wear them, and get on with your life.

These three looks come from a show at Paris fashion week in October of 2009. Two years, four full seasons and countless collections ago. Since then, fashion has been throwing up trends left, right and centre - from peaked shoulders and body-limning dresses to colour blocking and wide and flowing silhouettes reminiscent of '70s bohemia. There has been little in the way of constants, of fashion that stands still. Fashion that ignores trends, ignores the constraints of an industry and its so-called tastemakers. These three looks are by a label that here, in September of 2011, needs little in the way of introduction. A label that four seasons ago was known largely only by international fashion editors and bourgeois Parisiennes, just another name in the dusty stables of LVMH, hidden behind shining cash cows like Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Dior. 

Fast-forward two years, and elements of these three looks (if not the looks in their entirety) are still completely relevant. Two years may not seem like all that long, but in the world of fashion - where in-between collections like resort and pre-fall are increasingly dotted amongst mainline spring and fall seasons, demanding more and more variety - it is a minor eternity. A simple leather tee, tucked into an a-line canvas skirt, a streamlined leather dress that both hugs and skims the body in equal proportion. Wide-leg, high-waisted pants that simultaneously manage to avoid the ridiculousness that the notion of high waists and a wide legs provokes. These all quite simple, classic pieces of clothing. The beauty is there in the details, in the refinement and ease of it all - the roundness of a collar, the length of a hem or the cut of a trouser. Clothes that have appeared to inspire many slightly different (and not so different) incarnations on other runways in these two years following. For what is so special about these clothes, these three pieces of clothing, is that they were modern back then, and they are still modern now. Put simply, they are clothes that women can wear, and then get on with their lives.

The label is Céline, and the woman is Phoebe Philo. 

via: style.com

kimberly ovitz

Reality is a funny concept, especially for people in fashion, who so often seem to occupy that little space outside that avoids the very idea. The fashion bubble, as it is known by some. Not in the case of L.A. native Kimberly Ovitz, whose latest collection (and one of the very first for the spring/summer 12 collections) was inspired by the idea of "disaster versus relief and man versus nature". Or, more simply, the tragedy that followed from the earthquakes in Japan in March. Her show was made up of 19 looks in a palette of white and red (to reference the Japanese flag?) as well as black and wafts of earthy ombre shades. I've seen pieces from her past collections in a Désordre in Darlinghurst, and the slightly cobwebbed knits and asymmetric silhouettes are definitely something I would wear.

It's not groundbreaking fashion - unlike, say, an earthquake - but that is precisely the point. Easy, wearable pieces for girls who like their clothes with a slight, but ever so sexy, edge. 

via: style.com

arizona cubed.

The three covers of Vogue Australia's October issue. Lensed by Kai Z. Feng with styling by Vogue Aus fashion editor Naomi Smith - straying (well, slightly) from her usual palette of monochrome model-off duty grunge. What better to welcome the spring season than aquamarine, white and airy pink chiffon. Granted, it is the October issue, a month smack bang in the middle of spring, but when the magazine is on stands and it's still raining out, it's a fresh change from bleak skies. The knowing stare, that slicked-back hair and those minimal coverlines - barely any coverlines - stand to show just how good every single photo is. But then again, maybe it goes to show just how good the girl is. 

via: fgr

her next move.

So this is what ex Paris Vogue editors get up to... when they're no longer editing Paris Vogue. Convincing the likes of Naomi Campbell, Dasha Zhukova, Mario Sorrenti et al to get together and in the name of a Barneys campaign. And, because they probably didn't have anything better to do that day, her kids offered up their time too. So here's an impossibly cool, Rick Ownes-clad Carine in her own ad campaign for her first client since going freelance. Julia in Tisci's panther-print Givenchy. Vladimir in his own clothes, because French boys are cool like that. And some Natasha Poly, just for good measure. And just like that, she's back. And so am I. 

X

poly portrait

Natasha Poly for CFDA nominee Alexander Wang by Inez and Vinoodh. The designer scooped up the prize for Accessory Designer of the Year - and was presented with his award, quite fittingly, by none other than Iris Apfel. (And for those who are stumped by the name, think: thick rimmed specs and strings and strings of beads). And, about time too; those booties and studded bags (and their chain store imitations) have been popping up on counters and Polyvore sets the world over ever since Wang's very first accessories line back in '07. The amount of times I've lusted over a Freja bootie, or a Rocco duffle - don't get me started on those Alla leopard-print wedge mules - and I still have not gone ahead and added-to-cart. Might have to change that, and this might just be the piece to do it with...

And below, the man himself.

via

inezandvinoodh.tumblr.com 

shopbop.com

hey, haider

Thigh-high splits, unexpected cut-outs, encrusted sheaths and slashed silk; softly ruched leather, twists, drapes and chic, sleek tailoring. Haider Ackermann. The man behind the label. Or really, one of the same.

Style.com and Tommy Ton for Style.

can't stop thinking about you...

Three seasons on and I can't get this collection out of my head. Even though three seasons - a year and a half - doesn't seem that long ago, in the fashion world, where everything moves and breakneck speed and then some, it seems much longer. Khakis, grey marle, straight shapes and drill cotton; silk skirts and boyish pullovers with toirtoise-shell glasses and leopard print furs. There are the things that can be worn through seasons and seasons and seasons. You can look back through your wardrobe in years to come, past the batwings, past the neon bursts of colours, even past those skin-tight jeans, and unearth these timeless gems. Classic, but with just enough of a twist to keep you coming back for more. Dries Van Noten A/W 2010. 

via: style.com