Outfit Post : MERCEDEZ-BENZ FASHION WEEK MALTA - DAY 7 - THE MISSING GOLD LINK

 By: Unknown    03:55  No comments

You may have realised there was a missing malta fashion week outfit post last week - the last one - DAY 7 - International Designers Night. The reason for this was because since the next day was fashion awards I knew it would get lost in the crowd and this one is a little bit special as it's split in two parts - the process and the wearing. You know how I always say that I like to wear featured designers at their shows, well, last Friday, I cheated terribly, it was International Designers and instead I wore something by a local Maltese designer - Ritienne Zammit - actually I wore a catwalk look head-to-toe AND I had a partner in crime but more on that to come.....

So for the process, I visited Ritienne at her studio to choose the outfit for the night, I was impressed by how in theme with her designs the whole place is....it really felt like her character is embodied in the place, no wonder she creates such fantastic designs.

Of course there had to be Selfie time to capture my denim-on-denim - Outfit Details : All Jennyfer

And now for the outfit - I chose to wear the matching gold crop top and skirt with a brocade bodysuit worn underneath buttt I also got to wear something that Ritienne hadn't yet unveiled - THE FUR BEANIE - this is so warm and so much fun to wear. I paired the outfit with silver wedge sneakers from Aldo to complete the whole street-look concept. 

The outfit is quite extreme of course - it's a catwalk look so not designed to be worn to an everyday occasion as is, but for the night it was a whole load of fun and definitely got Ritienne's clothes some attention. The way to transport these clothes to a wardrobe would be to buy the individual pieces and wear them with more 'normal-looking' pieces..e.g. the crop top/bodysuit with a black leather skit. 

And for my matching partner in crime - Daniel from Devil Wears Praduh also wore Ritienne's catwalk look :)

with Marisa Grima and Robert Galea

The biggest problem of the night though was the fact that it was freezing, really really cold and infact I only lasted a grand total of 15 minutes, after which a sweater came on..luckily it happened to be maroon.

With new local designer - LUKKA - very talented guy

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EVENTS POST : MFWA - INTERNATIONAL DESIGNERS - MERCEDES BENZ FASHION WEEK MALTA 2014 - DAY7

 By: Unknown    01:11  No comments

The last day of Malta Fashion Week was yesterday and it ended with a beautiful International Designers Show in Pjazza Regina, Valletta on a rather chilly night. Five designers were featured: Danijela Bozic from Serbia, House of Jola from Nigeria, Jean Paul Benielli from Paris, Sally Bowa from Nigeria and Judy R Clark from Scotland UK.

As regards organisation, this is of course the hardest to coordinate as there is a limit to how many preparations can be done in advance before the designer arrives, certain last minute decisions always need to be had. This means that it was a tiring afternoon that started at 2 pm and ended when the show ended at about 9:30 pm but the satisfaction at the end was brilliant.

I loved each and everyone of the designers, they all displayed wonderful collections - Danijela's pieces are extremely interesting, a lot of the pieces have very structured shapes with very clean and defined lines and lovely tailoring. The style is elegant and chic and what I really liked is that although these are structured pieces, the woman's body is not lost and there is in fact still a healthy dose of sex appeal thrown in in the final look. The jewellery worn with the outfits is also very luxurious and very stunning.

Joan Okorodudu from House of Jola is a fabulous designer and a fabulous champion of fashion in Nigeria. Her collection fills me with joy - literally - those prints, those colours and of course the jackets - her jackets are absolutely amazing - both male and female...the clothes all have really nice fits too and really enhance the female body. She has some lovely 2-piece pieces and I really liked the purple crop top and matching trousers outfit. The men's pieces are very nicely tailored and the green paisley suit is truly a standout piece. I think I could actually buy all of her female collection.

Jean Paul Benielli is a haute couture designer that produces intricate, delicate, mesmerising pieces, his pieces are all about femininity, about showing off a woman's body, they scream glamour and sophistication. They also have an air of magic about them and immediately transport you to a red carpet. The detail of the pieces, the beading and the way the different fabrics are worked together is quite impressive, this is a designer who produces art.

Sally Bowa is another Nigerian designer and just like House of Jola, she also designs clothes that are a lot of fun, clean lines, large patterns, lots of colour, flared trousers - I truly am a fan of African fashion.

Last up was Judy R  Clark from Scotland and WOW, ooh I want to wear one of these romantic, work-of-art pieces, actually scratch that, all of these pieces. Her collection is both Scottish and vintage inspired with vintage lace, cuffs, petticoats and bustles all being prominent features. Her collection has different sets within the collection, there's what I am calling the Scottish princess one with beautiful long gowns worked from lovely lace with intricate beading and lots of frills and volume. I keep imagining one of these dresses being worn as a wedding gown - that would be one of the most interesting brides ever. The standout set in my opinion was the 'tartan one' featuring tailored, structured, blazers and frock coats made from wool, with tartan accents and some even with feathers.

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EVENTS POST : MFWA - GAGLIARDI - MERCEDES BENZ FASHION WEEK MALTA 2014 - DAY6

 By: Unknown    23:42  No comments

I'm embarrassed to say that last night was my first time inside Malta's national Library, I was always under the impression that it wasn't actually open to the public. I've mentioned before that I love libraries. well most of all, I love books, burying myself into a story and allowing myself to be transported somewhere is one of my favourite pastimes. An entire huge room with floor to ceiling (and a massively high ceiling) books is therefore right up my alley. 

There has never ever been a fashion show held in the public library, actually I wold probably think there has never been a show of any kind inside the library. It seemed fitting that Bortex, a long standing Maltese company, would celebrate their 50 year anniversary with a Gagliardi show at such a location,. Gagliardi is their most recent venture and it is the company's first venture into creating a brand from scratch and making it their own. Bortex had always had a reputation for impeccable tailoring, for many years they produced clothes for large, foreign brands and were also the de facto place for a Maltese man to purchase a suit. When Gagliardi was first launched, most people thought that it was another brand that Bortex were making clothes for. The foreign-sounding name and the opening of stores abroad, further enhanced that belief but irrespective of where they thought it was coming from, Maltese men loved it, it offered a fresh approach on formal wear with reasonable prices and I would say that presently Gagliardi is probably dressing 3/4 of the Maltese men.

Yesterday, they presented two collections - the Spring/Summer 2014 one and the Autumn/Winter 2104/2015 one. The Summer collection was fresh with some lovely colours and of course impeccable tailoring. The beautiful suits were a feature and there were some lovely jackets paired with chinos and very interesting shoes, the shoes are theirs too. The fabrics are of a very high quality with fine Italian Wool, high quality cotton and leather all a prominent part of the collection. The collection is inspired by the Amalfi coast and there's an evident emphasis on lightness throughout.

The Winter Collection blew me away ....timeless and classic but with some standout, original pieces that really need to start being available for women. The collection is inspired by wild boar 'Cinghiale' hunting in Tuscany. The collection is quite colourful, warm colours such as mustard, orange and a beautiful green used throughout. There are some standout classical pieces such classic chinos and single breasted waistcoats and chunky knits, plaid made an appearance as did tweed fabric.

My standout piece from the whole show was this paisley jacket....its is DIVINE.

Great show, great venue and beautiful clothes. The styling of the show was also very, very good, everything fit the models perfectly and I really enjoyed seeing the way the different accessories - from pocket squares to mirrored sunglasses - were incorporated into the outfits.

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Events Post : MFWA New Designers Show - Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Malta 2014

 By: Unknown    15:54  No comments

Hot on the heels of the solo designer show yesterday morning, last night at Casino Maltese 12 young designers exhibited their work and new collections to the public. Great fashion show modelled by supernovamodels,com, hair by Elaine Galea, Krista Paris and Eva Garden and some really lovely hairstyles (fishtails!) by Dreads Salon.

First out on the catwalk was Edith and she opened with quite a bang...there were lots of lovely pieces and I especially liked the feather details, but of course the most impressive piece was the black dress with a gold leaf cape modelled by Sarah Bonaci and WOW ...this is one stunning piece.

Next was Gremar, a more established designer who has been working as a designer for a few years now, the pieces are lovely and quite exquisite, lovely lace pieces with intricate jewelled details and some lovely dresses made using some type of Serbian 3D technique that gave quite an elaborate effect.

Up next was Marta Gomez Vidal and this collection was quite interesting - aztec patterns, bright colours combined with leather harnesses and some lovely bags. I liked this designer's use of colour and different patterns.

The next designer was menswear, if I'm not wrong this is the first time in the Malta Fashion Week that a new designer has presented a menswear collection. Marco Parascandalo was a lot of people's favourite, his ready-to-wear street inspired pieces are fun, trendy and highly wearable...love the shorts and slogan t-shirts...think he must think about womenswear next.

Churpina - has a very bubbly, eclectic image and that was really reflected in her clothes. They were some very interesting designs and some really nice colour and pattern combinations.

Fransina and her lovely handmade bags was next. I love bags so it comes as no surprise that this was one of my favourite collections, I'm a sucker for a beautiful bag and these had lovely details like wooden handles, slouchy soft material, these have definitely been added to my shopping list.

Mosca really impressed me, her collection was absolutely superb...the material used is wonderful - there were slinky dresses and tops, leather bags with different textures. These pieces felt very 'finished' for want of a better word and of a very high quality. They didn't feel in any way experimental, they are the sort of pieces you would expect to find in a showroom of an established designer. 

Lukka had some really lovely dresses and skirts, I loved the main plum colour and the floral pattern. There was a dress in particular with puffy sleeves that I really, really loved.

Taia - Mandy and Alicia's floral themed collection had very nice tailoring - the pieces fit very well and each piece had a good sense of body proportions. They also paid a great deal of attention to the little details like using different materials for buttons and different textures in one piece. My particular favourites were a flouncy skirt that I really fell in love with and a pair of printed, leather boots.

Celeste

This girl is not new to Malta Fashion Week or fashion design and she presented a great collection with a variety of different items, her collection was inspired by the five stages of grief that follow death.

Poshet!

These bags are fun and interesting with a nice dose of quirkiness, a nice handbag always excites me.

Rosemarie Abela was most definitely last but not least....this was some serious brilliant designing work, inspired by Asia and the ancient Samurais - Rosemarie spared no effort or expense. From the exquisite choice of fabrics (lots of silk and lovely knit) to the interesting, unique designs and surreal accessories, I was really impressed, this is one talented girl.

 In the past years, I must admit this show was never one of the highlights former, whilst there were always one or two really god designers, few really presented something a bit special worthy of a fashion week and some felt a bit drab and of poor quality. This year I was so please to see how the standard has really shot up and all the designers put in a great deal of effort - thumbs up to all

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