Dries Van Noten for Virginia Woolf

A jacket over a long dress with pockets.

You know I am a huge fan of the Belgian fashion Dries Van Noten – I've written about him here, here, and here. The fall 2012 collection which he just presented in Paris looked just beautiful. He told journalists that he recently researched ancient costumes from China, Japan and Korea at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which is one of my favorite places. He photographed the pieces and was inspired by their prints. What resulted was perfect clothes for 2012 but also designs that remind me a lot of Virginia Woolf and what the Bloomsbury crowd would had worn in the 20's and 30's in England. These clothes are modern and romantic at the same time.
I would love to see a girl wear this to work –

Here a striking coat is worn over a simple black blouse and pants – easy.

A wonderful mix of asymetrical prints -

A mix of proportions – a silky tunic flows over narrow white pants.

This spectacular print reminds me of the glamorous exotic style of the Ballets Russes.

This dress is very Bloomsbury –

A customer could easily buy one of these pieces and mix it into a wardrobe. These clothes would never go out of style because they are above the trends. Dries doesn't follow trends; he does what he wants to do. He's an artist and his medium is clothes. I personally love something like this that transcends time – which evokes the past but is also modern for today. And is such a pleasure for the eye.
(photos from Vogue.com, see the entire collection here)

Paris in the Fall

Dries Van Noten Fall 2011 (photos from Style.com)
The fall fashion shows recently ended in Paris and I thought that Dries Van Noten presented a great collection. You know I'm a big fan of the Belgian designer, as I've written about him here, here, and here. It was a particularly turbulent season in Paris with the terrible crash and burn of the wildly talented John Galliano who was fired at Dior after being videotaped making shocking anti-semitic remarks in a bar in the Marais, which was historically the Jewish working class of neighborhood of Paris and where Galliano lives. And at the end of the Balmain show, designer Christophe Decarnin, who I have admired here on the blog before, failed to appear. It's said that he was in a hospital having suffered a breakdown. An issue perhaps was the fact that Emmanuelle Alt, who had been his chief stylist and muse for his sexy swaggering looks, was not able to work with Decarnin on this collection as she had been promoted to editor in chief of French Vogue after Carine Roitfeld quit.

In the drama, Dries Van Noten presented a striking collection that looks so chic and wearable. He said in his show notes that he was inspired in part by the style of the Ballets Russes. The result is a creative collage of fabrics which flow together like brush strokes of paint on a canvas. Streaks, swirls and color blocks of cloth make up these artistic compositions.

His use of fabric is asymmetrical so you can see the designer's eye at work, a dash of black and white here, a slash of red and white there.

On the dress below a swath of blue cuts across earthy tones like a wave on a sandy beach.

Below is a close-up detail of the dress at the top of this post. A bright blue field is surrounded by a clash of abstract prints.

This dress has wide kimono sleeves and a line of blue down one side which defines the curve of the body.

In this close-up, the big, slouchy bag doesn't match exactly but still looks perfect. This is an easy elegance.

Here is the long evening version – the same simple t-shirt shape, the collage of pattern, the asymmetrical mix, and a deep leg slit added. It's such a relaxed way to be dressed for evening and also super-chic.

The golden front glimmers against the contrasting patterns in a happy ode to textiles.

And here is Dries at the end of his show.

Beautiful, no?