The telegraph wrote about it on 12/07, Softgrey
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2006/07/12/efred12.xml
The Queen of Drape's greatest hits
(Filed: 12/07/2006)
Vionnet's new creative director has turned her hand to more affordable fashion with a stunning new collection for La Redoute, says Clare Coulson
Designer ranges at high street prices have become one of the biggest fashion fixations of recent years. The big stores have been clamouring to enlist the big names, with resulting collaborations giving Debenhams girls the chance to wear Matthew Williamson, Julien Macdonald and Jasper Conran, and H&M shoppers affordable Stella McCartney pieces - famously snapped up in minutes when they launched last year.
While these stores, along with Topshop and New Look, are certainly grabbing headlines with their capsule ranges, they weren't the first to make this designer connection.
French catalogue La Redoute was way ahead of the rest; it has been banking on the appeal of the big name designer for more than a decade with some of the industry's biggest names, including Yves Saint Laurent, Azzedine Alaia, Karl Lagerfeld and Jean Paul Gaultier producing their cheap and cheerful ranges of high fashion.
Their latest coup is to hire Sophia Kokosalaki, the Greek-born, London-based designer, who counts Chloé Sevigny and Sam Taylor-Wood among her fans. Kokosalaki may not be a household name but, since bursting on to the fashion scene in 1999, she has consistently won praise for her artfully draped but acutely modern collections.
It was announced just last week that she has been appointed creative director of Vionnet, one of the oldest Parisian fashion houses, steeped in style history - so La Redoute is understandably thrilled with their timely collaboration.
Designer high-street ranges do occasionally encounter criticism; the problem with many of these collections is that they can easily recreate the ''look'' of a designer but not necessarily the quality of materials, or design techniques. Kokosalaki is quick to point out that this is not the case with La Redoute.
"I was so impressed- not only with the quality, but also how quickly they 'got' the design. I'd ask "can you do something like this?" and, a week later, they would have made it in exactly the right fabric."
Every piece in this collection is wearable and classic but with enough edge to make it stand out from standard catalogue fare. There are great basics such as the slim-fit black wool crepe trousers, a beautiful cream cowl neck fitted sweater and an elegant black crepe tulip skirt.
However, there are also pieces that strongly reflect Kokosalaki's signature style: there's a stunning black crepe tunic dress which gently gathers at the waist - it's timeless and typical of the designer's Grecian pleated and gathered gowns - illustrating exactly why the Queen of drape has just landed the Vionnet job.
Rather than creating new designs from scratch, Sophia went through her archives, hand-picking the pieces that would appeal to all women, not just ''fashion people'', as she calls them. These clothes not only represent some of Kokosalaki's greatest hits - the ones that have proven most popular in her own collections - but also the style she wears herself.
"I looked into my own wardrobe, thinking about what I like to wear. I do have favourite pieces; fashions come and go but I still wear them. I love dresses, and the waistcoat - it's a bit rock 'n' roll but you can also make it look more practical with a suit. And flat shoes - I wear them all the time."
With wearable mainstream fashion under her belt, Kokosalaki has now turned to working on her first collection for Vionnet. "For every designer going into an historic house it's a huge responsibility," she admits.
With Vionnet, that responsibility is probably greater than most: Madeleine Vionnet, who opened her couture house in Paris in 1912, is arguably one of the most influential fashion designers of the past century, producing the iconic gowns of the Twenties and Thirties and dressing stars such as Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo.
Most notably, Vionnet invented the bias-cut, a style that has influenced every era of fashion that followed. Designers such as John Galliano and Zac Posen, who have partly built their reputations on bias-cut gowns, owe her an incredible debt.
Kokosalaki's first Vionnet collection, launching next spring, will include evening gowns with intricate Lesage couture embroidery, costing up to £11,000. While couture remains a fantasy for most of us, we can console ourselves with an elegant draped jersey tunic dress from La Redoute for a mere £115.
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