Diverge - Converge

What comes to mind when you think of "Valentino"?
Femininity, luxury, elegance, red, etc....am I right?

What comes to mind when you think of "Freja"?
Androgyny, tomboy, leather, cool attitude, etc....yes?

So how can we reconcile the two? How we can explain Freja's role of prominence for the established high fashion house that represents nearly everything that Freja is not? Two consecutive ad campaigns, lots of runway looks, opening the just held SS11 Haute Couture show......what gives?

Even though the two (fashion house and model) may seem so divergent at a surface glance, I actually think Freja is a wonderfully suitable choice to take the brand into the new decade. She is the perfect bridge between traditional elegance and modern edge. She is accessible and beautiful, but also avantgarde and quirky. Her classic beauty references the past, but the personal sensibilities she imbues into her work scream the present, the here, the now. If a venerable house wants to embrace the ever evolving spectacle of modern life and show that it isn't stifled by it's own history, then Freja is the perfect model for the job. (I suspect this is also why Karl is so taken with Freja for Chanel.)

If you don't change, you die. But change too quickly and you lose sense of your very core being. We're all going through this same balancing act in life; whether we're an old school fashion house, a successful model, or just a mere fan. We're all just trying to find ways to navigate through the confusion of surviving while the world swirls and changes around us. And sometimes, in this madness, disparate elements will converge together to make absolute sense.

Image Credits: style.it

Chanel Haute Couture

No surprises here. Freja showed up at the Chanel Haute Couture show earlier today wearing three beautiful looks. No special treatment. No opening or closing looks. No smirks. No different hair style. She was just one of the runway girls, and I don't know why but that's utterly refreshing to me. Sometimes you just want to see a model do her job and do it well, without all the fanfare and hubbub that can happen.

The toned down affair, both in setting and in color, was quite beautiful if misleadingly simple. If you get a chance, zoom in on the details and you'll see what distinguishes Haute Couture from RTW and why these pieces cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. Freja wore a softened expression on her face to match the mood, instantly drawing up nostalgia in me for the old days. I definitely don't miss seeing that hard, stern glare that used to be her frequent runway companion. What always surprises me with models like Freja (and Raquel, Daria, etc.) is how they manage to seem ageless despite surviving through the rigors of a stressful industry like fashion. I guess the ageless gene, in addition to the skinny, tall, and good skin genes, are what distinguish them from us mere plebeians. ;)

Valentino Haute Couture shows tomorrow....any bets on whether Freja will be there or not?

Image Credits: style.it

FTV Countdown

This is what all fans wait for. A glimpse at the person behind all the clothes and makeup; the person off the runway and behind the scenes.

This season Freja comes in at #2 on the FTV countdown, up a spot from #3 last season. Bear my cheesiness, but she's like a fine wine, getting better with age. ;)

She also takes the top spot for the city of Milan. No interview; just a compilation of catwalk looks starting at 13:30:

Here are a few things that caught my attention:

-It's funny how we go from always napping backstage at Marni, to literally jumping up and down with energy this season @ 1:15.

-Perhaps we should expect a career transition into music very soon. After all, Freja has a DIY home studio with a plethora of guitars, a piano and drums. That doesn't simply sound like something she does casually on her off days--seems more serious than that to me.

-Oh, so those combat boots Freja was sporting everywhere this past season are Balmain. Who knew? So Christophe makes a $1,000 version of something Doc Martens makes for $100. I'm totally side-eyeing Decarnin right now.

-About a year after her initial move to New York, Freja is moving again. This time to Brooklyn. Why does it feel like everyone and their mother is moving to Brooklyn these days? It's not like the rent is any cheaper...

Anyway, it's always a pleasure to watch these videos. Most of the time, models are seen and not heard, so it's a treat when FTV puts these out after each season. If you have some time to kill, take a look at the rest of the girls making up the top ten.

10. Kasia Struss
9. Ginta Lapina
8. Karmen Pedaru
7. Julija Steponaviciute
6. Monika "Jac" Jagaciak
5. Lindsey Wixson
4. Frida Gustavsson
3. Caroline Brasch Nielsen
2. Freja
1. Karlie Kloss

It's a solid list and I'm happy to see girls like Julija and Karmen included. There are others I could do without, but you win some, you lose some.

Image Credits: afashiontale.dk, bellazon. Videos courtesy of Fashiontv Youtube Channel

The Final Tally - SS11

I guess this has kind of become a tradition for me, although I don't know how many of you actually care at this point after the shows are already over. Regardless, I do this because it helps me digest a month's worth of information and it's kind of fun. Yeah, I might be a little OCD in that I find compiling statistics and data "fun." Anyway, my old recaps for FW1011 and SS10 can be found here and here.

FREJA BEHA ERICHSEN

SS11 TOTAL: 37
SS11 MILAN/PARIS: 24
OPENED: 6 | CLOSED: 6

London: No shows walked

Milan:
Alberta Ferretti (C)
Bottega Veneta (O) (C)
Dolce & Gabbana
Emilio Pucci (O)
Etro
Fendi
Gucci
Jil Sander
Marni (O)
MaxMara (C)
Prada
Versace

New York:
Alexander Wang (C)
Anna Sui
Carolina Herrera
Derek Lam
Diesel Black Gold
Marc Jacobs (C)
Michael Kors
Narciso Rodriguez (C)
Oscar de la Renta
Ports 1961 (O)
Rag & Bone (O)
Tom Ford
Vera Wang

Paris:
Balenciaga
Balmain
Celine
Chanel (O)
Chloe
Isabel Marant
Lanvin
Louis Vuitton
Miu Miu
Stella McCartney
Valentino
Yves Saint Laurent

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of.....

• Cities walked: 3
• Shows walked: 37
  
• Shows opened: 6
• Shows closed: 6
• Outfits in New York: 24
• Outfits in Milan: 29
• Outfits in Paris: 21
• Outfits total: 74
• Show walked for the first time ever: 2 (Ports 1961, Tom Ford)
• Cities walked last season that were not walked this season: 1 (Poor London)
  
• Shows repeated from last season: 30
• Shows walked last season that were not walked this season: 16
• Shows walked this season that were not walked last season: 7
• Skirts/Dresses vs. Shorts/Pants: 41 vs. 33
  
• Bags/Clutches carried: 15
  
• Sunglasses worn: 2
  
• Headpieces/Hats/Headbands worn: 5
  
• Overly floppy hats obscuring the face: 1
• Tummies bared: 1
  
• Journalists simultaneously scared and thrilled: 1
• Runway requests left unfulfilled: 1
• Publications who fell in love with Freja: 1 (that has publicly admitted it)
• Working fountains: 3
• Animals harmed in the making of the LV show: Unknown
• All white looks: 11 (white is the new black apparently)
• All black looks: 8 (white really is the new black)
• Belts worn: 26
• Necklaces worn: 7
• Citrus jackets: 1
• Times I mentioned femininity: too many to count...
  

In order of appearance:

Et voila! The past month signed, sealed and delivered in one tiny post. How many hours did we all spend pouring over information that could be summed up so easily? Don't remind me. :/ Another successful season under Freja's belt, and her twelfth overall. She really shows no signs of slowing down, and that's amazing for any model, much less a model nearly six years into her career. I don't know how Freja manages to do it season after season, but she commands attention from all the right people, walks in all the right shows, and changes up her look ever so slightly enough to remain fresh, new and desirable. There's both a stability and unpredictability with Freja that makes her exciting yet reliable at the same time, and that probably explains why she's always in high demand. Now we only have 5 months to wait and see if she can keep it up for FW11/12!

Image Credits: style.it, contributormagazine.com