The Magnificent Seven - Style.com

[Mr-Dale]

Great article, great pictures! All from www.style.com of course...

The Magnificent Seven

As "personal" dressing triumphs over mega-branding, a handful of individualistic designers are pushing fashion into the future.

There is a new mood in the land. If, in the last year or so, you have found yourself fastening a snug coat with grosgrain ribbon, or layering strands of tulle-caged fake pearls around your neck, or wearing the tiniest cropped jacket of black lace, then you have partaken of the dramatic romanticism that characterizes what is best and most directional in fashion today. That direction points, appropriately enough, toward the moody and introspective and away from the prosaic promptings of the external world. (Gone, or going, are streetwear, logos, and random assertions of fabulousness and power.) Design is no longer about responding to "what's out there." Rather, it is about exploring feelings and aesthetic ideas, poetically: Fashion, to paraphrase Wordsworth, is now emotion recollected in tranquillity (or, if you prefer, in washed gazar).
If one were to look for the Wordsworth or Coleridge or Shelley of the new movement, a good place to start would be the seven designers who assembled for Steven Meisel's camera on the morning of the 2005 Costume Institute Ball.

The Chosen Few
If style today is all about making statements, they definitely have tales to tell. From left: Stefano Pilati, Marc Jacobs, Olivier Theyskens, Narciso Rodriguez, Miuccia Prada, Nicolas Ghesquière, and Alber Elbaz. Photographed on May 5, 2005.

Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton
American gothic: Inspired by Tim Burton and Edward Gorey, Jacobs sent a slew of dark angels down his fall runways. Louis Vuitton gilded dress with beaded neckline. Right: Marc Jacobs raven wool cardigan, beaded gauze camisole, and yellow silk balloon skirt with petticoat.

Prada
World within worlds: The ever-intellectual Prada looked to Chinese films and Dangerous Liaisons as she designed for fall; her collection has a structured, solid disposition, but one that's still feminine. Silk dress. Right: Noir wool jacket and skirt.

YSL
Divine inspiration: Stefano Pilati's religious musings were reflected in ecclesiastical gowns and blouses inspired by nuns' habits and clergymen's capes. Snowy chiffon pleated jacket and skirt. Right: Yellow gathered-chiffon evening dress.

Rochas
À la recherche du temps perdu: Olivier Theyskens's concealing slim jacket and floor-skimming skirt evoke a never-neverland of fin de siècle Paris of the 1870s. Robin's-egg exposed-seam cotton jacket and long skirt. Right: Satin bustier dress.

Balenciaga
Once upon a classic: Nicolas Ghesquière is perhaps fashion's most deft at simultaneously looking to the house's past while imbuing it with tomorrow. Navy wool military jacket and black drop-waisted pleated skirt. Right: Silk mod cocktail dress with feather collar and sleeves.

Narciso Rodriguez
Shock therapy: Rodriguez's bright bolts of color keep his signature minimalism intriguing. Red wool coat. Right: Fuchsia silk-crepe gown.

Lanvin
Role play: Alber Elbaz's collections for Lanvin possess all the soigné elegance of Tinseltown's Golden Age. White satin dress. Right: Charcoal wool jersey dress. In this story: fashion editor, Grace Coddington; sittings editor, Hamish Bowles; hair, Julien d'Ys; makeup, Pat McGrath for Cover Girl; set design, Mary Howard.

Written by Sally Singer & Mark Holgate. Shot by Steven Meisel.

 

[eugenius]

"(Gone, or going, are streetwear, logos, and random assertions of fabulousness and power.)"


Am I missing something here? Isnt Marc Jacobs & LV the epitome of logos & random assertions of fabulousness & power?

 

[Lena]

great editorial, thanks for bringing this in MrDale, you've been missed

*they could actually have skipped Rodriguez for the sake of... lets say Hedi or Junya

 

[softgrey]

i'd say these designers ar at the forefront of the 'new gothic' movement...
bringing romanticism and poetry into dressing...
nice images...thanks mr dale...



*though i'm not sure about narciso in there...

 

[liberty33r1b]

^hm, me neither, but then again, he perfectly represents american fashion with his clean cuts and wonderful clothes, so it's probably not that much of a surprise after all.
i've always been a big fan of his clothes, since his early beginning at cerrutti, and i still love what he's doing so far!

 

[Mr-Dale]

You're welcome guys

I agree that they are indeed those new gothic designers. The majority of these seven seem to be there rightfully, but just for the reason that TrophyBrown posted, Marc Jacobs does not belong there. I would have traded him in for Junya Watanabe or perhaps Riccardo Tisci!

 

[Lena]

excuse me for not getting this but, where is the gothic element at those pictures posted MrDale?

 

[Mr-Dale]

Oh not necessarily in these pics, but more over-all. As softgrey pointed out above me, they are part of this "new gothic" movement. Described by her as well in that post

 

[tott]

"New gothic" is a bad label for the mood/style(s) it's plastered on. It seems to be used to describe anything dark, romantic or old-fashioned but the connotation of "gothic" nowadays is more Marilyn Manson than Victoriana or Edwardiana.

 

[Mr-Dale]

"New gothic" is a bad label for the mood/style(s) it's plastered on. It seems to be used to describe anything dark, romantic or old-fashioned but the connotation of "gothic" nowadays is more Marilyn Manson than Victoriana or Edwardiana.

Nowadays, yes. But originally, not.
Anyway, let's keep the new-gothic discussion in the new-gothic thread and let's talk about the magnificent seven here

 

[Scott]

Well,at least they added Elbaz,Theyskens and Pilati in for good measure. But they could have done without the redundance that is Jacobs,Prada and Ghesquiere(I know I'll get a cyber b*tch-slap for saying such a thing) though. How many times have they been on these sorts of list's of their's,now?? And Narciso I don't think had a particularly distinctive collection this season....or ever really(same dress in different colours is how I describe his work)...so why?

 

[faust]

two points i wanted to make:

1. this is a digital version of what's printed in September Vogue.
2. Prada aside, this is a DIRECT RIP-OFF of a Cathy Horyn article for the New York times she did a few months ago, we even have it here somewhere.

 

[Scott]

I don't remember that article. I wouldn't doubt they doing that though. Sally Singer is a horrid journo,anyway

 

[brian w]

OK, I have to defend Jacobs here. I am mostly fans of designers like Kawakubo, Watanabe, Chalayan, Simons, Yamamoto, etc. but to me Jacobs is the epitome of what Classic design should be, wearable, usable, fashionable/stylish and incredibly great design!!!! Some of my favorite pieces I own are by Jacobs, including a to-die-for velvet blazer from this season. Go Marc!!!

 

[travolta]

marc morphs to whatever is hot at the time, or as droogist said in another thread -- he reinterprets well. so, it makes sense to include him.

 

[fashionista-ta]

marc morphs to whatever is hot at the time, or as droogist said in another thread -- he reinterprets well. so, it makes sense to include him.

Lots of Marc bashing as per usual ... please explain to me how his show this fall, which apparently shocked everyone, was "morph[ing] to whatever is hot at the time."

As far as new Gothic in these photos ... I see dark/bizarre in several of the designers' work. Not all ... Balenciaga, for example, maybe I'm not remembering the whole collection, I remember the military/60s/space age themes, but not new Gothic ...

I think Cathy or whoever did this story originally had 6 designers? I remember Glenda Bailey created her own grouping in her column, adding one to Cathy's, and now Vogue is commenting as well. Glenda credited the original story ... perhaps Vogue (in its usual high-handed manner? ) assumes we're all familiar with that story & thus it doesn't need to be mentioned ...

 

[travolta]

oh, i'm not marc bashing at all. and i did like his collection -- it was interesting. i agree he reinterprets well, and i see that as a strength because it's certainly not hurting him from a business standpoint! beyond that i think, after reading that article posted in the marc jacobs chanel thread that i like his thinking about things. in a way, he's just illustrating the times through clothing. i think it's an approach that a lot of designers aren't as successful with...fleeting fashion works for marc. and isn't that the nature of fashion anyways?

 

[Scott]

Hmmm...it's not that I am bashing per se,just that I am not so fond of his lo and behold greatness. As far as his nostalgia trips are concerned,he's admitted that he actually copies vintage pieces he's collected to a 't'....and I don't appreciate copycats in any form.

If it weren't for the vintage,I think we'd see a different Marc really. That boring repetitive American sportswear schtick he did before.

 

[travolta]

^
don't forget the grunge.


i don't think it's just nostalgia trips, though. i think people can see themselves in his clothes without feeling too contrived. infact, he has to do this by morphing and staying with the times and the trends, and in a way being able to relate and reflect how human beings see fashion without alienating the consumer. maybe his clothes do reflect the dork trying to be cool in all of us... being a little out of the loop. if he was really that bad he'd be stuffy us uncomfortable, over-sexed clothing. he's blatant, but not like that.

 

[travolta]

besides... to me it's kind of funny he'd copy vintage to a 't'. it's too bad the original designers don't get credit, but they do get the pleasure of seeing their looks sported decades after on random celebs! besides, tons of designers copy in some way shape or form, it's just funny, if he really did do it, that'd he just recycle and admitt it. in that way he has a funny view on fashion, in a good way.