Resort.09 Review: Jenni Kayne

Jenni Kayne's Rst.09 collection was right up our alley. We loved it. The clean minimal shapes and selective use of bright "pop" colors gave this collection a girlie edge in combination with the more masculine pieces. The collection was composed of easy to wear pieces that could be mixed-and-matched to create an endless amount of looks, which was quite smart from a merchandising perspective. Her collection was not overly trendy, so a majority of the pieces could be worn for quite a few seasons to come. The double layered dresses and tops, as well as the easy to wear jackets, were a hit, and as you already know we are big fans of Kayne's jackets, since we featured her in our Best Jackets of the season for FW.2008. It was a smart, well designed collection from Kayne, with styling that showed off the clothes, as well as being properly edited so there was no redundancy from look to look and we anticipate many more strong seasons to come.

To view Jenni kayne's complete collection visit style.com

Resort.09 Review: Alexander Wang

Alexander Wang's Rst.09 collection wasn't heavy on concept, but was incredibly strong it its wearability. Each look appealed to what we would imagine his idea Wang girl would want, other then his muse Ms. Erin Wasson. His color palette was minimal using mainly black, white and a variety grey tones, which kept the collection light, as well as using ultra-lightweight fabrics with a great deal of breathing room. It was airy, light and wearable, just what you would want to wear in NY during those incredibly hot summer months. Bravo Alex!

To view the complete collection visit style.com

Cecilia Carlstedt

We had made a previous post about one of our favorite illustrators, Cecilia Carlstedt, and we wanted to post a few more image we recently saw on her site.

Check out more of her work at www.ceciliacarlstedt.com.

Resort.09 Review: Phi

We adored Phi's Rst.09 collection, which played with a contrast between masculinity and femininity. It was filled with crisp tailored pieces, and incorporated print as well as transparency. Melbostad used vibrant leopard print and lace to contrast to the grey plaid he used in the tailored pieces. We liked the combinations of short skirted looks with the loose fitting trouser, and almost all the looks were paired with sheer tops. The silhouette was flattering and fresh and the styling was spot on. The references to lingerie and undergarments kept the collection sexy, but not overly overt. This may just be out favorite collection of the season.

Resort.09 Review: Stella McCartney

Easy, tailored and casual pretty much sums up Stella McCartney's Rst.09 Collection. She showed lots of jackets over jersey dressed and pantsuits. Everything had an easy silhouette which draped and hugged the body enough to still be flattering. The boyish inspired looks, with tailored jackets and pants with a dropped crotch, were more appealing then the girlish mini dresses for the simple fact it almost looks like you are wearing your little brothers clothes. The key to making these clothes work is that there is enough shaping within the seams of the garments to still flatter the figure.

To view complete collection visit style.com

Resort.09 Review: Zac Posen

This collection took you all over the place, with all sorts of references and silhouettes. The collection starts out light and floral with a really great white jacket over an airy chiffon dress (shown above). The florals are later interrupted with a strong full length black gown that only seems to relate to the previous looks by the way the seams are used and curve around the body referencing those of a corset. Then following, there are all white shirting looks, then acid yellow and black print, and even a dress that looks like it could be taken from Temperly.

The collection didn't even seem to have a consistent customer, but throughout there were some great looks, mainly the monochrome looks where subtleties were narrated by tonal details and surface designs. This is one collection that was designed with the intention of the Posen girl, if there is one, doing just about everything from attending a garden party, afternoon tea, sailing along the coast and then partying at night, with the variety of floaty sheer florals to the the edgy black sequined mini dresses. Overall it was not one of our favorites, if you couldn't already tell.

To view full collection visit style.com

Resort.09 Review: Proenza Schouler

We think Proenza is one of the strongest collections of Rst.09. The clothes were loose, hung away from the body and were made in luxurious fabrics with great textures. The strongest aspect of the collection was the proportion of of color and shape. They showed teeny, tiny bra tops, done in a very respectable manner, with giant jackets and tees combined with draped airy bottoms. The use of controlled volume was sexy, yet not overdone, which is what we have come to expect from Proenza.

To view complete collection visit style.com

Resort.09 Review: Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs was retro, cool, hip and relaxed. There was a clear trend toward using the wrap to create a minimal cocoon-like silhouette. This was evident from the beginning with the use of satin to leather and even tweeds. It was a collection that was filled with cohesive looks that could take you anywhere from the pool side during the day, to parting at night. We loved the use of the strong shoulder and the clearly defined silhouette of the collection. It was girlie with hints of a masculine silhouette, which came at a good time to remind us of how influential YSL was by putting woman in a suit previously reserved for men.

The show was typical Marc Jacobs with the inclusion of incredibly wearable pieces while still showing more overly kitsch looks and maintaining the classic Marc Jacobs allure. He went from clean separates at the beginning, to bows and embroidered hearts engulfing the garment. It was a strong collection from Jacobs and a nice departure from FW.08 with a strong silhouette, which has been a trend over the past few seasons, but now he showed a crisper shoulder and allowing the fabric to drape creating that great cocoon shape.

Resort.09 Review: Donna Karan

The first two looks of the collection were strong with the typical Donna Karan draping going on around the necklines. Black was the main contrast color for these looks, which worked well used alongside the fleshy pink. It took the pink from girlie and cutesy (which normally would not work in this situation) and made it modern to suit the Donna Karan customer. Later, at the end of the collection, the pink developed into a saturated coral used in great Grecian type gowns.

The overall proportions and silhouettes were nicely thought out. For instance, the asymmetrical designs (full views shown below) were quite intricate and engaging, though you wouldn't necessarily think so on the first glance,, but the shape and proportions are created by draping and folds. Though the overall collection was quite strong, there were a few low points, in particular the "chanel-esque" use of tweed and overly feathered pink coat. The use of bows and excessive beading just didn't seem like the Donna Karan woman from years past. Beyond these few, less stellar parts of the collection, overall it was a nice departure from past Donna Karan and a fresh, dressed-up take on resort.

Full Donna Karan collection is not shown above, to view full collection visit www.style.com

Resort.09 Review: Carolina Herrera

So, the 2008 resort season actually began quite a few weeks ago, and no worries we will catch up on the past shows soon enough, but for now we decided we might as well start with Carolina Herrera's crisp, clean and succinct collection.

The collection was filled with some great one-piece looks that were a combination of sheer, draped chiffon as well as more tailored, structured seams throughout. There was an exemplary white suit that was everything you would want from a resort suit. It was easy, yet still had enough structure to give a very feminine silhouette, and was made of a breathable lightweight material. It was dead on. The entire collection had contrasting looks, one of which was a strapless dress that had a crisp looking neckline with intricate cutout negative details and unexpected draping along the waistline. The last look of the resort show was a bit heavy and overwhelming for the resort season, but when the look is deconstructed, each garment in itself is quite strong. In particular the easy fitting, slim sleeved and crisp shouldered jacket. And, of course, there was her use of shirting from simple shirt-dresses to the striped full-length dress that reminded us of classic Herrera.

Yves Saint Laurent

Below, we have posted a few images in remembrance of Yves Saint Laurent who died this past Sunday, in Paris, at the age of 71.

1957 with a drawing of a cocktail dress similar to Dior's new look, which made Christian Dior take notice and appoint him to be his assistant

1957 at the beginning of his career which lasted until 2002

1958 Yves Saint Laurent becomes head designer of Dior after Christian Dior's Death in 1957

1975 Helmut Newton's Photo of YSL's iconic Le Smoking

Accessory of Note: Fendi Calf Hair and Lambskin Bag

Here is another accessory we thought we should feature here on the blog. We found this one, along our previous post, in Elle Accessories. The fringe and use of color is quite unexpected coming from Fendi, but we still love the novelty of this item. It has a retro 70's throwback feel to it, which seems to be a relevant trend for the past few seasons, but the choice of materials keeps it precious and luxurious, which is what we would expect from Fendi.

Accessory of Note: Cara Couture Silk Bangles

While browsing through Elle Accessories we stumbled across a few accessories of note. The first of which we have Cara Couture's Silk Bangles. Its such a simple idea but adds a big punch of color and drama. She simply bangles and wrapped them with what looks like a silk bias strip. This is definitely something you can make yourself if you cant quite splurge of the real thing. And, you can add different effect such as using cord, multiple colors of ribbon or a combnation of both . The possibilities are endless. Check out some of the items at Albert Zoll, Inc. to make your own bangles or handbag handles.
Ribbons
Cord
Bias Tape
Handbag Handles

Tailor Made in Cumbria

Check out this video we ran across while vising one of our favorite blogs The English Cut. It features the blogs creator, Thomas Mahon, a great tailor who learned his craft on Saville Row and now has moved his business to Cumbria to be closer to some of the other things he loves. Take a look at the video we highly reccommend it.

Best Jackets of the Season

With the resort shows starting to surface, here at Albert Zoll, Inc. we decided to do a review of some of the best jackets of the last FW.08 season. Though some are more practical than others, we thought they were all quite relevant and we predict that there will be quite a few re-interpretations and unfortunately knock-offs of the look we have featured. We love the combination of intensely structured tailoring with the unexpected hints of drapery use to create the silhouettes of many of the jackets. And, or course, we had to include a few of the more avant-garde garments such as Chado Ralph Rucci with Rucci's use of line to create the dynamic surface of the jacket, which almost resembles a topographic landscape of sorts. Where Rucci used line, Giles used feathers in a big, big way with his enormous cropped version of a jacket. And finally, we have Balenciaga's eerie embroidered latex jacket which, as with most things that Ghesquiere does, is completely off and bizarre, but it works and is a beautifully designed garment.

Sandra Backlund Knitwear

Sandra Backlund is an incredible design talent and this is the reason we decided to post a small collection of her work above. She has a way of using volume and material in bizarre yet innovative ways. She is an amazing knitwear designer, but she also has a talent of using unexpected materials suck as molded fabric, hair, and even paper clips. Check out more of her work at www.sandrabacklund.com.

Featured Photographer: Brendan Austin

Brendan Austin has earned his spot as our new featured photographer. His work is crisp, clear and unexpected. We love his choices of subject matter, whether it be in his portfolio, notebook or even commissioned works. Check out more of his photos at www.brendanaustin.com.

Let us know what you think of his work, and feel free to recommend any new artists to feature here at The Albert Zoll, Inc. Blog.

Haider Ackermann

We have chosen some looks from Haider Ackermann's F.W.08 show that stood out as our favorites. We love Ackermann's designs and use of luxurious materials, but in dramatic and unexpected ways. His color palette is also so subtle and elegant we couldn't help but take notice. Check out more of his work on style.com, as well as a featured video at SHOWstudio and keep an eye out for more of his work, we know we will.

SHOWstudio: The Belgians

As always, we love SHOWstudio and in particular their project The Belgians.
They feature our favorite designers such as Martin Margiela, Haider Ackermann, Bruno Pieters, AF Vandevorst, Jean-Paul Knott, Véronique Leroy and Veronique Branquinho.

Fashion Illustrator: Cecilia Carlstedt

Our new featured illustrator is Cecilia Carlstedt. Below are some images from her portfolio. She has worked for quite a diverse clientele such as Bloomingdales, La Perla and the NY Times. Her hand is controlled and she has an amazing sense of color and composition which earned her a spot as one of our featured illustrators. She has gone to The Fashion Institute of Technology, University of Stockholm and The London College of Communications.

Check out more of her work at www.ceciliacarlstedt.com.

Other Featured Illustrators:
David Downton
Eduard Erlikh

Nouveau Knitwear

There has been some incredible knitwear this F.W08 season. Some of our favorites were Iceberg with their large chunky cords draped across the body in a vibrant orange and black. Also, Doo.Ri has a great white cable knit sweater that was incredibly wearable and luxurious but still has that innovative element of unexpected design. And then finally, there was Benjamin Cho's bizarre elk outfit that was simply included in our lookbook because of it's humor.

Camilla Skovgaard

Born in Denmark, followed by training in the art of coutour in Paris, Skovgaard truly fell into her niche of shoe design while in Dubai. She was able to further develop her abilities by attending Cordwainers shoe college for her BA.

She has won a variety of awards for her unique footwear designs. Most recently, she has been getting quite a bit of press in such publications as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and The Times. Her shoes are made out of super-refined and high quality materials. What really made us take notice is her clean planar aesthetic. Check out more of her work at camillaskovgaard.com.

LBDs. Please!

The Little Black Dress (LBD) is sure to be reinterpreted each and every season by the best designers around. Here are some of our choice looks for the F.W. 08 season, from conservative to the more avant-garde. The use of materials varies with some wool crepes, to leather and ostrich feathers as well as the beautiful fabric treatment that Ralph Rucci used on his spaghetti strapped number. Though some are more wearable then others, we have everyone from Balenciaga to Narciso Rodriguez and even Gareth.

Shoes: Funky, Fabulous...and a bit Freaky

Here are our choices of the best/most ridiculous shoes for the season. Though some are more practical then others we love the bold shapes and use of unexpected materials such as goat hair on Pierre Hardy's patent leather sandal.

Balenciaga
Patent and mirrored leather Escarpins bootie.

Pierre Hardy
Patent leather sandal with goat-hair detail.

Lanvin
Metallic bootie with lacquered cone heel.

Christian Louboutin
Leather and ponyhair patchwork bootie.

Prada
Leather ankle boot.

All photos courtesy of Style.com

Trims-Turned-Textiles: Cat Chow's Zippers

To further out post about Trims-Turned-Textiles, we found it necessary to include the master, Cat Chow. She is one of those artist that pushes the envelope by using everyday common materials, but in unexpected ways. One of our favorite examples is her zipper dress, that is created by a single continuous length of zipper. The gown not only uses an unexpected material to create the "fabric" of the garment but the way that it is constructed forces the wearer to be zipped into the dress.

Best Bags of the Season

Here are some of our favorite bags this season from style.com's accessory report. Accessories over the past few season have been pushing the envelope as far as innovative use of materials and ironic design details. We love the use of materials shown on these bags from the rippled strips of leather on Burberry's Lowry Bag and glass gem encrusted clutch to Lavin's use of grosgrain ribbon as a textile for their Happy Partage handbag. The most innovative use of materials was shown on Salvatore Ferragamo's resin and mesh fringe bag shown below. This accessory resembles more of a sculpture then a handbag. And finally, we have Marni's suede handbag with its simple shape, typical Marni aesthetic, but what sets it apart is the very specific use of color, it's subtle, yet still looks rich along with the distinctive high shine hardware.

Christian Lacroix
Clutch with feather detail.

Burberry
Alligator clutch with amber glass gems.

Burberry
Corrugated alligator pleated Lowry bag.

Lanvin
Grosgrain Happy Partage handbag.

Salvatore Ferragamo
Tiered mesh fringe frame bag with resin barrel closure.

Marni
Suede handbag.

Prada's Lacy Things

Here are two bags from Prada for the F.W. 2008 season courtesy of style.com's most recent accessory report. We adore the wit and ironic way that Miuccia Prada designs and this is one of our favorite collections from Prada recently, accessories included.

Find all types of lace, ribbons, trim and handbag handles from Albert Zoll, Inc.