Dries Love

I usually don't take this space to dwell on designers, but I really wanted to write about my love for the Dries Van Noten show yesterday. And considering it was the first show Freja walked in to start off her Paris Fashion week, I thought this would be as appropriate a time as I would ever get. (Besides, it's no secret how I feel about Dries.)

I know I'm not equipped with the necessary technical vocabulary to express the beauty of these clothes, but I do know when something is so beautiful and so perfect that I just can't get it out of my mind. So, how do I even begin to describe the show yesterday?

It was elegant, yet basic. Wearable, yet aspirational. Simple, yet complex. Straightforward, yet deceptive. Maybe I like Dries so much because I think his clothes exist simultaneously on both ends of the spectrum, much like Freja and her ability to be both masculine and feminine, classic and contemporary, commercial and cerebral. I seem to be drawn towards things that can paradoxically embody opposing, even conflicting, notions. I guess that incongruity is what makes something interesting to me.

In addition to the above, my love for Dries also comes from the way he's able to execute the cut, fit, volume, proportion and silhouette of his clothing. Along with impeccable tailoring, I think he really has a masterful command of all these elements so he's free to play around with them and draw out new ideas from them. After all, it takes real skill to make something as mundane and ubiquitous as as grey sweatshirt seem impossibly luxurious and polished.

And elements like cinched waists, broad shoulders, upright collars, and color blocking take this collection beyond basics that you can find in any shop, for they all have that special Dries touch.

You see that touch in the way his pants start out with a lot of volume on top, but gradually reduce down by way of straps and zippers as your eye descends to the feet. You see it in his use of leopard print and muted floral patterns; not two things you would ever put together, but in his hands they seem right. You see it in his layering, and in something as simple, but so beautiful, as his slouchy cut-off sleeves.

And the bags....oh, the bags. I would die happy swimming in a sea of these.

Dries clothing is about as far away as you can get from my own personal style, but I think that's why I love it so much every season. It's special and meaningful beyond being something that I want to wear. It's always a collection that makes me reevaluate what I think I know about good clothing and how to dress. But more importantly, it's a collection that always makes me dream. And that's fashion at it's best.

Image Credits: style.com

Definitely Dries

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that we each have a show forever associated with Freja in our own minds. It's the one that we can't think of without immediately recalling Freja as well. Whether it's because we feel she embodies the design aesthetic, she's always in the ad campaigns, or she represents their ideal, there's just that one show you expect Freja to walk in, and are hugely disappointed if she doesn't.

For me that show has to be Dries Van Noten. As much as I love seeing her ongoing runway relationships with Marni, Balenciaga, Chanel, Narciso, Chloe, etc...a Dries show just isn't complete if Freja isn't walking in it.

It's hard for me to describe why I have such a strong association between Dries and Freja in my mind. It's an implicit feeling I get from the clothes and the aura they create. I guess that to me, a woman who would wear Dries in real life would look like Freja. She would be tall, lanky and kind of awkward, yet totally self-possessed and assured. She would be a world traveler, taking bits of the places she's been too and leaving bits of her own self behind. Everywhere all at once, and yet extremely elusive. I know this association is kind of ironic since Freja's actual personal style is the complete polar opposite of the stereotypical Dries style. But it just works in my mind.

And I suspect that it works that way in Dries' mind as well. :) Since her debut, Freja has walked in every Dries show save one (oddly enough, that was my favorite Dries collection ever), and she's closed for him three different times.

Spring/Summer 2006 (Closed)


Fall/Winter 2006/2007


Spring/Summer 2007


Fall/Winter 2007/2008


Spring/Summer 2008 (Closed)


Fall/Winter 2008/2009


Spring/Summer 2009 (skipped)

Fall/Winter 2009/2010


Spring/Summer 2010 (Closed)


And check out the beautiful details from this season (click through for bigger images):

He is one of my favorite designers and I love how he crafts his clothes with true consideration for woman and her place within modern life. Even though I completely shrink away from prints and color in my own daily wardrobe, I still love and appreciate his beautiful collections. All the basics are there, just updated in ways you've never seen before.

This is a runway collaboration that I truly treasure and look forward to each and every season. It's one that I sincerely hope continues on for a good while because it's my version of fashion perfection. There are so few occasions when a model aligns perfectly with a brand (Sasha/Prada, Maria Carla/Givenchy), that I just wanted to take the time to revel in the moment. What is your fashion perfection for Freja? And don't all say Freja and Chanel at once. :)

Image Credits: style.com

A View from the Side

We always concentrate on how a model looks from the front, but we often forget about the side view. We are missing out because I think Freja has a really beautiful, distinctive side profile. I love how this picture highlights it, and also draws attention to the details we overlook when we only look at the front. Here we have a row of bobby pins, Freja's helix piercing, and her tattoo all gathered in the center of this photograph. A potentially straightforward photograph suddenly appears nuanced, textured and complex due to these three elements. Kudos to the photographer who had the view from the side.

Image Credits: corbis.com