When you think of Anthony Vaccarello, what springs to mind? Anja Rubik and her exposed right hip in that dress that he designed for her to wear to this year's Met Gala, no? That exposure was both a good and a bad thing. Good, because it definitely put his name out there in the consciousness of the mainstream but bad because it, to a large extent, pigeonholed him into designing sexy evening wear.
For that reason it was a smart choice, then, that he opened the show with Rubik completely covered up wearing a simple but desirable white blazer and black trouser combo. The move was deliberate. He was making a point to the world that, while he will continue to deliver those dresses that get the photographers snapping, there's more to him that a hot dress. And this season that he transpired on the series of deconstructed jackets, white over the knee shorts and easy throw on tops that are just what we all need for summer, and will no doubt prove to be a smart business move.
Sex was still there and so were short hemlines. The dresses clung closely to the body to replicate how your clothes would look if you had walked out of the ocean wearing them. I can't lie, the dresses did look extremely hot on Cara Delevigne and Jourdan Dunn but that's partly where the problem is. As has been the case for the past few seasons, I'm just not convinced that these looks will translate on us mere mortals.
Anthony Vaccarello's dresses with the hip high slits have gained a level of notoriety. Carine Roitfeld was the first to sport the style at her big fashion week party two seasons ago after Karlie Kloss sauntered down the runway in it days before and in the words of Kelly Rowland, Gwyneth Paltrow 'put it down' in the dress on the cover of Harper's Bazaar's special revamp issue.
Since the leg is the centre of attention, it was only a matter of time before one of the designer's dresses had a Angelina Jolie moment on the red carpet and that came last night. Anja Rubik sported a white version of the style to attend the Costume Institute Gala with the designer. While I've always been a fan of the model's, her jutting hip has rightfully caused a bit of concern and aside from that, I definitely prefered the dress of Paltrow.
Just about every major designer and model has descended on New York last night ahead of the Met Gala on Monday but ahead of the event, Balmain's Olivier Rousteing threw a big party last night at Chelsea's Hotel Americano. At the event the designer spoke about the launch of the brand's new Twitter and Facebook accounts that became live this week, revealing that he plans to get in on the Twitter action himself. 'It's a good way to understand what [customers[ feel about the collection, about the clothes and they can see the details, and they can be more a part of my soul,' he told The Cut at the event. 'I hope they will 'like us' and enjoy what we enjoyed to create.'
Aside from that, what was more interesting was his revelation that Joan Smalls is his guest at Monday's event. The partnership definitely works. Smalls looks good in everything but it will be interesting to see how she looks in a piece that showcases the new direction that the young designer is taking the brand.
That wasn't the only Met Gala confirmation from last night. Karlie Kloss will accompany Jason Wu, Anja Rubik is going with Anthony Vaccarello and Constance Jablonski will attend with Haider Ackermann. New in today is that Arizona Muse is teaming up with Erdem, Thakoon with Christina Ricci and Doutzen Kroes with Roland Mouret. The most interesting confirmation is that Karolina Kurkova will attend with Rachel Zoe, cementing her as a designer to be reckoned with.
See images from the Balmain party in the slideshow.
There's no question about it, Anthony Vaccarello's S/S12 collection catapulted him to fame. Shortly after Karlie Kloss sported 'that' dress on the runway, Carine Roitfeld wore it at her fashion week closing party and Gwyneth Paltrow reminded us just how banging her body is when she wore it on the cover of Harper's Bazaar last month. But Vaccarello's fall show was different. To open the show he sent Kloss down the runway completely covered up wearing high waisted slim line trousers, a shirt and a simple utility jacket. Instantly it was clear that he wanted to make a statement this season and show that he has more than one string under his bow.
While his spring collection was met with much critical acclaim, the common feeling was that his clothes do not extend beyond being suitable for the young and super slim and this is something he took to heart. Trousers appeared throughout in high waisted streamlined styles that most women could pull off and the introduction of simple knits and great utilitarian outerwear also added to the accessibility of the collection. In the second look the hemline on the skirt was high but unlike last season, the feeling was more of power and strength rather than overt sexuality. Don't be fooled though, there were some teeny weeny dresses in there, but on the whole the collection hit all the right notes and the statement gowns that he showed at the end will undoubtedly make the rounds this season.
We really missed Karlie Kloss during London and Milan but luckily for us she made a big return today at Paris fashion week opening the show for Anthony Vaccarello.
Last season Kloss wore the designer's black cut out dress with that thigh-high slit and as you will recall, Carine Roitfeld wore it to her big fashion week closing party shortly after it debuted on the runway and Gwyneth Paltrow wore it to cover US Harper's Bazaar's revamped March issue. Today she was a lot more covered up in this trouser-shirt combo.
Harper's Bazaar US really struggled to get circulation numbers up last year but so far this year, they are on a roll in the cover stakes and their March cover is particularly strong. Gwyneth Paltrow shows off a bit of thigh on wearing the Anthony Vaccarello dress that Carine Roitfeld rocked at the vampire party at the end of Paris fashion week last season.
If there's any reason to keep that New Year's resolution to stay at the gym, it's this.
