Two things I find immensely difficult to pull off are: floral patterns/prints/corsages/anything-remotely-floral and elaborate head/neck-wear e.g. bulbous turbans and ensnaring giant ruffs et al. Despite this, these select looks work the above outfit-embellishments in such a way that it might not be that difficult after all. Then again, only the Dansk (and the Swedes, too, actually) can manage to look this effortlessly shit-hot.
While I’m vaguely familiar with some of the European schools responsible for nurturing some of the industry’s most formidable – Hogeschool Antwerpen, La Cambre in Brussels, Instituto Marangoni, ESMOD etc. I’m not well-versed when it comes to the hallowed-halls of Danish design institutions. Silly, really, considering it’s a hub of talent as the below pictures (high-res this time, after much site-scanning I realised the link to better quality was just under the picture…veritable d’oh! moment) of Designskolen Kolding students’ work prove…
The answer is no, I probably wouldn’t wear it. Still, you can’t deny the smile-inducing ingenuity, above.
Taking a wild guess here but I reckon these three are all constituents of the same collection (though if a Kolding-grad is reading this don’t hesistate to rant/prove me wrong). Since I’m generally more of the tailored-persuasion I don’t know if I’d wear these looks in their entirety but the overall looseness and proportion-play makes it quite appealing, esp. love the gathering, above-right.
From what I’ve gleaned from descriptions of CIFF, it’s a fashion fair that has runway-presence in the form of a show composed of looks from various designers/brands’ collections. So, basically, I haven’t the f**king foggiest who’s done what here. Regardless, it contains some of the best looks of the entire season.
^ Perhaps how Topman should look for SS10 (emphasis on the brooch).
So, I can’t promise I’ll be rocking the turbans but they weren’t the main pull of the collection, anyway. Rather, I’m loving the severed mannequin-hands draped nonchalantly around the neck. Yes, if you wanted to nit-pick you could reference that handsy CdG collection and deem all this derivative but isn’t a lot of fashion that way now?
Ruffs and florals seems, in theory, a little jarring but in practice they seem to work well together provided it’s all understatement for the rest of the look, as styled above. Powder blues, off-whites and thick, braided belts…(can I say it? or has the irony worn off? fuck it…)…I die!
Last, not least, who can resist the Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair dandy-working-the-graveyard-shift look? Although that sounded sarcastic I’m dead (seriously…pun not intended) serious. Rolling-up galore, shocks of Neapolitan ice-cream pinks and lemons, both tailored and slouchy silhouettes and paisley, that’s not vomit-inducing. A win, I reckon.
View shows and more collections at CFW.
Images from CFW