This Italian shoe brand first caught our eye in 2008, when they earned the Best New Talent Award given by Vogue Italia. Just one season later Bionda Castana has been photographed by British Vogue and has been picked up by upscale retailer, Browns in London. This Fall the brand stayed with classic colors, like black and brown, while offering a few surprise elements like hot pink and grommet detailing. Check out our snapshots from the showroom this afternoon...
>> INSIDER WIRE —It may be over for Olivier Theyskens at Nina Ricci, but fashion is not over him — apparently, upon being told yesterday's collection was his last for the label, Anna Wintour's response was, "How could you do this to me??" Meanwhile, Pierre Rougier, founder of PR Consulting and Ed Filipowski, co-president of KCD, were surprise front row guests, adding fire to rumors that Olivier may soon have a namesake line. [A Shaded View on Fashion, FWD]
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Paris 03/06/09. Photos by Pierre Verdy/AFP/Getty Images & Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images.
>> The PETA protesters who haven't shown up much this season were out in full force outside Christian Dior this afternoon, brandishing bloodied pelts and yelling "Assassins!!" at the showgoers. Backstage, the models were feeling pain of their own — everyone's eyebrows had to be dyed blonde, and 200 hair pins had to be secured to their heads, causing some to cry and call their families and agents to complain. Inside, John Galliano took a trip to a faraway place — somewhere between Persia and the far East, sending harem pants, jumpsuits, medallioned jewelry, and even a bare bottom down the runway. The collection came in a rainbow of colors, and in between all of the exotic there was plenty of the commercial — as one Times UK twitterer put it, "Suits suits suits and the Lady Dior bag." Galliano said his intention was to restore a sense of fantasy to the world, but why does his Fall 2009 strategy — even the shoes — look so much like his fantasies of recent seasons past?
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We can assure you that this is the last post we'll dedicate to the arrival of Erin Wasson's first collection for RVCA in stores... But what's a gal going to read about between checking out Balenciaga and Christian Dior collections anyway? Our friends at OAK deserve a shoutout for getting the collection online first and by recognizing their win it also gives us an excuse to point out their amazing new editorial-style product shots--they're revolutionizing e-commerce! Happy Friday ladies, thanks to OAK you've seven Wassons to choose from.
Paris 03/06/09. Photos by Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images & Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images.
Balmain might have been barelegged yesterday, but if Nina Ricci and Balenciaga have anything to do with it, women will pair all of their slinky and short frocks with sheer black hosiery next season. Oliver Theyskens' Spring 09 collection for Nina Ricci propelled this trend into motion, and we're glad to see many designers doing it this season. It's affordable and sexy and, really, we don't think we're alone when we say that the black opaque look is kind of overdone.
