Manish Arora – Ready To Wear, Autum Winter Collection 2011.

The designer that I am looking at is Manish Arora. I am looking specifically at his Ready to Wear Autumn/Winter2011 show at Paris Fashion Week. It was clear that there were several influences in the show, including: Magic, Asia, insects, flora, animals, geometric shapes and printed patterns. Out of these I think the most prominent was the Asian and Islamic references due to the strong patterns on the garments, vivid colours and the sitar playing in some of the music. Arora’s signature style is bright and vibrant colour with accents of unconventional materials, such as plastics and metals.

Half way through the show the designer subverted from his signature style by sending a small collection of very dull coloured clothing down the catwalk. He signified this change by using the illusionist to deliver another trick, this then set the pace for the next part of the show.

First half of the show

After the illusionist had performed his second trick

The collection shows intense patterns and colours and the crafting of the garments is very good quality. There are significant areas of detail on the garments and it is clear that a lot of effort has been put into making these. ‘Each embellishment was a small feat in textile manipulation’ (Vogue website) Most of the garments were tight fitted and hugged the model’s silhouette.

The venue was an indoor car park. This area was unkempt and slightly dirty. I believe that the designer had chosen this venue to create a contrast and to make his clothing stand out (even though they do that on their own). This was backed up by a review that I read on the telegraph website, “The exuberant Indian designer, Manish Arora, turned a concrete garage into a fantasy jungle, inhabited by exotic hybrids and imaginary birds, animals and insects.” (Telegraph website). The runway was placed over car parking spaces and the audience were sat on fold out chairs. The models were slim, tall and immaculately presented. They were clean and fresh which contrasted with the surroundings of the car park. Their hair reminds me of a scene from Blade Runner featuring Sean Young, and this could possibly have been in Arora’s mind when thinking about the styling.

 
Sean Young – Blade Runner                   Model in Arora’s Show

His vibrant and intricate prints were created in collaboration with a Berlin based artist named Amrie Hoffstater. The artist’s magic dolls were the inspiration point for Arora and it is believed that this also lead to the hiring of the illusionist, “The hyper-colored prints were created in collaboration with the Berlin-based artist, Amrie Hoffstater, whose magic dolls inspired the collection, and presumably, the decision to hire a illusionist to dazzle the audience with his tricks.” (Vogue website)

I really enjoyed watching the show, I especially like the illusionist because he created an atmosphere and he was integral in changing the pace of the show. The audience were clearly intrigued by the illusionist and some were getting up out of their seats to take a closer look.

I feel that the show provided entertainment with the illusionist and the sporadic changes in music helped to liven up the atmosphere in some places. The show was very different and I really enjoyed looking at his collection. I was very interested in how the collection changed half way through the show and how it then reverted back. This was backed up by the choice of music that was used.

Links to reviews:
http://www.vogue.it/en/shows/show/fw-11-12-ready-to-wear/manish-arora/review

http://www.stylebistro.com/Fashion+Forum/articles/wtXrar9RGtC/Paris+Fashion+Week+Manish+Arora+Fall+Winter

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/hilary-alexander/TMG4967067/Paris-Fashion-Week-Manish-Arora.html

References

http://nickdrake.tumblr.com/post/418111673/sean-young-blade-runner -

http://www.vogue.it/en/shows/show/fw-11-12-ready-to-wear/manish-arora/review

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/hilary-alexander/TMG4967067/Paris-Fashion-Week-Manish-Arora.html

Corduroy Trousers- An Analysis Of The Social Impact Of A Particular Garment

Corduroy trousers were mainly worn as work wear, It was invented as a hard wearing fabric but then over a period of time its uses have changed. It was trendy in the 60s and 70s but now can be a bit naff. Now nerds are in fashion and Jarvis Cocker makes it cool to wear corduroy.

Corduroy is a textile composed of twisted fibres that, when woven, lie parallel to one another to form the cloth's distinct pattern. Corduroy is in essence, a ridged form of velvet. Corduroy is a wardrobe staple. Corduroy guarantees comfort, warmth, style and fun. The fabric is durable and fashionable and is available in all colors and prints. The fabric can be made into trousers of all styles and cuts, like pleated pants, jeans, etc. It is considered a durable hardwearing cloth.

While the word "corduroy" looks as though it should have a French origin, as if derived from "corde du roi" ("cloth/cord of the king"), but in fact there is no such phrase in French, and the word, like the cloth, is of English origin, probably from cord plus the obsolete duroy, a coarse woollen fabric.

There is a club called: The Corduroy Appreciation Club, which looks to be poking fun at corduroy. It has a fish emblem which might be because the fish skin is like the texture of corduroy but is actually about the number of cords in an inch of cloth.

Corduroy is associated with old people and geeks. You see a lot of older people wearing them in town with shirts tucked in. These are not the sort of people who wear tracksuit bottoms and skinny jeans. Corduroy communicates old age because of the large numbers of older people who wear it.

I think it was designed for everybody and while a large number of older people wear it, there are some younger people who wear corduroy trendily. It depends on how you wear it. If someone wore it with a nice top it could look smart and trendy and rock out as a style. I think old people chose to wear corduroy because it is smart, comfortable and it is more sophisticated than denim.

In the 70s actors like Robert De Niro, who was famous for Mean Streets, Godfather part 2 and Taxi Driver made it cool to wear corduroy. He was a style icon and men admired him because he was talented, famous, and had a tough guy image. Corduroy must have been trendy then. The second more recent image below of De Niro wearing corduroy in his older years in 2011 shows how corduroy is now not as trendy and worn by old people. Even though De Niro is still famous, he is no longer a modern fashion style icon. These images show the fashion cycle of corduroy, which like any fashion item is trendy and then not and then trendy again. So maybe corduroy will become fashionable again soon?


This image shows Robert De Niro wearing corduroy in the 70s.

This image shows Robert De Niro wearing corduroy now. January 2011

Reference

http://corduroyclub.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corduroy