Well, rumour has it that the next H&M collaboration is going to be with Lanvin. Although it is not confirmed, I was having dinner with some fashion insiders last night (Lisa Tant and Imran Amed) and they both seemed to think Lanvin was the one, although it won’t be officially announced until September 9th. H&M deserve mega-credit for their teaser videos, launched two days ago on Youtube. First of all, they are amazing to watch. Secondly, they get us thinking… who could it be? Before Lanvin, rumours were flying around about Bottega Veneta and Carolina Herrera, amongst others. I’ve posted two of the videos here, check them out. Apparently the quotes sound very “Alber Elbaz”, although I am sure it could be someone else as well.

I had a discussion with my students today about H&M’s designer collaborations, and we all seemed to agree that H&M had far more credibility than other “collaborative” fast fashion brands, because they work primarily with great fashion designers, rather than celebrities (Madonna and Kylie Minogue being the two exceptions.) The only other brand that I can think of who has managed this is Target, who have also done some great collaborations, and more recently, gained increased exposure because by selling their product through Gilt Groupe and in Colette.

A Kate Moss for Topshop dress, which does not look very "Kate Moss" and which is quite overpriced at approx. $250.

Which brings me to think, are we beginning to see the end of the celebrity collaborations? (Please God say it’s true!) Kate Moss has ended her relationship with Topshop this week, apparently on bad terms, and I am guessing it is because the clothes were never that interesting in the first place. They were being greedy rolling out 6 collections a year, and charging high prices, for something that wasn’t even properly designed by her. Luxury brands have been distancing themselves from celebrity collaborations (I hope we won’t need to see any more Kanye + Louis Vuitton crap), and I think the consumer is getting sick of it. Now that designers like Alber Elbaz and Phoebe Philo are practically household names, why do we need a celebrity to give kudos to a fashion brand, when a top designer can do the same thing?

Anyway, back to H&M. What are your thoughts? I’d love it to be Lanvin, but only if I manage to get my hands on it without having to wait in line. I was a bit scared that it might be Tomas Maier from Bottega Veneta, simply because I want the brand to remain secret (well, it is obviously not a secret, but it clearly doesn’t have much exposure) because I haven’t managed to buy anything from them yet. Until I can own some Bottega Veneta, I don’t want it going mainstream. It is sort of like the way you feel about bands when you are a teenager, you never want anyone else to know about your favourite bands, because then they are uncool. On the other hand, it is not likely I’ll become a Bottega Veneta customer anytime soon, because their clothing is VERY expensive, and is not available anywhere in Canada. Regardless of who the H&M designer is, there is no doubt it is going to be exciting!

P.S. One of the things that was brought up last night while we were gushing about the greatness of Bottega Veneta, was the fact that their collections are not at all branded. Imran explained that as a result of this, the brand was something you buy “for you.” And what a lovely way to think about a luxury brand. It is not about flashing labels and monograms, buying luxury should be always for yourself, not the people who are going to recognize the logo.

**** UPDATE ****

It has been confirmed, the collaboration with Lanvin will come out in stores on November 23rd. Here is a quote from Alber Elbaz.

“H&M approached us to collaborate, and see if we could translate the dream we created at Lanvin to a wider audience, not just a dress for less. I have said in the past that I would never do a mass-market collection, but what intrigued me was the idea of H&M going luxury rather than Lanvin going public. This has been an exceptional exercise, where two companies at opposite poles can work together because we share the same philosophy of bringing joy and beauty to men and women around the world.”

Primark jewelry: super cheap, very fun, and you don;t have to worry if it gets ruined at the beach.

I was approached a few weeks ago by a company asking me to write a guest post on their handbag blog. The company, Handbag Heaven, sells inexpensive handbags. My initial thoughts were, no thanks, I only like luxury bags. But then I had a look through their site, and I realized, not everything I have in my wardrobe is luxury, and not everything I aspire to have is luxury. Firstly, I can’t afford to buy all my clothes and accessories from a luxury brand. Secondly, I am very careful with my expensive and favorite pieces of clothing, and sometimes it is nice to have something that you don’t have to worry about losing or ruining. Also, when I am not sure about a new item or trend, and I prefer to try the fast fashion version before I decide whether I want to invest big bucks to buy a designer version.

So I got thinking about the pieces in my wardrobe that are designer, and the pieces that aren’t. And I realized there was a trend going on… I tend to splash out on products like shoes, every day handbags, skin products, coats, and classic clothing items, and rarely spend money on items like evening bags and jeans. So I have compiled a list of the clothing and accessory items that I think aren’t worth spending your hard earned cash on. Save it for your dream shoes and a great winter coat instead.

Eliza clutch bag.

Fun handbags: My most-used handbags are classic ones, usually bought from luxury brands because I want them to last a long time. But sometimes I want something fun to hold my phone, keys, and credit card when I go out.  Because this is a bag that usually only gets taken out three or four times a year at most (I have ten versions of this “fun” evening bag, some vintage, some new) it is not worth investing in an expensive piece.

Handbag Heaven sent me this Eliza clutch bag (image above) as a gift, and it is a perfect “fun evening bag.” The unique colour means it probably won’t get much wear, but it is a great piece that works with my black wardrobe. And it is big. Not BIG, but big enough so you can comfortably fit your smartphone, keys, small wallet, and a few other bits. Most of my vintage clutch bags are too small to fit my Blackberry. Handbag Heaven has given me a second version of the Eliza clutch, which is my first ever GIVEAWAY. Click here to find out how to win the bag!

Uniqlo jeans. Please open a store in Vancouver. Please!

Jeans. There are probably a lot of people who disagree with me on this, but I don’t see the point in spending a lot of money on jeans, when there are TONS of brands who do great jeans for less than $100 (and I don’t really think this was the case 8-10 years ago, when all the designer denim brands started hitting the market.)  The most I’ll spend is around $100 on a pair of Lee jeans, but other than that, I go to Uniqlo, who do amazing jeans, with a great fit, for less than $50 a pair. Gap and Topshop are also good options.

Club Monaco jewelry: looks good, and it won;t break the bank.

Summer Jewelry. I have mentioned this before in my Travel Tips, but I really don’t like traveling with expensive jewelry. It makes me nervous. Once I was going through security and the woman made me take off my giant Hermès Chaîne d’Ancre necklace. She was giving me the “no, no, no” look. I nearly had a heart attack, as I clearly was not leaving my Hermès necklace in Oslo. I explained to her that the necklace was for sale IN GENEVA AIRPORT, so therefore could not be a security threat. She went off to speak to her boss, which made me extremely nervous because the necklace left my sight, but I eventually got it back. The nuisance of having to rebook a flight from Oslo, or get to Sweden and fly from there, with my necklace, was enough to make me decide that when I travel, the expensive jewelry stays in the safe. So, when I want accessorize for the beach or hot holidays, I buy cheap jewelry that I don’t have to worry about.

New Look wood wedges, for walking from hotel room to beach.

Summer Shoes. I like to wear wedges when I go to pool/beach/park summer events and I don’t like to wreck expensive shoes. Espadrilles and wood or cork sandals are not worth spending a lot of money on. Sandals have little material on them, so it is not the end of the world if they aren’t made of leather. Save your shoe dollars for amazing winter boots.

Old Navy workout pants. Only 20 bucks!

Workout Gear. Aside from a good pair of running shoes, I can’t bring myself to spend money on workout clothes.  You can get a whole workout outfit from Old Navy for less than a $100. Why spend $400 on a track jacket then?

Read my guest post on Handbag Heaven here.

I watched this very interesting TED talk last week, it is Johanna Blakley talking about “copyright law’s grip on film, music and software barely touches the fashion industry … and (how) fashion benefits in both innovation and sales.” The video is 15 minutes long, but defintiely worth watching, and it also raises some intersting points about copyright protection in the fashion industry.

The video looks at how the fashion industry had fewer regulations than other creative industries, and how fashion ideas are very difficult to protect. The first example she discusses is that of Miuccia Prada, when out shopping, buys a vintage Balenciaga jacket, in order to copy the idea and put it into her own collection. My readers in the fashion industry will be aware of this type of activity, it is called research. Essentially, part of the process of finding ideas for a collection is to take other designer’s clothing, and translate it for your own collection. As the TED talk points out, in some industries this might be considered copyright infringement. In the case of fashion, it is just how we get our ideas.

Left, Steve Madden shoe, right, Balenciaga shoe.

Is this wrong? Sometimes, yes. It is wrong when Steve Madden takes Balenciaga’s shoe design,  makes a few minor changes to it, and sells it as his own. It is wrong when Topshop copies Chloé’s dress design (and they had to destroy over a 1000 dresses when Chloé protested over the design.) But top designers don’t do that, they are much smarter and much more imaginative. And they don’t want to copy other designer’s work, they just want to be inspired by it.

Left, See by Chloé dress, right, Topshop dress.

The design research process involves many sources of inspiration, including travel abroad, books, artwork, and culture. Designers also buy clothing for inspiration, which can include very vintage pieces, old costumes, traditional dress found on their trips around the world, and other pieces of old clothing. Sometimes they take inspiration from other designer’s work, usually old work, but sometimes newer work, although it is almost never direct copies of recent designer’s work. I am sure Miuccia would take the aforementioned vintage Balenciaga jacket, and transform it into her own design, making serious modifications ot the original piece.

When I was at Sonia Rykiel, we used to have a guy, (who had the best job in the entire world) whose role it was to travel to flea markets around the world, and buy items of clothing and accessories that he felt we could use as inspiration for our collections. (Don’t ask me how to get into this line of work, if I knew, that is what I would be doing.) One season he brought us a whole bunch of bags, which I assumed were all vintage pieces. At the end of the season, we got rid of the ones that hadn’t been used, so I was allowed to take two home.

A few weeks later, I discovered that one of the bags was sold in a Paris shop, located quite close to our design studios. I also realized that the bag was a design from a new brand, and was being sold as part of the current season. Soon after, I noticed that the second bag was also from a young designer’s current collection. Basically, the items we were using for ideas for our future collection were not only old vintage pieces, but also the work of unknown young designers trying to break into the industry.

At the time, it came as a surprise to me. Then I learnt that this was commonplace in the industry. The young designers were coming up with great ideas, and we were considering stealing them. Those two particular bags never influenced our collections, although I am sure that we had at some point copied other designer’s work.

Left, Marc by Marc Jacobs, right, Wallis.

There are few laws that really protect garment designs, but the ones that exist are set up to protect large companies, and rarely small designers. When Steve Madden copied Alexander McQueen’s boot, they sued him. But when a small designer gets copied by a larger brand, there isn’t much that they can do. Big brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci have to deal with thousands of counterfeits, therefore they need to rely on the strength of their brands and the quality of their product, to convince customers that the cheap knockoff at a fraction of the price is not worth buying. But small companies, who don’t have powerful brand identities and legal teams, struggle to protect their designs and brand identities.

Left, Alexander McQueen, right, Steve Madden.

What can we do about this? Nothing really. It is the reality of the industry, which is cut throat for nearly everyone in it. Not all big brands copy from young designers, but many do. Fast fashion brands often steal ideas from designer brands, and they are rarely caught out, because copyright laws make it very difficult for designers to protect their ideas.

Sucks, doesn’t it? If you are a small brand, and patenting, trademarking, and even registering design ideas is too expensive for you, there are a few ways you can protect yourself. Keep records of everything you do. If your design is copied, you can use items like press clippings, documents from factories/printers/photographers, etc… as evidence that you designed the idea before the other company. The old fashioned way of sending yourself a copy of all your designs, before they go out into the public domain, can also help. A postdated, stamped, sealed envelope can be used as evidence in court, just make sure not to open the envelope!

Read other Fashion 101 posts:

Fashion 101: How Magazines Cover Trends

Fashion 101: Where do Fashion Trends Come From?

Fashion 101: Designers with Two Jobs

Fashion 101: How Haute Couture Works

Fashion 101: Magazines and their Advertisers

Image sources:
Alexander McQueen and Steve Madden shoe.
Chloé and Topshop yellow dresses.
Steve Madden and Balenciaga lego shoes.
Marc by Marc Jacobs and Wallis floral dresses.

If you want to see more, Fashionista’s Adventures in Copyrights posts a lot of the high street copies.

A Spring Summer 2010 trend feature from online retailer Asos.com.

I’d like to do a Fashion 101 post about fashion trends and forecasting, since it’s an area that I work in, and find quite fascinating. In fact, I am going to write two posts on fashion trends, the first one will focus on how trends come about, and the second one about how magazines present trends. I feel bad for being so mean to the magazines, and revealing their dirty tricks, but in this day of absolute transparency (thanks to the internet), I think its only fair that the readers know how things work. But first, let’s talk about where fashion trends come from.

One of the questions I often get asked is “Why do designers have the same ideas at the same time?” and by answering this, I am sort of answering the question “Where do trends come from?”

A Spring Summer 2010 trend feature from luxury online retailer Net-A-Porter.com.

Designers don’t all have the same ideas at the same time, as we saw on the Fall Winter 2010 catwalks, not everyone was doing the same thing. But there were certainly a few things that repeated: there were a lot more curvy, feminine silhouettes, lots of designers were reviving 90’s minimalism, and there was a lot of sheepskin. So how does this happen? Do they all have a chat and decide what they are going to do? No, in fact its the opposite, designers are very secretive about what they do, until after their catwalk show. They have the same ideas at the same time because they are exposed to similar influences and they are looking for inspiration at the same time.

A Spring Summer 2010 trend feature from Topshop.com.

The fashion industry is small, and whether you are living in Paris, London, or New York, you are going to be exposed to similar inspirational influences as other designers. Firstly, everyone starts their research process after the shows, so in March while most of us were digesting the Fall Winter shows and wondering what we were going to buy come September when the collections were arriving in store, designers are off researching their Spring Summer 2011 collections. They will be looking at similar things, like art exhibitions, new creative work (design, architecture, fine art), new bands or other performance artists, interesting films, new books that have come out (and I don’t mean paperbacks, I mean visual books with creative work, like retrospective books or photography books), etc… Some designers will go off to foreign countries to get inspired, but they may have also been inspired by their last holiday, which was probably to some trendy holiday hotspot that many other designers went to as well. Everyone is exposed to similar ideas, and because designers have often been trained in the same ways, they just tend to move in the same directions. They “feel” things at the same time.

The images from the book Vacant inspired collections by Luella (punk styling), Sonia Rykiel (studs on shoes and knitwear), and Emanuel Ungaro (punk-style clothing.)

I hope this isn’t to vague, but I can give some examples. When I was in Paris in 2000, a book called Vacant: A Diary of the Punk Years 1976-1979 came out. It was full of photos from the punk years, and I remember quite a lot of designers bought it. At the time, studs weren’t that commonplace in fashion (not like today) but there were quite a few designers who were influenced by this book. At Sonia Rykiel, we added these fantastic studded shoes to our collection, inspired by the book. We also stuck studs to our knitwear. At Emanuel Ungaro, they featured punk and rockabilly looks on their catwalk, and blasted Billy Idol during the show. Luella named her collection “Daddy, who were The Clash.” So that punk trend was probably kicked started by the fact that everyone bought that same book.

The next step would be for the magazines to pick up on the “punk” inspiration, and they present it to their readers as the newest trend. I’ll explain more about that part of the process in the next Fashion 101.

Babyshambles and other London indie rock bands inspired Dior Homme.

Was it a coincidence that Sonia Rykiel and Emanuel Ungaro had similar inspirations, when in fact the design teams were friends? No. There is no doubt in my mind that the sharing of ideas between different designers contributes to the fact that there are similarities between collections, even if it is completely unintentional. I remember one season at Sonia Rykiel when we had put a very bright, brash yellow into our collection. we we were worried the the colour was bordering on tacky. Three days before the show, one of our fabric suppliers accidentally delivered a role of fabric to us, which was meant to be going to Louis Vuitton (whose design team, at the time, were very friendly with the designers over at Sonia Rykiel.) Louis Vuitton’s fabric was in the exact shade of yellow that we had put into our collection. The fabric suppliers begged us to return it immediately and not breathe a word about it, which we did. But we also breathed a huge sigh of relief that we weren’t off the mark with our bizarre yellow, because if Louis Vuitton were doing it, then it was definitely going to be cool.

To the left, Sonia Rykiel, other images, Louis Vuitton. All Spring Summer 2000. The yellow looked a lot more garish in real life, in these photos it looks a lot milder.

It is really interesting to track trends through fashion, because you can usually tie trends to something visually exciting that impacted the designers at the time of their research: The Memoirs of a Geisha film came out before Dior did their spectacular Spring Summer 2007 couture show, which was heavily inspired by traditional Japanese kimonos. Chloe’s 2001 horses collection came out shortly after the publication of a book called Rodeo Girl, which featured photographs of cowgirls. In 2005, Hedi Slimane was inspired by the sleazy indie rock bands of Camden Town, like Pete Dogherty and Babyshambles, for his Dior Homme collections.

The Rodeo Girl book inspired this Chloe collection, with images of horses.

So that’s why I tell people who are interested in getting into trend forecasting to be on the ball about…everything. Especially things that are visually interesting. You never know who or what is going to inspire the next major fashion trend.

Memoirs of a Geisha inspired Christian Dior Haute Couture.

One important issue I didn’t explain is the role of the trend forecasters, who generally tend to be inspired in the same ways as designers do. It is rare that a luxury brand designer will get their trends from a forecaster, high end brands have their own ideas, and those ideas will in turn affect the fast fashion trends. Trend forecasters usually sell fashion trend concepts to fast fashion brands, or companies who don’t have strong enough design teams, although some luxury brands will use trend forecasters for ideas on colour and fabric.

All catwalk images from Style.com.

Read other Fashion 101 posts:

Fashion 101: Designers with Two Jobs

Fashion 101: How Haute Couture Works

Fashion 101: Magazines and their Advertisers

So many people dress well in London. Not classic like the Parisiennes, or polished like the New Yorkers, but here people are trendy. The 13 year old girl, and the 55 year old woman are all dressed in the latest fashions (although sometimes the women dress a bit too young…)

Ever since I arrived in London I’ve been trying to figure out why everyone here is wearing the latest fashions, while most of Vancouver can barely manage one great trendy item, let alone a complete look. It took me a while to figure out why, but then it dawned on, it is obviously becasue they can access the latest fashion at a very low price. The British High Street is the best fast fashion shopping in the world, because it has all of the best international brands and a ton of incredible British brands. Topshop, Miss Selfridge, New Look, Primark, River Island, Oasis, and Marks and Spencer are some of the British brands that sit next to the likes of Zara (Spain), H&M (Sweden), Uniqlo (Japan), Bikbok (Norway), Mango (Spain) and more. Every store is packed with the latest styles at amazing price points, although that’s not necessarily a good thing. I can understand why there is so much criticism here about people buying too many clothes, since there are so many clothes readily available, and extrememly cheap.

I came here intending on hitting all the deparments stores, but then I realised I am more excited about the high street clothing, which is cheaper, and a lot more fun. Plus I can afford more of it. I am trying to to buy things I will wear for a while, not super trendy pieces (well, not all super trendy pieces), although a lot of the very trendy stuff probably won’t be in fashion in Vancouver for at least another season or two, so I’ll get a longer life from most of it.

Imgaes from their brand’s websites. New Look black and white striped tunic, £18. New Look black and white bralet, £20. New Look Gold by Giles Deacon striped cap sleeve top, £35. Oasis nautical sweater, £45. Richard Nicoll for Topshop knotted t-shirt, £32. River Island shoe, £59.99. River Island bag, £29.99. Topshop peach cropped tank, £10. Topshop black puffy skirt, £60.

I am getting very excited for my trip to London, especially after I received this photo from my friend Dal this morning.

It’s a package that arrived from Topshop, and inside are the Louise Goldin for Topshop shoes I asked him to order for me.

I got very excited about them in November, when this photo came out:

The shoes were supposed to look like this.

And then was a bit disappointed when I saw the final version, which is a lot more tame than the prototypes. But they are a pretty cool day shoe for work, and I can’t wait to tear open that box and try these on.

And the commercial version ended up like this.

So that’s one of several pairs of shoes I plan on acquiring in London!

Topshop Unique’s Fall Winter 2010 show had some pretty crazy accessories, including some amazing animal headdresses. I love their cable knit socks and leggings, and I really wish I didn’t have to wait until next winter to get my hand on a pair.

Images from Elleuk.com.

A typical "Nu-Rave" ensemble. Disgusting.

Every now and then a fashion trend comes into existence that is so bad, so tragic, and so hilarious, that the only thing you can do is make fun of it and hope that it goes away. Nu Rave was one of those trends, one of the worst trends I have ever seen. EVER. This premise of Nu Rave, which was very 2007 in London, was that it was a revival of the 90s rave scene. Now, I hate to admit it, but I was part of that 90s rave scene, and I can assure you I never wore the disgusting clothes that the Nu-Rave trend regurgitated.

Cassette Playa menswear from Spring Summer 2007. Note: this was NOT a joke.

The worst Nu Rave brand of all was Cassette Playa, designed by the worst dressed woman in London, Carri Mundane.

Carri Mundane. The outfit says it all.

Another really bad brand was KTZ, which was created by the founders of the Nu Rave fashion store on Greek Street, Kokon Tozai. I used ot go into Kokon Tozai with my friends Daniel and Dean just to laugh at the clothes. Seriously. They were so hideous, and so over priced. I mean, a $250 cashmere baby rattle from Hermes seemed good value compared to this stuff. I once asked the sales assistant at Kokon Tozai, what person actually bought the hideous $300 Cassette Playa t-shirts, which were basically an XXL Hanes tee printed with a three colour screen print motif. He said “Fashion students at Saint Martins.” No fashion student at Saint Martins will spend $300 on a shitty, ugly t-shirt that they can whip up on their own in the print room in about half an hour (I know, I WAS a fashion student at Saint Martins.) This stuff was a joke, and I am so glad the brands have sort of disapperaed…well, sort of.

A £215 Cassette Playa t-shirt. That's over $400CDN. Nope, this is still not a joke.

The reason why I brought this up is because my friend Michelle emailed me today and asked me whether this was KTZ for Topshop dress was serious. I had to tell her that unfortunately yes, it was serious. She couldn’t understand why anyone would pay $400 for this hideous monstrosity. I can’t understand either. It is just gross.

Pearl Dot Priss Dress by KTZ for Topshop. This dress sells for £200. That's a lot to pay for a dress that will make you look fat and ugly.

However, I’l take this moment to say that despite this disgusting dress, Topshop is usually pretty amazing, and I’l be dropping a lot of cash when I go there next month while I am in London. Can’t wait!

Cassette Playa images from their website. Carri Mundane image from here. Topshop image from their website.

On thing I loathe about many young British designer’s early collections is that they often look like bits and bobs bought from a jumble sale, and thrown together on a catwalk. I always tell my fashion design students to think about their entire collection on one rail in a store. Does it look like a collection, or does it look like a rail of clothes at a garage sale? Because if it is the latter, then they need to go back to the drawing board. This is what Mulberry’s collection looks like, lots of nice pieces, but terribly styled, and it all looks like you can go to Topshop and get the exact same thing for a fraction of the price. I do like their accessories, but you can’t really see them properly in the photos. I guess the accessories are really all that counts for a brand like this…

I Love…

a simple, elegant, fun wool winter dress. In a really nice colour.

the mustard tones (which seem to be very fashionable for next winter) and the bolero jacket, with great fabric detailing.

I Loathe…

boring jeans on a catwalk. There is nothing special about these, why buy from a brand that has little experience in working with denim, when you can go to an expert denim brand, probably pay less, and have a better looking ass.

a dress, no actually, an outfit, that looks like it was bought for $15 at a cheap vintage store.

dogs on a catwalk. I hate gimmicks.

another "bad-British-designer" cheap-looking outfit that can probably be replicated by hitting a few garage sales.

All images from Style.com.

The fashion news of the day is that Puma has sold its majority stake in the Hussein Chalayan brand back to Hussein Chalayan himself. However, he will apparently stay on as Creative Director at Puma.

I thought this was pretty interesting. When Puma bought a majority stake in Hussein Chalayan in 2008, we presumed the brand would become a bit more commercial, and at the same time, Puma would become more exciting because Hussein was going to be the Creative Director. The fact that he bought his company back, would imply that he wasn’t happy with the arrangement, but since he is staying on at Puma, I’m guessing there are other reasons behind todays. news, and maybe this was part of the original plan.

Hussein Chalayan is another one of London’s super edgy designers, although he is from a Turkish background. His career has been bumpy, because he has often refused to do many commercial products, and therefore has often been tight on cash. He is best know for his incredible fashion shows, but some of his other career highlights included designing clothes for Björk, working with TSE cashmere, designing for Marks and Spencer, and receiving and OBE from the Queen (Order of the British Empire.) I also found this quote on Wikipedia: “A passionate fashion designer, Chalayan has made his feelings for celebrity-based fashion clear when he publicly announced how he felt about Kate Moss’s collaboration with high-street clothing label Top Shop, calling the move ‘insulting’” Go Hussein!

Puma is also a really cool brand, when it comes to sportswear. They have always been the edgier than their competitors, and I feel that in many ways they have more integrity than Nike, Adidas or Reebok. Puma is more of a fashion designer’s brand than the others. They dedicate their efforts targeting the early adopter community (the cool people who pick up trends first) instead of the mainstream, which means their products are usually more interesting and innovative. It made sense when Puma and Hussein Chalayan joined forces, as Puma would benefit from his creativity, he would benefit from their cash, and the brands would not clash. By the way, Puma is controlled by Gucci Group PPR, so there was also the involvement of a luxury conglomerate.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the brand now. I hope he works on expanding his diffusion line, Chalayan, and widening the stockists, so we can buy it in Vancouver. Let’s look at some pictures from Hussein Chalayan’s collections.

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 1998. This show caused a lot of controversy, for obvious reasons.

Hussein Chalayan Autumn Winter 1998

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 1999

Hussein Chalayan Autumn Winter 1999. The last two images show the dress as it opens up.

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 2000. Second and third rows down show another dress opening up.

Hussein Chalayan Autumn Winter 2000. This incredible collection shows a set of living room furniture turning into clothing, the highlight being the coffee table turned skirt at the end

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 2007 featuring the famous Bubble dress.

Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 2009.

And here’s a little bit of interesting information about Puma. Their red Clyde shoe was considered to be the shoe of the best breakdancers in the 1980s. In fact, you couldn’t wear this shoes unless you were one of the best, it was a status shoe. Here’s a image and some more info from the Classic Sports Shoes website.

“Definitely the most legendary and popular Puma style of all time, this classic has a place in history and in every Hall of Fame. At the 1968 Olympics, the newly released Puma Suede was worn by Tommie Smith, the prominent Olympic athlete, when he took to the Olympic awards podium with one fist held defiantly in the air.

Walt Frazier wore this style in the 1980’s and this shoe became known as the “Clyde”.

The Suede is widely regarded as the original B-Boy shoe. It was made famous by early break dancing crews, such as the New York City Breakers and the Rock Steady Crew, who rocked them religiously at early Hip-Hop jams in New York City.”

Catwalk images from Hussein Chalayan’s Website.