Basso & Brooke
REVIEW
COMPLETE COLLECTION
LONDON, February 23, 2010
By Tim Blanks
Sign up for the fashion industry, see the world. Bruno Basso and Christopher Brooke's search for inspiration took them on a two-week trip down the ancient Silk Road to fabled Samarkand, where East originally met West millennia ago. It was a high-risk endeavor (they had to travel with a bodyguard), but it yielded dividends in the overload of colors, patterns, and textures they were exposed to. As per the usual division of labor, Basso translated these into the extraordinary engineered prints that are the duo's signature, and Brooke designed the pieces that carried the prints. The clothes were significantly more straightforward than usual, as Brooke sensibly focused on classic shapes: a parka, a shirtwaister, a coat-dress, or a jersey evening dress that was as simple as an elongated T-shirt from the front but dipped to the tailbone in back. With the prints being such minor masterpieces of complexity, why gild the lily with tricksy constructions?Brooke also added solids such as a collarless camel coat and a jacket in maroon gabardine, like andante moments in Basso's symphony of color. And what a symphony it was. You know those scenes in Avatar where you just want to stop the movie and work out exactly what it is you're looking at? There were moments like that on the Basso & Brooke catwalk, when the print collages of marble, mosaic, textile, snakeskin, feathers, and gems teased the eye. It was more comprehensible, but scarcely less striking, when a single element was used, like the chevrons of roughly woven fabric printed on a fur-collared coat. The designers also used a new fabric treatment they called "a high-gloss aqua finish," which gave some prints a liquid 3-D sheen that was practically Pandora-perfect in every way.
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Fall 2010 Ready-to-Wear
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3.1 Phillip Lim -
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D&G Davidelfin Dennis Basso Derek Lam Devi Kroell Diane von Furstenberg Diesel Black Gold DKNY Dolce & Gabbana Donna Karan Doo.Ri Douglas Hannant Dries Van Noten Dsquared² Duro Olowu -
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Elie Saab Elie Tahari Elise Øverland Emanuel Ungaro Emilio Pucci Emporio Armani Erdem Erin Fetherston Erin Wasson x RVCA Etro -
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Fashion East Fendi Francesco Scognamiglio -
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Gabriele Colangelo Gap Gareth Pugh Gary Graham Generra Giambattista Valli Gianfranco Ferré Giles Giorgio Armani Givenchy Graeme Armour G-Star Gucci -
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Haider Ackermann Halston Helmut Lang Hermès Hervé Léger by Max Azria Holly Fulton House of Holland -
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Iceberg Isaac Mizrahi Isabel Marant Issa Issey Miyake -
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Karen Walker Karl Lagerfeld Kenzo Kimberly Ovitz Kinder Aggugini Koi Suwannagate -
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L.A.M.B. L'Wren Scott Lacoste Lanvin Lela Rose Limi Feu Loewe Louise Goldin Louise Gray Louis Vuitton Luca Luca Luisa Beccaria Lutz & Patmos Lyn Devon -
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Naeem Khan Nanette Lepore Narciso Rodriguez Nathan Jenden Neil Barrett Nicolas Andreas Taralis Nicole Farhi Nicole Miller Nina Ricci No. 21 -
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Ohne Titel Organic by John Patrick Oscar de la Renta Osman -
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Paris 68 Paul Smith Pedro Lourenço Peter Jensen Peter Pilotto Peter Som Philosophy Pollini Ports 1961 PPQ Prabal Gurung Prada Preen Pringle of Scotland Proenza Schouler -
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Sacai Salvatore Ferragamo Sharon Wauchob Shipley & Halmos Sonia Rykiel Sophia Kokosalaki Sophie Theallet Stærk Stella McCartney Stephen Burrows Suno Sykes -
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Undercover United Bamboo -
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Valentino Vanessa Bruno Vena Cava Vera Wang Véronique Leroy Versace Versus Victoria Beckham Viktor & Rolf Vionnet Vivienne Tam Vivienne Westwood Vivienne Westwood Red Label VPL -
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Wayne William Rast Wunderkind -
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Y-3 Yigal Azrouël Yohji Yamamoto Yves Saint Laurent -
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Zac Posen Zero + Maria Cornejo
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