Sonny Vandevelde backstage at Burberry

burberry FW0910/sonny vandevelde

While (some of) you were sleeping, the Milan shows rolled on. This just in: an exclusive preview of Sonny Vandevelde's backstage photo portfolio from Burberry. As runway shots are still loading elsewhere, these images give you a closer look at creative director Christopher Bailey's wistful British FW0910 collection. Entitled 'Modern nostalgia - Great British icons', the collection was inspired, says Bailey, by the historical British figures Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf and Elizabeth, Countess of Devon - and played to a soundtrack which included Peter Gabriel's British classic, Solsbury Hill.

The collection did not move forward but rather, looked back: on a score of British sartorial icons that included the Burberry trench, natch, double-breasted Chesterfields, mannish tweed suits and oversized boyfriend jackets, while sinuous longline Aran and also Fair Isle knit sweaters were teamed with tiered wool boucle skirts and knife-pleat kilts.

Luxurious fur capes and shearling jackets were layered over a score of richly-textured dresses in silk tulle, double satin and silk chiffon creponne, many of them high-waisted.

The brooding colour palette was shot with bursts of autumn florals and a Grand Master-look portrait print in silk creponne - a twist on the historic photoprint trend seen at Miu Miu SS09 (and popping up again last night at D&G).

The collection also featured an oversized version of Burberry's trademark tartan (not, as it turns out, the vintage Nova tartan, as previously reported), notably in the accessories, which included some spectacular super-sized totes, also in alligator and tapestry, as well as rubber-soled platform hiking boots, desert boots and lace-up sandals, cozy tartan-lined fur snoods, felted wool trilbies and "barbed wire" chain bracelets - the latter detail also seen as trims on bags. When the cold winds of Recession bite, apparently you need all the protection you can muster.










































All photos © Sonny Vandevelde 2009.

Mesdames Butterfly

Jacobean corsets, brocade capelets, heavily frogged military jackets, poet shirts and micro puffball skirts... D&G's FW0910 collection was inspired by all things Italian opera, with a heavy emphasis on La Traviata. As the D&G website told us before the show streamed live to the net, the latter was the original 'Pretty Woman' - hence, frockwriter assumes, the collection's dizzying, bejewelled streetwalker platforms and the chastity belt motif on the bags and belts. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana continue to pioneer the social media frontier of fashion marketing by streaming their shows live to the net. The nanosecond the show wrapped, moreover, they swiftly uploaded some backstage looks to their Facebook page to give their fans a closer look. Here is a selection of images.








all images: dolce e gabbana

D&G live

dolce e gabbana FW0809 via hautfashion.com

OK so Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady have tied the knot, with not only Bündchen wearing Dolce e Gabbana but apparently also her three dogs. Now it's time for the main event - or at least its diffusion version. Yep, as with September's SS09 show, those social media gurus Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are about to broadcast once again live to the net, this time with their D&G line. Watch it here at 2.00pm Milan time today (midnight AEST). This time, we're going to add on a little extra something. Instead of furiously texting and emailing throughout with mates such as Matt 'Imelda' Jordan - the "despotic queen of shoes" - we're going to try to blog the show live. We'll try to post via Twitter feeds so as to keep the one Milan Fashion Week (#MFW) convo in the one place for those who are following it. And we'll add in the Twitter feeds of some fashion peeps who are on the spot, for some on-the-ground perspective. So feel free to dive in and join the conversation. On with the show!

The power of hubris: Should Bonds' charity have begun at home?

grazia

A Bonds charity singlet emblazoned with “The Power of Humanity” Red Cross slogan and launched a week ago in collaboration with ACP's Grazia to raise $50,000 towards the Victorian Bushfires Appeal, may come back to haunt the intimate apparel giant in the wake of this week’s news that Bonds’ Pacific Brands parent plans to axe 1850 jobs. And notably of course, following today’s revelations that PacBrands executives gave themselves 170percent pay hikes in 2008, with remuneration for the company’s 13 directors more than doubling from $7million to $15.5 million – a move that has been branded "obscene" and a "corporate crime".

The $25 singlet was apparently initiated by Grazia, with product and services donated by Bonds and Wazzup Screenprinting.

Two thousand singlets were made, with half distributed through General Pants.

In its February 16 edition, Grazia encouraged readers to buy the “exclusive and strictly limited edition” feelgood merchandise, devoting a corner of its front cover to a shot of Bonds ambassador Sarah Murdoch in the garment:


grazia via GWAS

On February 18, Australian fashion media-specialist blogger Erica Bartle criticised the initiative on her Girl With a Satchel blog.

Noted Bartle:

“Grazia is well-meaning, no doubt, but I can't help but feel its fashionification of this unfortunate event borders on being tacky… I can't help but feel I'm being served a tabloid Big Mac with a charitable, calorie-free side salad”.

On Wednesday this week – prior to the retrenchments announcement by Pacific Brands – Bartle (an ACP contributor) posted an apology to Grazia, saying that she had had a change of heart.

The post prompted a barrage of commentary from readers (including this journalist), many of whom thought that Bartle had gotten it right the first time.

In the comments on Bartle's latest post, one anonymous poster claims that the photograph of Murdoch in the slogan-emblazoned singlet was a retouched version of an earlier image from the January 2008 edition of ACP stablemate, Harpers Bazaar.

While this remains to be seen, the singlet and image appear to have been organised with the blessing of Murdoch, who released the following statement to Grazia for the February 16 edition:

“The Power of Humanity has been well and truly witnessed with so many Australians banding together to support those devastated by the fires. Every dollar raised from the sale of these Chesty singlets will go to Australian Red Cross to continue that support. Thank you.”

You have to wonder just how Murdoch is feeling about her ongoing Bonds ambassadorial role today.