4 posts tagged "Belstaff"
Modelizing Fall ’13 Thus Far
With the London shows wrapping today, and editors and models jetting off to Milan, it’s time to reflect on the catwalking highlights from the past two weeks. More so than any in recent memory, this season has been dominated by fresh faces. Nearly every new girl on our top-ten list from Spring, like Marine Deleeuw, Irina Kravchenko, Manon Leloup, and Esther Heesch, had majorly successful sophomore outings. But the Fall shows have brought in an additional crop of noteworthy rookies in demand.
Let’s begin with the handful of former Balenciaga exclusives, whose takeoffs were all but inevitable. Sam Rollinson (above, top left), who starred in a Burberry ad back in 2010 and was handpicked by Nicolas Ghesquière last season, had a strong NYFW. (She opened Reed Krakoff and walked Jason Wu, Alexander Wang, Altuzarra, Proenza Schouler, and Narciso Rodriguez, among others.) With a hometown advantage, the British brunette—whose cheekbones could cut glass—kept it up across the pond, scoring spots at Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, and Giles. Two other Balenciaga favorites—Kremi Otashliyska and Chiharu Okunugi (above, lower right)—are also becoming runway regulars. The former hit catwalks at 3.1 Phillip Lim, Altuzarra, Proenza Schouler, and Marc Jacobs, while the Japanese stunner took turns at Rag & Bone, Rodarte, and Marc Jacobs in New York, and Erdem and Giles in London.
Opening the Alexander Wang show is usually a surefire way to go straight to the top, but this season, the second girl out—Tess Hellfeuer (above, top right)—is getting all the buzz. The model finished New York by closing Marc Jacobs, then emerged as a clear favorite of Michelle Lee in London, where she opened Jonathan Saunders and walked in Christopher Kane. Mijo Mihaljcic has also been making all the right appearances in London. Her tomboy appeal landed her spots at Burberry Prorsum, Jonathan Saunders, and Richard Nicoll. Continue Reading “Modelizing Fall ’13 Thus Far” »
Letters from London: The Fall ’13 Men’s Collections, Day One
The opening day of London’s menswear shows began by looking into the past. Things kicked off with a celebration of Belstaff’s new collaboration with Goodwood Racing (left). The lower-priced moto-inspired collection will launch with fanfare at Harrods next month. “In the history of British motor sports, Goodwood and Belstaff are almost inseparable,” said creative director Martin Cooper, who was looking forward to spending a day or two at the estate of his cohost, the Earl of March, racing’s unofficial peer. Featuring Lord March’s family tartan on waxed jackets and hidden inside linings, the new collection was worn by models perched on vintage bikes outside the members club where the presentation was held. The bikes belonged to Sammy Miller, Britain’s former number-one trials rider (now an avid collector). Not far away, Bally was celebrating history, too: its place as the boot supplier to Tenzing Norgay’s 1953 Everest expedition. A replica pair of the boots Norgay wore was displayed, but the new Everest collection was lighter and more city-friendly (case in point: the seamless, waterproof “double” hiking boot co-designer Graeme Fidler was enthusing over). Bally showed deerskin bags, too. They came in the form of expeditioner backpacks, but also, for the nonclimbers, as a weekender.
But it was the future that was on view at Fashion East, the clutch of up-and-comers installed at Carlton Gardens, Meadham Kirchhoff among them. Bobby Abley had rigged up a UFO craft with a spaceman model inside. More of this earth was Kit Neale’s greasy-spoon setup, with models lingering over plates of chips (left). Neale is a print-meister, preferring psychedelic patterns in brash colors, but this season he moved away from the digital prints he’s favored in the past and back toward more traditional screen-printing. Those played nicely off the hand-done Dalmatian dots of Joseph Turvey’s collection (shown alongside mewling pups), which had a graphic punchiness in black and white. Maarten van der Horst and Nasir Mazhar rounded out the lot.
If London needed a representative for the present between past and future, you could say Hunter Gather (left) took that spot. The brainchild of famed stylist and brand consultant David Bradshaw (his handiwork has shaped Versace, Jil Sander, and more), the new contemporary label and shop on Wigmore Street celebrated its official debut. There were great colorful knits (in raspberry and mustard), tailoring, and even shearling jackets. The easy-to-swallow pricing felt right for the here and now, as did the emphasis on sourcing insight from the crowd—from collaborators to the design team to friends Bradshaw’s made over the course of his career. “I’m the creative director,” Bradshaw said with a hint of modesty. “The ideas come from the collective.” And, he added in a bit of 2013 wisdom, the store is great, but “it’s all about the Web site.”
Flying High With E-Commerce For The Business Class Set
The intricacies of Luxup, a recently launched site that combines e-commerce with good old-fashioned store shopping, are not few. The site doesn’t obviate a visit to a bricks and mortar shop, where, paradoxically, you’ll receive merchandise not typically sold at said store. That’s because you’ve already bought it at Luxup’s Web site and downloaded its corresponding “brand pass” in order to collect it. You’ve beaten the obstacles of limited supply (from as little as four pieces to as many as 25 per item) and the clock, both for shopping (items leave the site after a designated time period) and collecting (usually a few weeks; don’t dawdle). What Luxup is essentially selling is a secret password that unlocks the hidden back room of your favorite designer store, whence you walk away with products that are either completely exclusive or available earlier than they would be at retail. After your trials, you’ve reaped reward. Phew.
And yet the reasons to do so are many. Luxup, the brainchild of two former hedge-fund managers, has already amassed a cabal of top talent, from Averyl Oates, formerly Harvey Nichols’ buying director, to run its buy, to Harriet Quick, late of British Vogue, to be its editorial director. The names it stocks are no less impressive. Belstaff, Nicholas Kirkwood, Balenciaga, and Valentino are among the initial offerings. Given that the kind of high roller who shells out for such names is often a traveler as well, Luxup works city by city: Grab an exclusive, cherry red Balenciaga biker jacket in London, or a Deco-style Marni necklace (above) in New York. Naturally, the site is an special draw for the well-heeled business-class woman who’s flying to shop—which may explain why Luxup’s site is currently offered in English and Portuguese, for the plummy Brazilian market. And it’s hard not to notice the Chinese characters lurking after the Luxup logo, and the promise that Hong Kong is the next city to come. But you don’t have to be part of China’s new class of super-spenders to dive in. Once again, then: phew.
Marni’s satin, glass, and stone necklace, $570, is currently available on Luxup.com as a world exclusive for pickup at Marni’s New York Store, 161 Mercer St., NYC.
Ewan McGregor Joins The Belstaff
For those not in the know, Belstaff was first launched back in 1924 and established itself as the go-to brand for waterproof sporting garments. Back in February, Belstaff’s new chief creative director, Martin Cooper (formerly at Burberry), debuted a re-energized look—a collection (heavily inspired by the machine age, when the wealthy all aimed to have motorbikes and motorcars) that strikes a balance between the label’s strong British heritage and modern sophistication. To show off the luxe offerings, the brand enlisted none other than Ewan McGregor to hop on a motorbike (he’s a lifelong motorbike rider himself), along with models Karmen Pedaru, Ymre Stiekema, Maud Weizen, Ben Hill, John Pearson, and Janis Ancens, for the Craig McDean-lensed campaign. “I started wearing Belstaff motorcycle jackets about ten years ago,” McGregor tells Style.com. “I feel like I’ve always known about them from photos of old motorcycle heroes and legends, as they are often wearing Belstaff.” Here, Style.com has a behind-the-scenes look at McGregor at work on the campaign shoot (styled by Karl Templer and creative-directed by Trey Laird), which took place at Lord March’s Goodwood estate in the U.K.—fittingly, the location of the annual Festival of Speed auto race.