Design | IVO MILAN - Radical Fashion Blog

Norwegian Rain – Rain, wind and tous les jours…

By: Soili Milan

11-11-2016

Abbigliamento, Architettura, Art, Arte, Clothing, Design, Fashion, Marchi, Moda, Various

It’s Norway the homeland of a brand that, even in its name, reveals without surprises its undoubted roots: Norwegian Rain!

An unisex product, which in the apparent classicism of the forms combines basic features for both cold and rainy climates. The canvases, strictly made of recycled Japanese polyester, are simulating the typical texture of traditional materials, such as wool gabardine, and do not reveal highly sophisticated and modern properties, such as the inner diaphragm, which guarantees to each raincoat to be both breathable and waterproof. The sealed seams prevent the water from intruding into the fearsome joints, allowing a peaceful freedom, regardless the worst downpours.

It lies precisely in this discrete translation of the high-tech garment, usually characterized by colored zippers or improbable reflective graphics and relegated to the most technical sportswear sector, in an elegant outwear, the most fascinating aspect of this Norwegian reality.

Is the modernity of a northern European language sensitive to aesthetics, grateful to the Japanese formal knowledge which is easily traced in the ongoing article, the Raincho, a garment halfway between the cape and the development of the kimono. Contribute to the complexity of the calm lines, details such as generous interior pockets, with the purpose of sheltering the vulnerable accessories, from wallets to phones, adjustable caps in amplitude with composed webbing and buttons, small panels that can replace bulky scarves, concealed zip pockets, always useful to not soak the necessary and in case you want to give up the use of the bag.

Norwegian Rain faces the everyday life with real prospects, but also with an original determination to integrate with the most complex and creative proposals of the great contemporary designers!

Wide Norwegian Rain waterproof coat with the shape of a cape in recycled polyester cloth, lined in viscose and polyester cloth

Hip-lenght A punto B sweater in cashmere cloth

Wide lined Comme des Garçons skirt in polyester matelassè with floral tapestry

Mascha ‘classic Trippen’ ankle boot in cowhide leather

Altalen hat in felt 100% lapin

Knee-lenght Norwegian Rain waterproof coat in recycled cloth lined in viscose and polyester cloth

Long and wide Boboutic cardigan in polyamide and extra fine merinos wool cloth worked with irregular knots

Classic Comme des Garçons man shirt in cotton poplin

Classic Comme des Garçons – Comme des Garçons man trousers in wool gabardine, cupro lined

Dippy Trippen Shoe in smooth cowhide leather

Knee-lenght Norwegian Rain waterproof coat in recycled polyester cloth, lined in viscose and polyester cloth

Zucca longuette dress in stretch, nylon and alpaca

Mascha ‘classic Trippen’ ankle boot in cowhide leather

The Enlightenment Punk of Comme des Garçons

By: Soili Milan

25-10-2016

Abbigliamento, Architettura, Art, Arte, Clothing, Design, Fashion

For several years now Rei Kawakubo, in Comme des Garçons art, has exclusively dedicated to clues, atmospheres and evocation her own representation of the ongoing collection. Emancipated of any kind of obligation towards the expectations of the global audience, the Japanese designer delights with her exhibitions that are closer to the art world rather than the sector of belonging. The runway is not dedicated to garments but to textile provocations, architectonic structures that surround the sacrificed bodies of models lend to carry oversized sculptures, deliberately cumbersome and disproportionate compared to the available space.

Impossible not to ask yourself why or what is the plausible message content in this artistic drift. Maybe a self-granted freedom of expression, against the monotonous limits forced by the reality of the female body, or a subtle provocation versus a star-system hat becomes increasingly uncritical and exhibitionist. Certainly the dialog has not the purpose of selling. The pared garments are indeed extraordinary pieces of contemporary art that belong in museums or wealthy collectors. The runway show is an idea, a suggestion of the inspiring motif of the season which will be found later translated and much wearable in the development in the show-room. For Autumn/Winter 2016-2017 we witness then poetic collage of antique fabrics, floral tapestries that catapult the public in the XVIII century, the Age of Enlightenment, the rematch of reason over ignorance and superstition.

Rei Kawakubo, however, is not nostalgic and well-mannered, the collage is held together by metal snap buttons, by cuts and raw seams, diagonals that fragment the decorative harmony of time, implying elements defined by herself as Punk, in the most provocative meaning of the term.

Synthetic leather, studs, constant asymmetries and details that can be observed in the motives sewed on skirts, in the curvatures of the nodal points of the joints, reinforced as if they were textile armatures. And extensions, adjustable connecting rings, a flexibility in disassembling and reassembling, a continuously adjustable area in lengths and a delicate balance between order and disorder. It is not said that we can return to the original reconstruction, that many the alternatives are. Modernity and tradition, they also alternate in the processing, the ancient Japanese knowing collaborates with the most daring experimentations of the multi-layerd polyester cloth with rayon, cupro and cotton panels, in an encounter that observes how the material determinants and imposes the final shape of the piece, whether is a jacket, skirt or coat.

Needless to assume how Rei Kawakubo, in preparing an original and personal temporal syncretism, punk and Enlightenment, thinks of women determined to stay in their own time with the vigor and exuberance of who has a critical and imaginative independency

World preview: Elisa Wild

By: Soili Milan

17-09-2016

Architettura, Clothing, Design

In the middle of the new Fall season, it’s a pleasure to return and to guide you in the discovery of the collections that gives form to our seasonal catalog. Returning to the good practice of introducing the new arrivals, we are starting with a new entry, the Swiss-Italian designer:

Elisa Wild

In absolute world preview, her work is hosted inside of our two places of belonging: online and in the Padua shop.

Elisa Wild stands out not only in the textile production, she also involves us in a detailed narration of her work and in the path that led her to be make clothes. With her own words…

“This adventure began, as is often the case, with a passion: a passion for textiles and the chance to work and shape them in the same way as sculpting a raw material. It was essential to make the materials and techniques in the project compatible, since every fabric responds to handling in a different way.

For many years, I have worked continuously on researching, studying and experimenting, in order to stimulate and inspire the design departments of the stars of the fashion world with sophisticated ways of working with textiles. But only now, with these dresses, has the dream that I have always harbored throughout my career come true: managing the entire creative, conceptual and technical process myself, right through to the finished product.

The project has therefore become a system in which the chosen fabric, the specific production methods and the entire process of constructing the object/garment merge to produce unusual, wearable effects. Finally, the ‘textile constructions’ for which we are known in the fashion world have become the dresses I have always dreamed of, as if the thoughts, ideas, whims and sketches in my myriad of notebooks found the right moment and means to take shape. Our workshop has left no stone unturned in researching and testing artisan techniques in its quest to achieve special effects with fabrics.

The BOLLE DRESS (bubble) owes its shape to a specific, extremely irregular hand-drawn design, which takes into account how the fabric will move as its form is reshaped by elastic. It is entirely handmade, and to a certain extent it is an empirical work… mass producing a process like this would certainly be a complex challenge to any manufacturer.

Those admiring the final garment may not appreciate how delicate the balance is between the effect produced by the shape of the dress and how it is made. This equilibrium stems from a careful study of the designs, proportions and procedures to create an item that epitomizes haute couture.

In the ORIGAMI DRESS, the concept underpinning the production — strips of fabric assembled three-dimensionally — and the cut of the garment were designed in parallel, and as a result the front of the dress is a compact modular system in which all parts are interconnected. In addition, the very dry and lightweight wool/linen canvas fabric chosen specifically for the dress can be doubled up, making it ideal for the origami-style folds. The resulting strength is an intrinsic part of the garment, within a simple yet sculptural shape.

For the NODI DRESS, a special design was created with a structure that runs vertically through the dress: a sort of comb with teeth made of small strips of fabric. Only when the sewing is done and everything is completely finished are these strips tied by hand, and the dress slowly takes shape, taking on its final appearance thanks to a spine of knots and bows that gather the fabric in at the sides. Truly a captivating design!”

A made in Italy learned, who knows to confront the most daring challenges of the great Japanese school, knowing, however, to defend and define its own creative authenticity.

Mix and Match Summer Sale…

By: Soili Milan

29-07-2016

Abbigliamento, Clothing, Design

With summer sales still pacing ahead and the first arrivals of the Fall/Winter 2016-2017, a fresh look to our current catalogue is an opportunity to bring summer back into the limelight. Heatwaves and imminent holidays demand light weights and outfits.

Together with Jennicka, Sari’s shots around our shop in Padova will take you on a swift tour of our Summer deals…

Y’s Yohji Yamamoto two pieces wide dress: wide t-shirt in cotton jersey, short sleeve, wide V neck, small buttons at the bottom to be closed in holes of the trousers, short sarouel in polyester and polyurethane Prince of Wales, with belt and detachable belt pouch, two welt vertical side pockets, t-shirt and trousers are detachable

Sha double sinamay hat with wider brim at sides and smaller at rear, small cotton ribbon trim at the edge

Trippen (SPIDER) flat shoe in soft cowhide leather with laces and side stripes, open on upper part, laces closure, leather stripes coming out from the sides suggesting a ‘spider’ design, two separated shells rubber sole

Junya Watanabe calf-length dress in polyester georgette with a zebra-stripes print, flared sleeve, wide rounded neck with a shawl effect on a second dress, back central slit, straight line

Comme des Garçons-Comme des Garçons wide shirt in cotton poplin, cut with stitching and pleating ‘impero’ style, rounded neck, strings closure on the front, short sleeve, hip-length, wearable also as an open jacket

Comme des Garçons-Comme des Garçons long and wide pleated skirt in washed linen canvas and printed with bi-colour polka-dots, elastic and waist band at the belt, side vertical welt pockets

Un-Namable over-fitting t-shirt in iridescent cotton jersey, wide crew-neck, circle line, flared asymmetric bat sleeve with raw cut edges, central vertical stitching on the front and the back

Un-Namable soft trousers in cotton crêpe with narrow vertical pleats, diagonal small panel on the front, elastic at the belt, a side diagonal small pocket

Daniela Gregis big shopper bag in hand-knitted palm leaves wrapped in a cotton vichy canvas with knots going through four holes in the upper part becoming a double handle, the piece of cloth could be worn as a shawl, h cm 30 x l cm 32 x d cm 20

Trippen (IBIZA) flip flop sandal in soft elk leather and cowhide leather parts in contrasting colours, wide and asymmetric band wrapping a foot side, Velcro closure on the front, open on the back, classic rubber rounded sole

Un-namable calf-length doubled dress in treated cotton muslin and with a cloud effect printing, wide crew-neck, sleeveless, diagonal stitching at the waist, wide bottom with side stitching and selvage at the hem, raw cut edges, wide and asymmetric line

Yesey hat straw

Trippen (HOREN) flip flop sandal in soft cowhide leather along the edges with open-toe, separated flip flop ring, shoe laces twist along the foot upper part to be tied around the ankle, classic rounded rubber sole

Y’s Yohji Yamamoto, S/S 2016

By: Soili Milan

27-05-2016

Abbigliamento, Clothing, Design, Fashion

Y's Yohji Yamamoto Spring/Summer 2016

Maybe not everyone knows that before coming out with the line that now bears his full name, Yohji Yamamoto made his debut in 1972 with the Y’s. A possessive case strongly indicative of the paternity and affection feelings of the well-known Japanese designer towards his work and his young performance.

Y’s, in the true sense of ‘it belongs to Yohji’, could not then be considered today a second line, but instead an everyday alternative of the bolder stylistic codes reserved to the runway collections.

It is not a rare event that, in the wide Paris showroom in Rue Saint Martin, we find us facing the spoiler of choice between a fèmme piece or its Y’s similar, reflecting from time to time if privilege a more abstract and mature feminine interpretation or a more immature and practical one.

The final decision is usually commit to the more precise correspondence between shape, colour and composition, with the world evoked by the garment in question.

In the Y’s too, Yohji doesn’t scrimp on the involvement of distant artisans, last repositories of the rich Japanese textile heritage, and with extraordinary confidence and discretion leads these unmissable knowledges in refining the everyday life. Linen and cotton patchworks, gussets kept together by laborious stitchings, polka-dots spread on complex wideness, doubled fabrics, barely sketched and overlapped pleats, ad hoc placed darts, precise distribution of the empties and the voids, in a continuos, careful game around the details, the small particular, in order to confuse the position of dresses, jackets and knitwear, in two opposing worlds: one classic and conventional and the other more unpredictable and personal.

The effect is a displacement typical of Yohji Yamamoto’s trait, always in conscious and affected balance between the austerity and the unconventional.