In the fashion industry, your debut collection plays a role similar to the first impressions you leave when you get to know someone. Namely, it should be strong, impressive and promising. Footwear designer Chi-Lai Yuen drew attention to herself by launching her first collection which was inspired by surrealism. Every single piece is very striking considering the design itself, but mostly because of the designer’s incredible experimentation with the materials.

These nude pink/black ankle boots are the product of a game of fashion and architectural forms. In an original way, the warped and draped leather resembles a wrinkled curtain or tablecloth. It looks like it will slide off the boots, yet it elegantly coexists with them. The high platform and unusual heels are there to give the final touch to the whole dramatic look. The combination of luxurious and high-quality material within a bold idea moves this style away from ordinary pairs of shoes and closer to high-fashion designs.

Chi-Lai Yuen is a British footwear designer. She got her bachelor degree in Fashion design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After this, she decided to devote herself to designing shoes and graduated from Cordwainer-s College in London with a Master of Arts Degree in Fashion footwear. Yuen worked at Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, Celine, Pollini and Nicholas Kirkwood.

“Fang” is the fifth highly successful collaboration between haute-couture prodigy Iris Van Herpen and the shoe-masters from United Nude. The ominous footwear, which has ten humongous teeth protruding from the sole of each shoe, was presented at Iris Van Herpen’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection in Paris- where the Dutch designer was (for the second time) an official guest of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. The collection once more bears a significant leitmotif for Van Herpen – the idea of nature and biology conveyed, however, in her signature high-tech style. The designer has as always experimented with 3D printing along with unconventional materials such as carbon fiber, Plexiglas and whalebone piping.
The fierce footgear from the collection perfectly compliments the outfits, and not only represents Van Herpen’s well-known taste for the avant-garde, but also her delicate take on aesthetic balance, by juxtaposing the eccentric wedge with a clean ankle boot that completes the design. The upper part comes in lace-up and zip-up version in various colors – white, beige, black and burgundy. The intricate fangs are crafted from fiberglass and carbon fiber through a slow molding process. There is no leak yet on whether the ferocious footwear will hit the market, but it will surely leave a bite-mark on the pages of shoe design.

Pure, yet sophisticated cuts. Durable, but innovative clothing. Maha Barsom makes the kind of clothes women are immediately drawn to. “Interact”, her most recent collection embodies the characteristics classic sensibility and elegance that define tasteful feminine dressing. The Boston-based designer focuses on luxurious, yet practical shirts and blouses, making it easy for the modern fashionable woman- who rushes through everyday life- to look perfectly dressed for every occasion.
Although deeply grounded in classics, every piece contains an ingenious component inspired by the geometric shapes of modern architectural designs.
Specifically, the cuffs and collars of her creations give Maha Barsom’s new collection that “special something”, which reflects her passion for geometric shapes, focus on elaborate detailing and completion of advanced tailoring techniques.

Maha Barsom’s career in fashion started at the early age of eight years, when she was enamored with designing and creating clothes for her dolls. Somehow driven by a sense for responsibility, she majored in Business in college. However her passion for fashion finally led her back to it, and she started to study at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Due to her great knowledge in fashion and business, combined with great talent and dedication, Maha Barsom launched her signature line in 2006 and already pursued haute couture in Paris. Since 2002 she is passing on her expertise and experience to young designers, encouraging them to find their very own style as a Lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Thanks to the longevity of her style, there are no constraints within time or age for her designs. They are basically a must-have and a treasure in every woman’s closet. Maha Barsom manages capture the essence of fabulous clothing just by using pure white fabrics with refined cuts, without being influenced by current styles or trends.

With the Autumn/Winter 2012 collection that she presented during the Copenhagen fashion week, Anne Sofie Madsen definitely made us travel to the future. This impression was supported of course by the shape of the clothes, but also by the hair style and make-up of the models.

Her creations are not following a unique style; some designs would make us think of gothic inspirations, while others are profusely feminine with some looks would be considered as masculine.

What is important to notice is the fact that Anne Sofie Madsen does not forget any detail, which make her creations even more fantastic: very extravagant men-styled shoes with a leather band crossing from one side to the other and worn with yellow socks, crazy necklaces and collars that reminds us of an African tribe, mixtures of textures and materials and games with different volumes.

A  particular look that defined this collection, in my mind, is this the white voluminous skirt made of different materials (different levels of tulle, shaped in different manners and fringes), worn with a sweatshirt with transparent sleeves and a face shaped in the middle, paired with those tell-tale mannish shoes with yellow socks.

Anne Sofie Madsen is a Danish designer who studied at the Royal Academy of Arts School of Design. She has worked for many renowned designers: John Galliano for Dior in Paris and Alexander McQueen. She was perceived by the Vauxhall Fashion Scout as a new rising talent. Her first collection was launched during the Copenhagen Fashion Week in August 2011.

She is definitely someone to keep in mind!

Straight from the heart of Istanbul’s Fashion district, Nisantasi, Dilek Hanif has put together, for our greatest pleasure another stunning collection. Ever since she founded her brand in the nineties, Dilek has grown to be a major player in the Turkish fashion world, earning the likes and attention of many, including the country’s First Lady, Hayrünnisa Gül. Not only is she the first Turk to have made the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week, she has also been awarded the “Most Successful Female Designer” Award by Avon in 2004.

This season, the designer/entrepreneur strikes us again with her S/S 12′ collection. Although her A/W 11-12 only explored black and gold shades, it seems Spring has allowed  the intrusion of pastel into Dilek Hanif’s world. Elegance, allure, timelessness and modernity best describe her work.

Using silk, lace, organza and even chiffon and by mastering embroidery to perfection, she manages to capture the true essence of femininity. Deep cuts and sensual silk bodies delicately unveil skin without departing from elegance. Her long evening gowns redefine women’s curves in a very natural yet sensual manner. By playing with transparency and transforming embroidery into a tattoo-esque second skin, Dilek’s classic cuts clearly grasp today’s modernity.

Throughout her work and show, a constant Ottoman spirit is felt. Istanbul’s strategic location is also recalled in her garments as Hanif excels in bringing together the best of both, the Eastern and Western world. Her origins are a true inspiration and throughout the years, she has become a true emblem of modern Turkey all over the world.

Even in the midst of the ongoing continental European fashion shows, there’s a surge of anticipation for what groundbreaking-loving London may have in store for fashion agendas.
There are a number of designers whose names have been fluttering around the Internet and on people’s lips across continents.
One of the most highly anticipated protagonists of this year’s edition is Hwan Heo, a London based Korean designer. During his studies at the Royal College of Art, from which he graduated in 2007, Heo had begun the development of his brand. After three years, Heohwan Simulation was finally conceived in 2010. His work has not only called the attention of bloggers and cool hunters, but also won different high profile design awards like the Umbro Sportswear Competition.
Hwan Heo’s vision extends beyond the mere realization of seasonal collections, which would remain as fleeting instances of cyclical diversification in the memory of those who see fashion nowadays. His intent is to “showcase decade projects” – collections and themes that will smoothly flow without inhibitions throughout our times and gently form this decade’s stylistic persona.

His looks have been called experimental, flaunting characteristics that ensue from an original background in menswear. His artwork, which takes inspiration from fashion history and the phenomenons within this topic, sculpts the basis for the theme of his collections. The ultimate aim is to “approach key silhouettes through an aesthetic angle” rather than the usually over-saturated visual perspective.
His past collection, SS 2012, produced geometrically sculpted silhouettes that play with different key textures, from stiff materials to translucent textiles. Most of the pieces had a three-dimensional factor that, unexpectedly, caught the eye off guard; metallic and plastic embellishments played along those lines, proposing even more attention to the detail in the seemingly simple, yet intricate cuts.

The minimalistic use of black and white more as canvases rather than colorful (or colorless, to some) additions, brings us back bittersweet memories of the turn of the century’s affair with the “less is more” ideal – in a purely sophisticated and avant-garde manner. The deceivingly random locations of the zippers only help these canvases gain a more relaxingly complex feel, creating layers out of thin air and destroying the potential symmetry that could have existed once upon a cut. The planned indecisiveness of the lengths and widths, on jackets, skirts and sleeves, hint at the same soothing aftertaste that (the now sadly “dematerialized”) Margiela used to give to his audience after every show.
Spectacular cuts and intelligent thoughts aren’t all the ingredients that drive this designer’s ideas into innovative conclusions. However, at this moment in time we can only admire his pieces through our screens in anticipation for the moment of Heo’s next presentation.