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LSA NewsNo. 76, September 2006
Gonzo Revue's "So-Hip-It-Hurts" 2006 Haute Couture Collection: Runway Reviews(story continued)Eriqué O'Gucci with "Library Consortium Luau Chic"
The enchanting Ex-Libris Lamour wears an original design by the up and coming Eriqué O'Gucci for Bibliotheque Institut. This stylish look is in classic black, white, and amicable blue, with charming details expertly nuanced in a delicate pastel palette. The skirt is brilliantly reminiscent of Hawaiian grass skirt style with its gorgeous fluttering vertical slits, constructed of Summit book bands, that make the eye dance around the surface of this stunning piece. The detailing is spectacular! The file folder labels have been transformed into sea foam green flowers that seem to prance in zero gravity as Ex-Libris gracefully glides down the catwalk. The sugarplum packing plastic belt is the perfect response to those dramatic hula-dancing flowers. Truly exquisite! The skirt is flawlessly matched with a sharply architectural corset constructed of archival corrugated board in a self-possessed, celestial blue. The detailing on the center front of this timeless piece is arresting with a superbly minimalist 3-dimensional composition of packing peanut orchids. O'Gucci is a master colorist! The look is completed with an eye-catching Summit courier handbag with smotherings of niftily handcrafted Summit hold slip trimmings. And finally, dangling alluringly from Ex Libris' delectable lobes, are striking shelf list card earrings. Eriqué O'Gucci has a superb knack for synethesizing Luau chic and modern library consortium aesthetics into a delightful haute couture statement. Armandi, Pam DiorLaittre, & Jen-Paul GauLindsier with "Gypsy-glam Tree Byproducts & Plastic" Keeping the energy high, the beguiling Ariel Infotrieve trots out in a Libris de Congrès creation. Without a doubt, this Armandi, Pam DiorLaittre, and Jen-Paul GauLindsier collaboration is truly inspired. Taking their direction from the gypsy-glam, boho trend, they have conspired to give a fleeting impression of feathers, fur, lace, and leather by cleverly employing in this skillful ensemble, tree byproducts, industrial fasteners, and petro-chemical plastique.
Starting this retro-mod medieval look off is a delightful color explosion of a capelet. Shades of daffodil, rose and wisteria spill exuberantly around Ariel's ample décolletage, recalling a spring meadow in full bloom. GauLindsier provides genuine sartorial splendor in her use of vintage hold slips, address change forms and reported returned response cards. Only the most jubilant jug would be adequate to hold a bouquet this divine, and DiorLaittre expertly answers with a stunning cut-glass vase-like skirt. Clearly, it is clear that this skirt is clear. DiorLaittre's inspiration is transparently obvious...we see right through her intentions. The designer graciously invites us to imagine this diaphanous flouncy skirt floating, like a bubble, on a gentle current of air. The skirt is sheer elegance, generating an unrivalled crystalline quality unsurpassed in the modern see-through design aesthetic. The garment's piece de resistance is the swanky, sassy, and all too scintillating Armandi bustle, which accents Ariel's bootie meretriciously. Armandi and DiorLaittre's affinity for low crystalline content polyethylenes is evidenced by their unrestrained use of pam binder protection leaves and disaster response sheeting. A lavishly decorated derby completes the look. Let us not be so prosaic as to ask why this look is so dazzling. We can all bask in its rapturous resplendence without complete understanding. Liesltella Vordersace with "Jackie O Refined Elegance" The delightfully charismatic Aubergine gracefully saunters out in a Jackie O inspired frock. The notable fashion house, Knight Sweat(s)Shop, commissioned Liesltella Vordersace to create a wearable masterpiece. And accomplish that, she did!
Vordersace focused on shape and ultraluxe contrasts of texture and sends out a fiercely chic little number in a trompe l'oeil recycle bag. This über élégant tea length shift dress is wrapped by rebuffed microfilm into weightlessly wicked bows and trim, accentuating Aubergine's alluring curves. The dress is magnificently enhanced by a medley of fabulous flourishes. The engrossing garbage bin liner whisper of a scarf flickers and twinkles, then seems to flutter away into a puff of smoke. Finally, the maraschino on the tiramisu is a precise and lustrous microfilm pill-box hat, an absolutely essential accent to a Jackie O inspired dress. Such flawlessly refined elegance! This ensemble reveals a vital Vordersace, in charge and sending sparks on a sky-scraping creative level. This dress is a succinct reply to the vexed refrain of whether recycling receptacles can be truly desirable—no question, if it looks this gorgeous! Jen-Paul GauLindsier & Liesltella Vordersace with "Proper & Wearable in Polite Society"
The lovely Baguette sashays into view in a brazenly innovative design by Jen-Paul GauLindsier & Liesltella Vordersace, designing for Phat Dewey. It is no surprise to see GauLindsier & Vordersace referencing embryonic Britney Spears, prehistoric Reserve supplies, and classic period Madonna, in this vintage-tinted season. Baguette is dressed in a cheap school girl mini skirt, engineered with dexterously assembled reserve loan period cards and fashioned with staples in a multitude of garish, eye-searing shades. This body-hugging wrap skirt is dramatically set off, in true GauLindsier spirit, with a saucy slit revealing a naughty expanse of thigh. Such perverse delight!
The matching chapeau, also designed by the puckish GauLindsier, is the ideal topper to this daring ensemble. The bonnet is evocative of fin de siècle Paris brothel fashion, so popular this season. Who can resist a hat when flying at this couture altitude?! And what is this unabashed elephant in the salon? That bustier is spectacular! In a brilliant coup, Vordersace has utilized the most mundane packing materials and twine cones and transformed them into sublime wearable art. The sensual texture of the cardboard fabric is ribbed for her pleasure. Vordersace has outdone herself with this striking tribute to eighties synthepop. The aggressively relevant accessories accentuate the look expertly. Vordersace's apprentices have distinguished themselves with the fetishy barcode choker and matching cuff bracelet. The earrings too are the perfect accompaniment to this gaudy get-up, made from colossal iridescent opals, which remind us inexplicably of recycled compact discs. Phat Dewey has never before been guided by such artistic visionaries as GauLindsier & Vordersace. The truth is, GauLindsier's once deliberately schlocky aesthetics have snuggled down into comfy restraint to create sensibly doable duds. Even Vordersace's habitual cheekiness is kept well in check now; her collections give off a sly chic rather than devious ridicule of the bourgeoisie. I think you all will agree that this piece is all very sane and wearable in polite society. Bella de la Raina with "The Beefy Buckaroo"
We now arrive in the parallel universe that is the House of Gutenberg! Bella de la Raina has created a positively potent men's line. So rugged and virile is this look that only the brightest runway star could do it justice. The AA&A Modeling Agency has unleashed a model of consummate beefy caliber onto the fashion stage with the magnificent Claude Kên-Dâhl. He wears a look that harkens back to the nascent designs of Jen-Paul GauLindsier with its roughrider tough vibe. What woman could resist a man perambulating in this manifest wrangler subtext? Without question, luscious hot-pink bubble wrap cares for the contents of this package!
The recycled compact disc sheriff badge, barcode belt, and operational packing plastic holsters are the perfect accoutrement for this gallant get-up. The pinnacle of this look is the impeccably masculine stetson. De la Raina bars no holds in her spirited use of purchase order forms, reminiscent of ersatz snakeskin. This designer can work the buckaroo theme like nobody's business. No literal rehash of the past, this rigorously manly fashion statement strides out in bubbley plastic, glinting with Y-chromosomal intent.
The works of Armandi (Mandi Garcia), Bella de la Raina (Raina Smith), Eriqué O'Gucci (Erica O'Grady), Jen-Paul GauLindsier (Jen Lindsey), Liesltella Vordersace (Liesl Vorderstrasse), Pam DiorLaittre (Pam DeLaittre), and Welcome Akwaaba Mohr (Marilyn Mohr) were graciously modelled by mannequins Ariel Infotrieve (Melissa Logan), Aubergine (Charlotte Conlin), Baguette (Liesl Vorderstrasse), Claude Kên-Dâhl (Erik Dahl), and Ex Libris L'Amour (Susie Scroggins).
-photos by Laura Damiani |
