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In a multipronged collaboration, Invista’s Cordura brand will introduce its space-themed X.Venture Collexion in Europe for the first time at the Munich Fabric Start trade show on Tuesday.
Cordura is bringing the collection, designed by Struktur Studio, to the German fair as part of what it’s calling a 50th anniversary road show.
The collection is a cooperative collaboration between Cordura and Artistic Milliners and features Tencel from Lenzing Fibers, and coatings for Swiss manufacturer Schoeller Textil. Cordura is collaborating with industry partners in several offerings this year as part of its expansion in its 50th anniversary plans.
The X.Venture Collexion is an interpretation of how some of the most innovative performance textile technologies can combine with the art of design to impact the future of technical denims. The garment concepts take influence from retro astronaut gear — a nod to the Sixties heritage of Cordura, combined with modern, Space-Age popular culture.
Struktur Studio’s retro-futuristic garments in the X.Venture Collexion highlight the cutting-edge denims created by this collaboration.
“To us, the future of innovation is collaboration — whether that’s with a designer or with our community of textile innovators like Artistic Milliners, Tencel and Schoeller Textil,” said Cindy McNaull, global Cordura brand and marketing director. “Orchestrating these industry powerhouses

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“Joy” is the word shoe designer Manolo Blahnik used to sum up 46 years of his career, displayed and celebrated in Milan through a new exhibition. Running from Jan. 26 to April 9, the “Manolo Blahnik. The Art of Shoes” retrospective showcases 212 shoes — selected among more than 30,000 styles — and 80 sketches in the suggestive, 18th-century location of Palazzo Morando, situated in the city’s tony district near Via Montenapoleone.
“I do all this with immense joy,” Blahnik said about his activity, admitting that money has never been on his mind while sketching a pair of shoes, but everything he has ever worked on has been done “just because I like it.”

Manolo Blahnik attending the exhibition on his name in Milan. 
Andrea Delbò

Curated by Cristina Carrillo de Albornoz, who worked on the project for the past two years, the exhibition intends to celebrate Blahnik’s work as a form of art, highlighting the designer’s creativity, vision and craftsmanship. Divided in six areas according to Blahnik’s leitmotifs and inspirations, the venue includes the “Gala” section, displaying the most imaginative styles, such as the ones created for Sofia Coppola’s movie “Marie Antoinette.” Dedicated corners focusing on materials, art, architecture and the many geographical

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Jacobs says, “Her beauty, uniqueness, and strength is something I have long admired and respected.“

Like most non-Millennials, John Galliano is intrigued and unsettled by the extent to which social media has upended traditional methods of communication. “All these advancements, I just wonder if we are all at the moment genetically prepared to absorb so much information,” he said, miming a person engrossed in a relationship with his phone, oblivious to the people nearby. Then, as himself: “I’m grateful to know how important it is to live in the present.”
Unlike almost everyone regardless of generation, Galliano can channel his thoughts on the subject into a work of  creative brilliance. That’s what he did on Wednesday in his spring artisanal collection for Maison Margiela.
Galliano spoke before the show, his tone more conflicted than critical. He is, after all, a social media participant himself, particularly Instagram. (Surprise!) One aspect of his interest: social media’s impact on visual communication, specifically the app filters that can be layered onto photos, ultimately altering reality. As he has done so often with disparate cultural phenomena, he translated that into his own kind of applications — high-skill haute-worthy techniques. Here, he appropriated the filter concept for big, bold-faced graphics and in his use with fabrics, layering unlike pieces — wool, point d’esprit,

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One could argue that this couture season saw two major debuts, the more obvious, that of Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri. In a sense, her former partner, Pierpaolo Piccioli, had his own debut, his first solo couture collection for Valentino, since he and Chiuri ascended to the role of joint creative directors after the retirement of the house founder.
“To do couture for a designer is a great opportunity,” Piccioli said during a preview, appearing not at all frazzled on the eve of his third show in three weeks. (He’s shown men’s last week in Paris, and prior to that, pre-fall, in New York.) “For me to create couture, to have the opportunity to work with the atelier, is a dream come true.”
For spring, Piccioli staged another exquisite Valentino Dream sequence. That it was beautiful should surprise no one, given the portfolio he has put out there these past several years (albeit, until now, a tandem résumé). During that time, the house has soared among the elite of fashion on the strength of an aesthetic that seems antithetical to the modern world, one of grace and lyricism.
What did surprise: The challenging nature of the collection. These were not easy clothes. Exquisite, yes,

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The wheat field vista on Jean Paul Gaultier’s show invitation promised a bucolic escape from the sharp cold that has gripped Paris since last week. Instead, guests got a round-the-world trip.
Gaultier cycled through Eighties-style strong-shouldered silhouettes; bolero jackets and sombrero hats; patriotic red, white and blue, and floral prints ranging from daisy patterns to photo prints of poppies and Hawaiian hibiscus motifs. It was a lot to take in.
He kicked off the display with his signature pant suits in haute fabrications, such as trompe-l’oeil pinstripes made from pleated ribbons. Gaultier then turned his attention to the waist, with chic outfits including black tuxedo trousers dressed down with an undone pink corset and embroidered white undershirt.
Once he got stuck into his nature theme, all restraint flew out the window. A puff-sleeved peasant blouse with embroidered and bedazzled red blooms was paired with green satin palazzo pants. The hibiscus print was rendered in royal blue lamé jacquard spliced with guipure lace on a flouncy dress.
Gaultier has often been compared to Yves Saint Laurent, and for his tailoring skills alone he surely deserves the mantle. But faced with a gown in a garish sunflower print, the mind jumped to the late couturier’s embroidered

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If you’re hoping to create fireworks on the red carpet, Zuhair Murad is your man.
The designer was inspired by a pyrotechnics display in Japan for his spring couture collection, which he released in crystal-studded chromatic bursts. He kicked off with a metallic lace minidress with a raised ruffle in front, dramatically framing the face.
It set the tone for a wildly theatrical display. Dresses came with sculpted peplums, oversized bows and trains worthy of wedding gowns. Ensembles in va-va-voom shades of fire red, fuchsia and emerald green were slit up to the thigh (paging Angelina Jolie…).
Murad’s flirtation with Eighties excess resulted in some missteps, like a dress covered in blue and gold crystals that was cropped so short in front, it literally let it all hang out. But he is also capable of finesse, placing sprays of colorful crystals on a black silk tulle dress.
The designer’s confident style has made him a favorite with A-listers like Sofia Vergara, Lily Collins and Olivia Culpo, who all wore Murad to the Golden Globes. With this collection, snagging a red-carpet credit on Oscars night shouldn’t be rocket science.

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Ulyana Sergeenko’s invitation set a mysterious, mythical mood for the show, with an illustration of a wolf in the foreground pondering a fallen man, pierced with a spear, in the distance. A moon is rising — or possibly setting — there, too.
The designer was inspired by pagan times in Russia, when people worshiped nature, and women in particular were considered symbols of strength. Cut to the hand-knit flowers and embroideries inspired by plants and water festooning the fabrics, which also played on transparencies.
Two water-lily motifs decorated the top of one strapless dress and small floral embroideries adorn other pieces. Snake motifs slithered throughout some looks, such as a multicolor collar embellishment crafted with feathers and a corset.
Sergeenko also nodded to the power woman depicted in photographs snapped by Helmut Newton and Steven Meisel, which came through best in the sportier, sexy looks. But the collection’s romance won out, with highlights including a flowing red gown with ruffled sleeves.

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