Balenciaga

Balenciaga

Founded in 1917 by Spainish designer "Cristobal Balenciaga," a master of cut, proportion, with clean but pronounced silhouettes that won him the respect of even Coco Chanel (who notorioulsy loathed other designers) But this brand wouldn't be where it is today if it weren't for Nicolas Ghesquiere.

  In 1997, Balenciaga turned into a critically acclaimed fashion house, with great thanks to Ghesqiuere, he was the surprise choice to head the Parisian fashion house at the tender age of 25. Ghesquiere took the houses legacy and re-worked it for the 21st Century, putting a contemporary spin on structured jackets, billowing sleeves and fitted waists, from what was a sleepy couture name, to now, an electrofying luxury brand.

 He also possessed a business mind like no other whom wised up the business side of the brand instantly! He wanted to make the vision available & commercial to be instore. Reportedly, sales doubled within the 1st year! 

Inspired by his actress muse Ghesquiere created a violet-centric scent based on the intolerably cool, Charlotte Gainsbourg. " My friendship with Nicolas Ghesquière, our bond made of mutual admiration and complicity, grew so strong over the years that I was secretly hoping to be the face of Nicolas’ first perfume for Balenciaga,” said Gainsbourg in Style magazine, who is the daughter of French icons Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. 

Ghesquière, who described Gainsbourg in WWD last June as “one of the most inspiring girls in the world” and “really representative of what France is today,” declared she personifies the fragrance. “Her unique sense of style, her graceful and intense talent have always been very inspirational for me,” (wwd)

Despite all the success, Ghesqiuere after 15 years is no longer with Balenciaga, as of November 2012, Ghesquiere left the fashion house, temporarily taking time out. So who other than THE americain "it" boy (ok so 29 year old man) Alexander Wang whom dropped out of Parsons school of design and set up his own successful brand full of relaxed "off duty model" looks and slouchy tees, leather shorts, how does his style reflect to Balenciaga's in any way and how will he compare to Ghesqiuere who was named in 2007 and "fashion's most sought-after and influential figure." 

A former fashion critique at Le figare said "Nicholas Ghesquiere made Balenciaga grow up, Balenciaga will make Alexander Wang grow up" Referring to the command of the house that will stretch him, revealing much more of what he's capable of.

When Wang's first show A/W 13 took place, reporters pens where at the ready, (as anticipated) The show felt true to Cristobal's lines, with a modern take. He wanted to go back to the roots, identifying the codes of the house. Translating them into a a functioning full wardrobe. The cracked, paint-spackled mohair knits were some of the best things on the catwalk; they made for a nice metaphor, too, about the promise of a young designer ready to break with the past when the time's right.  Is this the right time to revisit Cristobal's roots? Or do we know and love the brand that was Ghesquiere? I suppose only time will tell, but so far, wang;s doing all right.

Iris Van Herpen

Conceptual Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen,Known as a "technical couturier"  She successfully joins machinery with the tribute to the traditional craftsmanship and precious handwork. Since graduating from the ArtEZ institute in Arnhem in 2006 and starting her label in 2007, Iris Van Herpen has been exploring her advanced ideas with the help of scientists, architects and 3D printing. 

Iris believes that couture is a laboratory to explore working in new ways, with no limit of time or research when working with scientists, its apparent that her discoveries may take up to a year to produce, new materials and new techniques. As the dutch designer explains in the video (below) she only like working and thinking in 3D, unhappy to even sketch as its 2D. The freedom of creation; the process, research and experiments that she thrives on; curious about everything that's not quite possible yet, creating a modern vie won haute couture.

"inspired by scientific SEM photographs of bacilli, vermin, mites, lice and termites. “I wanted to show the beauty of them, because in my eyes they are the most bizarre, unbelievable and most imaginative creatures imaginable,” (thecreatorsproject.vice.com)

3D printing is an additive manufacturing technology which makes it possible to turn 3D modelled designs into custom solid objects on demand.A prime example of her fascinating discover. The shoes were 3D printed using Stratasys rigid opaque black and white materials on the PolyJet-based multi-material Objet Connex and Objet Eden 3D printers.

“For me, fashion has always been about setting your own boundaries and making a statement,” commented van Herpen. “This time around, Rem and I wanted to create something that echoed the beauty and wilderness of the natural world, so we decided to use the technological capabilities of 3D printing to bring this concept to life through a pair of shoes.”- Quote from 3dprintingindustry

The essence of van Herpen is expressing the character and emotions of a woman and to extend the shape of the feminine body in detail. In all her work, she tries to show that fashion is an artistic expresso, adding value to the world as opposed to a commercial tool.Van herpen's bizarre design's attract many a style icon, such as Björk wearing multiple van her pen dresses during live concerts. Additionally, Lady Gaga and style icon Daphne Guinness, collaborated with Van herpen and Nick Knight to create a short fashion film for SHOWstudio.

Designers are no longer limited with conventional manufacturing. They can now produce virtually anything they can imagine. For that reason, we feel that 3D printing will become more and more an integral part of fashion design curriculums.”

Proenza Schouler

Founded in 2002 by Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the pair collaborated their senior thesis at Parsons, which eventually became Proenza Schouler's first collection, selling the entirety to Barney's in 2003. The label was named by conjoining their mother's maiden names, this later on became their one and only regret (although they thought McColloiugh Hernandez sounded too common) 

This Proenza Schouler woman seems sensual, but remains in control; slightly wicked, but never weak. Imagine a no nonsense Network-era Faye Dunaway letting loose over dirty martinis on the set of Woody Allen’s Interiors. Veteran supermodel Kirsty Hume was the perfect stand-in for that kind of hard-edged sensuality.

The pair find inspiration from travelling and outdoors, places such as New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, Mr. McCollough got on the Internet, and kayaking in British columbia. 

McCollough and Hernandez spend most their days surrounded by various threads of inspiration such as photo clippings, dizzying fabric swatches and pieces of rubble. Evidence of growth has been so fast the two of them still find it mystifying that some 66 employees share the space! 

When using a concept for each collection, the pair don't design too literal or with obvious referencing, well known for two things, cool and craft.

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10 years since their first collection was sold to barneys in 2003, the photos have recently been relaunched in celebration of the label’s tenth anniversary, the collaboration is especially meaningful because Barneys were the first to take a leap of faith on the young designers, scooping up their entire graduate collection from Parsons School Of Design. The pair's focus was transforming basic wardrobe staples into desirable luxury items which has since been reworked by many designer's.

"Proenza Schouler are the hackers of fashion" daze digital

Season after season, the pair come up with new, exciting designs, as opposed to sticking to a trend, colour or textile process, every Fashion week, its not just the show I want to see, but the Backstage close-up images of all the detais of each garment, the beauty of the close up, there isn't any other designer's work that I want to touch and dget a proper feel for as much as their's.