From Runway to Real Life

Remember that Viktor & Rolf collection that Mr. Horsting and Snoeren created for spring 2011 that was great conceptually, but didn't always seem super wearable?  Look how amazingly this woman (shot by Tommy Ton for Style.com) translated the white look from above for the real world.  A sleek bun, some oversize glasses, and a single metallic cuff made the shirtdress look chic, and hell, almost downright minimalist.  Which I never thought I would say about a puffy sleeved oxford with a bib front, at least two collars, three sets of hems, and three cuffs on each arm.

It's great looking at runway collections and analyzing different trends etc., but sometimes it's so much more fun to see how people interpret these styles and make them their own.  This is what fashion is all about.

Academy Awards Red Carpet 2011

It's Oscars time! As is well known, the 83rd Academy Awards were Sunday night. Congrats to the winners, but more importantly congrats to the 11 ladies (Anne Hathaway x2) featured above, as they are Les Deux's best dressed of this year's Oscar ceremony. No time for small talk about who won what; continue on below the jump for larger pictures and critiques.

Haute On a Rope

Just a few days ago I was talking about the prevalence of arts and crafts vibes in bracelets, so it's no surprise that the trend is now popping up in necklaces, albeit in a slightly different form.  The material of choice here is rope, rather than the threaded styles of wristwear that have been popular as of late.  Above are the Opal Embellished Climbing Rope Necklace from the boys at Proenza Schouler and the Long Jagger Brass Tube Necklace from 3.1 Phillip Lim.  Images and availability for both at Net-a-Porter.

Metal Embellished Sandals

          

For this coming spring, there's nothing I want more than metal embellished sandals.  Above are a pair from Lanvin's spring 2011 collection, and a more reasonable option from Zara's spring line.

SAG Awards Red Carpet 2011

My favorite looks (click to enlarge)

So the Screen Actors Guild Awards were two nights ago and I had a much more difficult time narrowing down a list of favorite looks than I did with the Golden Globes. I feel like the attendees really upped their wardrobe game on this one. As you can see in my collage above, this made my selection of noteworthy looks rather large. Since I don't want to overrun our page, the individual reviews and info on who's-wearing-what are below the jump.

Head Case

We all know that Anna Dello Russo has a penchant for statement-making hats.  And so, it's come as no surprise that the infamous editor has styled Karmen Pedaru in a variety of bold head pieces along with some of springs hottest looks for Vogue Nippon's March 2011 issue.  It's hard to draw attention away from that butterfly McQueen dress, but if anyone can do it, it's ADR.

Theyskens x Theory Favorites

The Theyskens x Theory collection was released for sale yesterday, but I, unlike many others, was a little underwhelmed.  Yes the clothes really are good, but at their price-point it's hard to get that excited.  When I think of Theory, I just don't usually think of four-digit price tags.  Maybe I'm just bitter because I can't afford those killer midnight blue wedges.  At any rate, the best items from the collection, in my opinion, are definitely the Desta and Delia dresses, and the Ankle Strap and Pump platforms.

Rag & Bone Spring 2011 Campaign

Rag & Bone's Marcus Wainwright and David Neville have taken an unconventional approach for their advertising this season.  Rather than paying to rent out a high-end studio and hiring expensive photographers, the boys handed out digital cameras to some of their favorite models and asked them to take pictures of themselves in Rag & Bone clothing however they'd like.  Once Abbey, Sasha, Edita, and Lily had taken their pictures, Wainwright and Neville blew up over 1,000 copies and plastered them all over lower-Manhattan as a guerrilla marketing platform.  The end result, I have to say, is one of the best advertising campaigns that I've seen in a while.

Trend Report: Sheer Horizontal Banding

Select looks from Pedro Lourenco S/S '11, Valentino Spring '11 Couture, and Jean Paul Gaultier Spring '11 Couture

Pedro Lourenco was one of my favorite breakout designers for the spring 2011 season, so I was pleased to see that one of the main themes of his collection, sheer panels, was employed by other designers for the spring couture shows.  My favorite version is the short Valentino dress (bottom left), because the use of lace for the opaque strips really goes well with the delicacy of the sheer pieces.  Overall, it may not be the most wearable trend in the world, but it sure looks pretty on the runway.

Note from the Editors

Gisele for Isabel Marant Spring 2011 Campaign, image via

I love Gisele's recent foray into high fashion, and I think Marant is a very fitting label for the relaxed Brazilian.  But does anyone else think that her hand placement is kind of awkward in this shot?

Anyway, you may have noticed lately that the layout of Les Deux has been changing a lot.  I, for one, actually hate change, and I often find it very difficult to deal with.  However, Katie and I have recently been surged with a charge of creative energy; and thus, are attempting to restructure and create the perfect format for our blog.  I just hope that we haven't scared any of our regular readers away in the process.  At any rate, we have some exciting things in store for the site, so just know that the best is yet to come!

Look of the Moment: January 25, 2011

Prada Spring 2011 RTW

After watching the Prada's Spring 2011 commercial that Jax posted yesterday, I can't get enough of this look. I liked it enough on the runway, but thought it looked a little boxy. Seeing it move, however, is a different story.

Kind of an awkward screenshot, but you get the picture

The look is perfect from head to toe. The fact that the dress is super low cut could come across as either far too elegant or slutty, but since the hem is at the knees and the dress is so loose-fitted, it doesn't even delve into those territories. Paired with the similarly-striped sombrero(!) and those stacked shoes, there's no way this look couldn't grab my attention. It screams fun in very ridiculous, yet put together, way.

Katie

Prada Spring 2011 Commercial

Such a great departure from the usual fashion commercials that can often come off as trying to be avant garde.  This take feels fresh and matches the collection perfectly.

fashionologie via the cut

Kate Bosworth at "Another Happy Day" Premiere

Can we talk about Kate Bosworth's outfit here?  Her Chloe dress with the leather bodice is great, but what really stole the show were her Isabel Marant pumps.  I love pointy toes lately, and these are a perfect example of the style done right.  Even in the second photo displaying the cutout back, my eyes went immediately to her feet.

images via gossipcenter

Calvin Klein Spring 2011 Commercial

Calvin Klein Collection Spring/Summer 2011 tvc from Patty Huntington on Vimeo.
via fashion gone rogue

Forget all these new ad campaigns; this is what the world's top model gets.  A television spot.  God, Lara Stone is perfect.

Jil Sander Spring 2011 Campaign

This is another one of those instances where I know that these photos have been out for a day or so, but I like them so much that I'm posting them anyways.  My favorite advertising campaigns (aside from those shot by Juergen Teller) are the ones that are innovative without being overly conceptual.  These Willy Vanderperre shot images perfectly embody that.  The use of lighting is beautiful and unexpected, plus, Daria Strokous's pink hair goes perfectly with the upbeat collection.  

(images via fashion gone rogue)

Jax

Plus-Size, Straight-Size, What About Healthy-Size?

Crystal Renn is everywhere these days.  On top of walking some spring 2011 shows, modeling for Zac Posen's look book, and booking a million editorials, among other things, she now stars in DSquared2's spring 2011 campaign alongside some straight-size models.  Renn has seemed to have lost some weight within the past few months and has been the source of some controversy, but honestly, I think that she looks better than ever.

If you want my personal opinion, the vast majority of girls in the modeling industry are not healthy.  There are the straight-size, who are generally much too frail.  Then there are the plus-size, who have to be at least size 12 to 14 to even qualify as such in the first place.  I know everyone wants to be all, "Curves are sexy," blah blah blah, and maybe this is an uneducated statement, but I don't think that being that large at age 20 is any healthier than being overly thin.

That's why I'm glad that Renn (who has had an incredible journey, starting straight-size, going through an eating disorder, going to plus-size...) is getting so much work now.  Even though she came to fame as a plus size model, she is actually too small to be considered one now.  Whereas Renn was around a size 12 before, she's about a size 8 now.  I think that, ultimately, this is the most healthy image to project to the public.  Not plus, not straight, just healthy in general.  It's unfortunate that aside from Renn, "healthy" is a class of people that seems to be ignored by the industry entirely.

image via the cut

Jax

Ghostly Goes Commercial

Here we have the recently released campaign for Valentino's Spring 2011 RTW collection, which I loved and thought to be a little ghostly. Well, clearly the fine people at Valentino agreed. 

Freja above; Julia Saner below

The filmy monochrome shots feature Freja Beha Erichsen with new faces Julia Saner and Caroline Brasch-Nielsen wandering around an 18th century palace in exquisitely styled looks. Freja clearly stole the show, and more or less rendered the other two girls her supporting actresses. That said, if the campaign were a movie, Julia Saner would be up for Best Supporting Actress in my book. I'm really liking her work so far, and she's a perfect fit for this mysterious campaign. Brasch-Nielsen, on the other hand, fell kind of short. She just wasn't very memorable for me. Then again, I should take it easier on her; it can't be all that easy to stand out when you're up against one of the industry's all stars and one of their new favorite faces. 

I'm glad the advertising team went with this eerie campaign because now I feel way ahead of the fashion curb when I re-read my review of the runway show. Woo!

(Images from Fashion Gone Rogue)


Katie

Lime Licorice

via Fashion Gone Rogue

Yummy Prada Spring 2011 shoes.  The best are the lime and black stacked espadrilles.

Jax

Spring 2011 Adverts

The other day the Cut ran a feature of all of the spring campaigns that have been released thus far.  These are just my favorites, for various reasons.  Dior because Karlie Kloss looks so grown up, and the background is perfect for the Honolulu themed collection without being overly obvious.  Prada because I'm just glad that they kept the hair and makeup exactly the same as the show; it goes perfectly with the clothes.  Bally because it's a step up from when they used to just shoot bags with a blue sky background, and I'm liking the crayon colors.  Gucci because, God, how fantastic was that collection?  The looks exemplify it perfectly.  Bottega Veneta because I have to appreciate the arthouse vibes.  Chloe because Iselin Steiro so adorable and smiley.  And Burberry because it adequately disguises how, ahem, not fantastic the collection was.  That is all.

Jax

White Lightning

JAX

John Galliano's designs for Christian Dior and Alexander Wang's for his namesake line are hardly comparable.  Each is great in his own way; they just represent opposite ends of the fashion spectrum.  While Wang makes clothes for the downtown cool and hipster model set, Galliano's works are made for only the highest of society.

I, like Katie, was not overly excited with Alex Wang's spring 2011 collection.  One thing that I was able to appreciate, however, was the hair and makeup.  Plain, dewy faces went well with the sheen of the clothing, and smears of white paint complimented the construction worker aspect of the show.  I most enjoyed the white paint because, in a world where most every creative possibility has been played out before, this seemed like a fresh take on runway hair.

Then, when clicking through a feature on Style.com, I came across a beauty look from Christian Dior Spring 2010 Couture featuring white, painted hair.  How could I have overlooked this key fact, that Galliano had done it first?  It must have slipped my mind because, while a few of the models had white streaks at the front of their updos, the vast majority did not.  Of course, the look was not executed in the same way at all by Alexander Wang, but the concept is similar enough that it renders me even less impressed with Wang's SS '11 collection.  Alas, there will always be fall in February.

Whose version do you prefer?

Jax