, all pieces are made by machines: first designed on the computer then put through other programmes and then it is made by laser. All pieces are very difficult techniques that I cannot only do by hand. So there is a lot of digital technique involved in the collection combined with handwork.

DD: Do people view fashion differently because of technology?
Iris Van Herpen: Yes, it’s all going more quickly, people know they can look anything up on the internet rather than going to an exhibition, it changes everything.

DD: Are these positive changes?
Iris Van Herpen: Change is good, but at the same time I want to take advantage of these changes, I try to take old and new techniques into my practice and combine it into my clothing.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashionweek/womenswear/aw11/article/9839/1/mugler-womenswear-aw11 Dazed Digital article about Nicola Formichetti.

Mugler Womenswear A/W11

Nicola Formichetti put on a storming show for his Mugler womenswear debut with Lady Gaga both in charge of the music and crowning the catwalk.

Hype, anticipating and rampant Internet buzz could have been detrimental to Nicola Formichetti’s first womenswear show for Mugler. In essence, there’s more pressure on the womenswear show because Thierry Mugler was ALL about emphasizing and empowering women with curvature drama. It won’t have fallen short for the legions of Lady Gaga fans watching it on live-stream, seeing as she made several appearances on the catwalk vamping her way about the wooden church arches erected on the stage.

Gaga antics aside, with Formichetti’s expected assembly of specialist fashion design talents (Franc Fernandez and Nasir Mazhar’s hats, Atsuko Kudo’s latex etc), team Mugler of the 21st century turned out a collection that was faithful to Thierry Mugler’s anatomical interpretation of the woman’s body emphasizing and exaggerating curves where and where he can so that your fingers drew S shapes all over the body, which also swayed about as the models wore vertiginous platforms that required help from the security staff. Formichetti is fully open about the team effort that is going into Mugler’s reincarnation but as an orchestrator, he’s also been smart enough to put out all the stops on a show that deserves attention not just for a certain celebrity tour de force, but for the strength of a fine debut that will speak volumes in many a fashion editorial to come over the coming months.

Dazed Digital: What are your own personal memories of Thierry Mugler?
Nicola Formichetti: George Michael’s Too Funky video! My memories came from TV, pop culture and VH1 videos of course…

DD: What does it mean to you to reinvent Mugler under your name?
Nicola Formichetti: Pressure definitely! It’s not just one person’s collection – it’s a team but there’s still pressure.

DD: Can you tell us about the designers you worked with on this collection?
Nicola Formichetti: Yoshiko Creations from Japan made all the pearl stuff. Franc Fernandez and Nasir Mazar made all the fantastic hats. Rein Vollenger made all the sculptures in the garments. There are so many!

DD: How do you want people to remember your debut for Mugler womenswear?
Nicola Formichetti: An amazing party definitely!