Tropic thunder
MANILA, Philippines - All that glitters is probably gold – as fashion month winds down from New York, London, and Milan, here’s to hoping Paris continues the gilded age of excess we’ve been seeing on the runways. Minimalism is démodé, maximalism lives on. For YStyle’s look of the week, we turn our sketchpads to a blown-up look from Marni spring/summer 2016.
Consuelo Castiglione brought back the house’s signature leaf prints in egg yellow and black, cobalt blue and bold reds. The accessories were punchy too – stacked up with resin bangles, Bahaus-style acrylic earrings, exaggerated t-strap shoes in primary colors, and floppy leather shoppers for bags.
Marni has forever erred on the side of artful references (even though Castiglione, a master colorist, says this collection had none) but even more so this season; the look was off-kilter, layered silhouettes and an unconventional palette. The YStyle woman this week is looking to ride the recent maximal overtones we’ve been seeing on the runways. She charms with a quirky approach to fashion but still stays consummately chic.
MUSE: Emilie Louise Flo?ge
You’ve read Emilie Louise Flo?ge’s name checked by designers in the past (most recently by Valentino’s fall/winter 2015 collection); she was the muse of Viennese painter Gustav Klimt — known most notably for his gold leaf Japanese-influenced portraits of women. Klimt’s imagery always featured women dressed in vibrant prints and mosaic-like dresses. Flo?ge was the designer behind those dresses, her signature style were frocks worn without corsets and hung loosely from the shoulders — folkloric style in maximal, psychedelic prints, the perfect inspiration for YStyle’s look of the week.
BEAUTY: Prada spring/summer 2016
For this season in Milan, Pat McGrath was feeling Klimt-esque herself behind-the-scenes at Prada’s spring/summer 2016 presentation. She by-passed painted eye or brow in favor of a 24-karat gilded lip. She had girls walking down the runway with otherwise bare faces, but the punchiest most drawn out lips applied with coats of metallic lipstick. The effect almost stole the show!
BAG: Fendi fall/winter 2015
Only for the resolute and most daring, keep the tonal play of your outfit consistent with your handbag with Fendi’s leather and plexiglas 3Baguette. Decorated with a patchwork pattern of leather with an inlay of different stones – keep things punchy from head to toe.
BOOK: Rothko
Maximal prints and bold strokes of color seem part and parcel of Marni’s vernacular; nobody comes close to the same vivid approach to striking hues than the artist Mark Rothko (1903-1970). Documenting his vast body of art, Taschen published Rothko as an introduction to the prominent American artist as a key protagonist to the Abstract Expressionist movement.
SHOE: Chloé fall/winter 2015
Channel the casual appeal of a slide for evening with this metallic and suede Chloé fall/winter sandal with a wider than usual strap. The mid-heel comes back as the newest form of sexy — crafted in Italy, the smooth gold leather and soft black suede keep this delicate number the perfect grounder to our look’s otherwise eccentric yet put-together outfit.
HAIR: Proenza Schouler spring/summer 2016
The look for the New York design-duo Proenza Schouler this season was “strength in simplicity” or the hair at least. Anthony Turner made for a single sophisticated braid down the back, a nod to a pared down aesthetic as the perfect juxtaposition to the label’s signature maximal approach. Prep your damp hair with texturizer and air dry, tied low-slung in a pony tail with a single braid.
FILM: “Woman in Gold”
Revisit Gustav Klimt’s most iconic painting with this new movie. Helen Mirren stars as Maria Altmann, a debutante from a wealthy Jewish family, who had to flee Austria when Hitler came to power. The movie centers around the requisition of Gustav Klimt’s “Woman in Gold” a painting commission by Altmann’s beloved aunt Adele. The painting goes on to become an Austrian national treasure worth more than $100 million; and the movie follows Altmann and her lawyer (played by a gruff Ryan Reynolds) and their discovery of a less than cooperative Austrian government. “The Woman in Gold” depicts the largest-profile legal campaign to reclaim Nazi-stolen art.
CUFF: Marni fall/winter 2015
The easiest way to cop the look is go chunky with your wrist; look into Marni’s signature resin bracelets. This emerald resin and leather combination is painted with a classic tartan pattern; the most-accessible touch for this look.
DIY: Anya Hindmarch Leather Stickers
Nothing captures fashionable DIY quite like Anya Hindmarch’s line of leather stickers. Launched in spring/summer 2015, the stickers were designed in collaboration with Charlotte Stockdale and Katie Lyall with creative consultancy Chaos Fashion. The line features different slogans, smiley faces, Mickey Mouse gloves and cartoon lightning bolts. Re-design an existing tote bag or repurpose an old clutch, for this look; stickers are the limit.
ART: John Chamberlain’s Tomahawk Nolan
Marni’s artful approach seemed to mirror the oeuvre of some sculptural art with its off-kilter silhouettes and layered approach to dressing; John Chamberlain’s 1965 piece (housed in the Museum of Modern Art) of welded and painted metal figures prominently. It recalls the blue pinafore layered over a red turtleneck and the sporty-mesh shift.
