Jason Wu has become the champion of all things flirty, feminine and polished but talking to Style.com this week, the designer revealed that she's shaking things up for his upcoming S/S13 collection.
According to the title, Helmut Newton's seductive photographs were one of the starting points for his latest offerings inspiring him to tap into a more sensual side than we've seen from him in the past and to do so, he's enlisted the helm of lingerie heavyweights, La Perla. 'It has been an incredible experience collaborating with La Perla and having access to all the amazing things we could create with their specialised techniques,' he told Style.com. 'They understood my vision for the Spring collection and went above and beyond my expectations in creating the most luxurious accent pieces to go with my designs.'
Michelle Williams has been pretty quiet recently but yesterday she was all over New York city, as she began promoting her new movie, 'Take This Waltz'.
In the morning she opted for a floral printed Jason Wu Resort 2013 dress for her guest appearance on 'CBS This Morning' and in the evening she decided to shake things up by opting for a sexy LBD to attend the screening for the new film. While I've always been a big fan of Williams', sexy isn't the first word that springs to mind when I think about her style but the black Altuzarra dress really worked on her.
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.
Along with Thakoon, Alexander Wang and Prabal Gurung, Jason Wu is amongst a crop of the Asian-American designers really dominating in New York right now. While brands like Proenza Schouler, Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren have tapped into Asian references and sensibilities, this is something that all but Wu have refrained from exploring. Talking to Vancouver-based magazine, Montecristo, he said that he felt like his fall 2012 collection was the perfect time to embrace his roots.
'I suppose this hasn’t really been done before—an Asian designer tapping into the Asian side,' he told the magazine. 'Usually, culturally, we stay away from it … I feel like I’m at a place where I’m maturing not just as a designer, but as a person, to embark on inspirations that hit close to home.' But rather than going down the literal route, Wu has praised for showing the signature references but in a contemporary way. 'I almost wanted to poke fun at it a little bit by interpreting it through stereotypes … but also by incorporating all of that in a way that is elegant and powerful at the same time.'
As the recession continues to hit American and European markets, luxury brands continue to turn to China and the new Asian economies to help them through these trying times. But it doesn't end there. Over the past few years we're increasingly seeing brands actively try to appeal to Asian sensibilities. Take Kim Jones' fall collection for Louis Vuitton menswear last month for example. The classic three-piece suit was updated and given a kimono instead of a waistcoat and the silk used for the evening suits came from a small town outside Tokyo.
Despite the growing trend, none of the Asian American designers have explored this and that's exactly what Jason Wu's fall 2012 collection yesterday was so interesting. Wu bucked the trend by exploring his Chinese heritage but in a way that felt modern and not too literal. The designer showed a selection of structured jackets that paid homage to Chinese military uniform and warrior outfits and a quilted style with a fur hem and black lace insets on the shoulders and collar was particularly strong. Coats also came in green with a military vibe nipped in at the waist with a black studded belt and a teamed with a big black fur stole. As you would expect, red appeared throughout on pieces like some authentic Qing dynasty hats as well as on figure hugging dresses with lace and brocade detail down the front.
"It just felt like I was grown up enough to tackle such a big subject," he told Style.com. "It was really interesting to see that the new China is this multicultural face."
Jason Wu's main line collection is coveted by editors and customers alike so it is hardly a surprise that his collection at Target has been highly anticipated. Images of the full collection have already been released but last night marked the line's official launch. The red carpet was full of the designers celebrities fans like Chloe Moretz, Jamie King and Blake Lively.
Over the weekend Jason Wu debuted his first TV ad for his Target collection and as you will see, Milu the cat seemed to have quite the hand in creating the collection. And the big media push doesn't end there. To support the February 5 launch, a massive billboard went up in TricBeCa in New York of the handy cat and muse for the collection too.
This week has been a busy one in Hollywood. Earlier on this week we had the People's Choice Awards and last night was the turn of the Critics Choice Awards.
Outfits on the night that realy stood out came from Charlize Theron in Azzedine Alaia, Michelle Williams in Chanel, Kristen Dunst in Christian Dior, Jessica Chastian in Balenciaga and Shailene Woodley in Calvin Klein. I was really excited to see what Elizabeth Olsen would wear over the next week but her yellow Emilio Pucci dress that she wore to last night's event hasn't got me excited about what is yet to come.
Over the weekend Zoe Saldana attended the 2012 Golden Globe Awards celebration party thrown by Audi and wore this black embellished neckline halter neck dress by Jason Wu. On the whole, the looks at the event were not promising, especially since the Golden Globes is less than a week away, but Saldana's dress, teamed with the peep toe sandals and boxy silver clutch worked so well.
This isn't the first time Saldana has made a statement in Wu. The petal print S/S12 dress that she wore to the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic back in October went down really well with fashion critics and the weeklies, as did the S/S10 Wu dress that she wore the previous year to the Critics Choice Awards.
