What To Wear : How to Wear : Shopping and Wearing Catwalk Designer Pieces

 By: Unknown    02:15  No comments

Malta Fashion Week has come and gone and whilst we sit down lamenting the fact that there isn't a nightly fashion show to attend, an outfit to plan or a post to hurry up and write, we must not forget the fact that that we are left with something great - brilliant new collections by many talented local designers.

A lot of Maltese people don’t quite know how to shop from a local designer, some don’t understand how to go about it and others don’t understand how to wear the pieces. Truth be told, shopping off a catwalk is a very new concept to Malta and like with everything else there is a time period in which people need to be weaned into a new idea.

It is important to understand that there are different designers – some designers design pure ready-to-wear collections, this means you can simply take an outfit and wear it exactly as it was worn on the catwalk, these pieces are highly wearable and usually not overly outrageous. Caroline Hili, Charles and Ron, Mosca, CF7, Danijela Bozic (International Designer), Marco Parascandalo are all designers that exhibited at this year’s fashion week that showcased many pieces that fell in this category (although some of them did have a couple of more outrageous designs). These designers are very important to our fashion industry and they present us with more choices to shop from other than simply always buying mass market brands.

Then there were other designers (Rosemarie Abela, Ritienne Zammit, Judy Clark (International Designer) ) that designed more outrageous designs, designed to be regarded as inspirational fashion ideas, as highly artistic pieces designed to evoke the senses if you wish – there are very few people who would wear such head-to-toe looks (internationally, Anna Dello Russo and Rihanna are probably the most renowned for this) and very few occasions were even such people who enjoy getting in character for a night and wearing something outrageous, will actually do it. In Malta, fashion week is probably one of the only occasions were one can really give up all the rules for a night and enjoy wearing fashion as art.  

In the top picture, in the leftmost pic (both fashion week outfits), I wore just one piece from the Charles and Ron Summer 2014 collection whilst in the second picture I decided to go all out and wear Ritenne Zammit head-to-toe. Had a lot of fun wearing both and I really enjoy supporting and wearing local designers to local fashion-related events but such a head-to-toe look is only appropriate for something like fashion week and even then might not appeal to more conservative tastes.

Anna Dello Russo - head-to-toe Prada

Rita Ora in Alexandre Vauthier and Rihanna in Lanvin

 Anna Dello Russo in Fausto Puglisi

Does this mean these more outrageous pieces are not sellable? Noooo, it simply means you have to stop looking at the look head-to-toe and instead take the time to regard each element in the outfit as a separate piece, start thinking about how you could style these individual pieces with basic elements already in your wardrobe. For example - a knitwear dress from Rosemarie Abela’s collection does not have to be worn over a huge wide skirt and paired with an artistic hat – it can simply be paired with leather trousers / black jeans, a leather jacket and plain shoes. The important thing is not to be scared to try something new, as much as I think high street brands are great and give us common folk a chance to wear latest trends at affordable prices, I also think that sometimes they inhibit our creativity and limit our appreciation for more unconventional designs.

As a side note and parting thought, I really fell in love with Judy R Clark (International Designer)’s collection especially her frock coats with pheasant feathers – I asked her if she had ever actually sold a coat with feathers and the answer was yes, apparently she has and the person buying wasn't buying it to model in a photo shoot or a costume party but to a gala party – so just goes to show, fashion is all about expressing yourself and having fun.

To go about buying any catwalk pieces you might wish to own, the best thing is to contact the designer, either through email/phone/facebook (let me know if you need any contact details) – don’t be scared to ask prices, and don’t be scared to explain that something isn't affordable or you don’t like it quite as much upon close inspection – everyone understands that people have different tastes and budgets.