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Whether it’s a little white dress over a New York City subway grate or a cone bra on a statement-making pop star, the clothes we wear have the power to project all kinds of messages. The very existence of certain garments and silhouettes is often proof of moments of significant social change; we communicate the things we cannot say through the clothes we wear, which in tu can determine how we move about the world and where we’re allowed to go. In many ways, any history of fashion, however incomplete, is a history of us all. It’s also a survey of tailoring, textiles, innovation, infighting, business, bravado and, above all, beauty — ugliness, too.

With that in mind, T assembled a panel of esteemed judges — the fashion authority Pamela Golbin, formerly the chief curator of fashion and textiles at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris; the New York-based stylist and T contributor Matt Holmes; T’s creative director, Patrick Li; the American fashion designer Rick Owens; and the Italian gallerist, president of Fondazione Sozzani and founder of the 10 Corso Como concept store, Carla Sozzani — to choose the 25 most influential women’s wear collections from the end of World War II to now. Before convening, each of them nominated about 10 collections he or she deemed worthy of inclusion. Then, on a Wednesday in late July, they gathered online to whittle down the list, which mostly reflects the order in which they were discussed rather than their ranking. There were a few clear favorites — everyone agreed to include at least one season of Comme des Garçons — and many tough omissions. (Yes, we know we’re light on Italians.) It was often difficult to single out one collection from a designer’s body of work, although that was the task; equally tricky was separating the clothing itself from the spectacle of a show. To be considered, a collection didn’t need to have appeared on a runway, and not all runway shows met the criteria. For example, the 1973 Battle of Versailles fund-raiser didn’t qualify because there were teams; for the monumental event, five French couturiers (Marc Bohan for Christian Dior, Pierre Cardin, Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Emanuel Ungaro) showed against five of their American peers (Bill Blass, Stephen Burrows, Oscar de la Renta, Halston and Anne Klein). We also agreed not to consider anything by the panelists themselves, which is why Owens isn’t on the final list, despite his multiple nominations.

Finally, two collections have been so instrumental to the development of contemporary fashion that we felt they were almost too obvious to take up a pair of precious slots. The first arrived in 1947, when a relatively young French designer named Christian Dior debuted a feminine New Look. Dresses with sloped shoulders were cinched tight at the waist, as were shawl-collared jackets wo with voluminous skirts that created not just an hourglass figure but an opulent antidote to the austerity of the era’s military uniforms. The second was an argument against the first, by the French couturier and milliner Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel — whose designs in the 1920s and ’30s communicated pragmatism and independence, and who felt Dior had done a disservice to liberated women. In 1954, at the age of 70, she came out of retirement, tuing her classic tweed suits — updated during that period with a slim skirt and a collarless jacket with braided trim — into a repudiation of her competitor’s primmer ideals.Read more at:formal dresses for women | formal dresses melboue

When she’s not twirling on the Cannes red carpet in a billowing gown or gliding down the ramp at the London Fashion Week, Dubai-based content creator and social media influencer Farhan Bodi is leading the most disciplined and austere life. Bodi, an Indian who grew up in South Africa, has 1.3 million followers on Instagram alone. Her glamour-laden page documents her snazzy and globe-trotting life.

“I have never done any surgery on my face or my body. I don’t do any fillers and I take care of myself the moment I wake up … I may look like a party animal, but I am not one,” Bodi told Gulf News.

We are at her mode and minimalistic apartment in Downtown Dubai and her last sentence about being mistaken for a decadent ‘party animal’ reverberates through her living room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and chrome finishes.

“So, everyone thinks I am a party animal, but the truth is that I love going to parties but I do not drink alcohol and I am not into smoking much … I love taking care of my skin, my health and I stay away from anything that can damage my skin or health,” said Bodi.

The moment she wakes up, this 36-year-old beauty downs a shot of unadulterated ginger juice to boost her immunity. Recently divorced, she is a single mum to her young boy Aiden.

“That’s how I start my day in the moing. But the first thing that I do is wake up next to my beautiful son and I play with him. I listen to Quran recitation because praying is important to me … I am into meditation too. I love to balance my life out,” said Bodi, bo to Gujarati parents based in Rangoon before setting up their base in South Africa.

Her entire day is mapped out carefully since the former model believes in a structured living.

“I do my pilates and then work out at the gym during the first half of my day. But before I hit the gym or do pilates, I detox my system with a glass of green juice followed by a glass of water with oveight-soaked chia seeds. I am big into detox juices.”

Like most social-media influencers who bank on their faces and bodies heavily, Bodi is all about self-care.

“I love dressing up and it’s not anyone else but for myself. Since I was a baby, I was so passionate about fashion, beauty, lifestyle … I used to doll up every single day … If there was any modelling contest or fashion show in school, I would be the first one to enrol or sign up,” said Bodi with a laugh.

Apparently, she goes to her hair salon every day to get her hair done professionally. It’s an indulgence to most women, but she looks at it as an absolute necessity.

“I work out at the gym or at my pilates studio and then I go to the salon to get my hair done. I am lucky that I have so many hair salons around the coer … The simple secret to my fabulous life is that I love taking care of myself,” said Bodi. At the time of this interview, Bodi – clad in a white paint suit -- had her long black hair cascading in curls. Even when it comes to her food, she watches her calorie intake like a hawk. On most days, she is subscribed to a healthy food meal plan service. Her meals are mostly a healthy mix of vegetables, proteins, and limited carbohydrates. Every calorie that she eats is accounted for.

“Once I have my lunch, I get ready for my meetings. I work mostly from home and it’s very flexible. All my meetings in Dubai are done at The Dubai Mall in coffee shops and restaurants. Even though I travel a lot, I make sure that I spend time with my son when I am here,” said Bodi. She’s often invited to Cannes Film Festival and Fashion Weeks around the world for brand endorsements. Most of her work assignments are discussed over zoom calls and when she has a global event involving photo-shoots coming she embarks on a strict diet.

“I need to fit into those dresses because many designers provide you with sample pieces. Although I have been lucky that my designers custom made those gowns for me, there’s always that pressure to look good on the red carpet … Sometimes, I do juicing or have a diet based mostly on boiled eggs and almonds,” said Bodi. It isn’t easy to look picture perfect all the time, but Bodi has leaed the art of eating clean.

“Today, I was sent a burger with vegan bread … It was low calorie and low carbs. I also eat a lot of fish and salads too,” said Bodi. The only time she breaks away from this healthy eating patte is when she’s on a holiday.

“Then I go crazy. I was in Capri recently and I was feasting on Gelato ice creams every day,” said Bodi.

Her day isn’t complete without a walk around the block. Even when it’s summer, Bodi walks outdoors every evening.

“I love walking. On most days, you will see me in my shorts and cropped top. When I walk, I call my family and friends. I talk to them while I walk … Being active is an important part of my day,” said Bodi. In September, she will be travelling to Milan for their Fashion Week. She’s already got her game face on for her impeding work assignment. During her travels, she loves to check the local dining and dancing scene out.

“I love music and even though I don’t drink I have a lot of fun … I was in Mykonos recently and I partied till 7am … It was such a different experience. I was sipping orange juice and virgin strawberry mojitos to keep up,” said Bodi. While being a social media influencer is highly lucrative, she also has to deal with the trolls on some days.

“I take the trolls and that negativity in my stride … I am a firm believer in surrounding myself with positive energy. I am all about manifesting good things in my life by putting the word out there in the universe,” said Bodi. So what’s her biggest stress buster?

“I love listening to Bollywood romantic music and going for a walk to clear my head. I have the most cheesiest mash of Bollywood pop hits on my playlist now.” And if that fails, she checks herself into a retreat in Bodrum or somewhere equally exotic and fancy. Meditation also helps her keep her head above the water. But her biggest plus in her life is her job of playing an influencer to millions.

“I love my life and my job. I am so grateful for this Instagram platform. As a content creator, I am in a dream job where I get to travel and stay in the most luxurious hotels in the world. I am so grateful when I wake up every day.”Read more at:white formal dresses | red evening gowns online

Dover Street Market and David Casavant are offering a chance to own pieces wo by Rihanna, Pharrell Williams, Paul McCartney, Dua Lipa and Ye.

On Friday, the American fashion stylist, collector and consultant will release 26 pieces from his archive for sale to the public for the first time at Dover Street Market in New York City.

The pieces, presented in nine looks, include runway items from Prada, Calvin Klein, Helmut Lang, Jil Sander and Raf Simons collected over the last 20 years. It includes a Raf Simons Patches bomber jacket from his fall 2000 collection wo by Rihanna to an event, and Lorde on her Billboard cover in 2014, Raf Simons’ “Consumed” tank top wo by Pharrell at the NBA All-Star Game Halftime show in 2018 with N*E*R*D, a Helmut Lang black leather and shearling jacket from the fall 1999 collection, and even Miu Miu men’s cotton striped boxer shorts. Prices range from $150 to $13,000 and the sale will continue until every item is sold out.

“I thought of it as a mix of greatest hits from my archive as well as the specific pieces that create a cohesive story and aesthetic all together,” Casavant said. “I wanted it to be something for the customer to dream about wearing and that helped provide context around each item.”

Casavant wanted the offering to be a mix of generic vintage finds to museum-caliber pieces, as well as items attached to celebrities’ big moments. “I like that there is almost a celebrity memorabilia aspect to buying the piece on top of the fact the item itself is a notable and rare item in fashion history,” he added.

Bo in Tennessee, Casavant began collecting vintage pieces at 13 years old. He later moved to London and attended Central Saint Martins. He established his archive in 2013 and released a book titled “David Casavant Archive” in 2018.

Casavant revealed that he had wanted to sell pieces in his archive for some time and partnered with Dover Street Market to sell “in a more intimate way,” he said.

“I wanted to begin small and I wanted to start where you buy them physically in store and not online,” he added. “Having to buy the pieces physically in the store adds a more democratic as well as a more exclusive aspect because you have to actually go there in order to see and buy them. Dover Street Market is the perfect fit for me as they really understood and were excited about the vision. Resale is going to be a staple to stay in fashion and I wanted to be able to provide them with the highest form of what the idea of what resale could be like in their store.”Read more at:red formal dresses | formal dresses melboue

Whether some of us are shopaholics or compulsive consumers who adore wasting money, we all desire to look stylish, sophisticated, and wealthy. Fashion-friendly buying is not always possible in an era of inflation, and smart shopping is the greatest way to look rich without breaking the bank. By using some shrewd fashion advice and the right component combinations, you can upgrade your appearance. We have some fashion advice that you can use to achieve an opulent look on a tight budget.

1. INVEST ON GOLD-TONE JEWELLERY

Jewelry with a gold tone can radically change the way you look. It is simple to obtain and reasonably priced to buy in your neighbourhood markets. Statement gold jewellery pieces you may add to your wardrobe include layered chains, gold plate studs or earrings, and necklaces. You can also improve your appearance by adding gold or metal chains to your bags or belt buckles. Make sure the jewellery is pleasant to wear and doesn’t irritate the skin in any way, though. Choose jewellery that can be modified and adjusted so that it fits you perfectly. Avoid donning several gold jewellery at once as it may appear excessive. You can also experiment with combining other metals to create a chic and classic look.

2. KEEP STRUCTURED BAGS HANDY

Investing in simple, structured bags gives your ensemble more elegance. Solid colours and basic pattes can improve whatever outfit you are wearing. Structured bags match most clothes, which results in significant cost savings. It can be wo with a variety of outfits. Big bags and vivid colours should be avoided because they can overwhelm your clothing. Have at least one structured bag in white and black in your closet. Additionally, it’s critical to look after your bags. To keep them in shape, arrange them neatly in your closet and pack them when not in use.

3. TRY MIX AND MATCH

Women’s fashion is quite diverse and is always changing. By mixing and matching various pieces that are appropriate for every event, you may create a range of outfits. In order to keep abreast with trends, you must constantly purchase attractive, trendy dresses because wearing out-of-date apparel does not look good on you. For instance, rather than getting an altogether new outfit, you can update your look by purchasing a matching kurta and palazzo or pair of leggings if salwar is currently out of fashion. Try out a few different looks. Try on clothing that are outside of your comfort zone to see what works and what doesn’t.

4. RECYCLE OUTDATED CLOTHING

Recycle your old garments by giving them a makeover rather than purchasing new clothing or dress materials. Choose clothing with nice fabrics and colours. With this, you won’t need to purchase new cloth; instead, you can simply select the newest fashionable patte and have it sewn from the old apparel. You can use gota patti and pom pom lace to make your dress attractive right now, but remember to consider the fabric and style when sewing with them. Avoid wearing clothing that is too thin or made of wo-out materials. When sewing a dress, pay attention to the fabric’s patte and make sure the tailor accurately applies the design.

5. INVEST ON TIMELESS THINGS

Invest on timeless fashion items like a simple black or white T-shirt that can be wo in a variety of ways and for a variety of events. Add some neutral-colored jeans to your closet so they will go with many different outfits. This will give you more options while also saving money. To get a polished appearance, invest in well-fitting pieces in neutral colours. For a stylish appearance, add a few prints or pattes. Ensure that the clothing you choose is comfy to wear. Spend money on high-quality, natural textiles like cotton, silk, tancel, wool, and linen. These are affordable, strong, and environmentally friendly.Read more at:formal dresses melboue | formal dresses

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas are getting into the fashion business together.

The couple are now partners in Perfect Moment, a UK-based luxury fashion and sportswear brand specializing in ski and surf clothing.

I recently caught up with Chopra Jonas to talk about the new venture, her work designing for the label and why she has no plans to sing with her husband anytime soon.

How did you get involved with Perfect Moment?

This is the first apparel, fashion and lifestyle company we’ve invested in. I grew up in India and I wasn’t exposed to ski culture. But I did love the mountains. My dad took us to Kashmir every summer and I filmed a lot in Switzerland, so ski culture was something that I got familiar with. However, I never tried skiing until I met my husband, who’s an avid snowboarder.

I came to the quick conclusion that I’m more an après-ski girl, rather than skiing. I gave up on the bunny slope. My husband did buy me a snowmobile so I could keep up with him.

While I was getting introduced to mountain culture, I bought a lot of clothes that were winter chic. A lot of them happened to be Perfect Moment. Last year, I was filming my new show “Citadel” in London. Nick and I met [Perfect Moment owners] Jane and Max Gottschalk and talked about our love for the brand. They talked about growing the brand and we all had an “aha” moment and decided to invest and become partners.

I imagine you get business proposals and pitches all the time. How do you decided which ones to get involved with?

For me, I really am always looking to expand my portfolio, I can’t really speak for Nick, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same. I got into investing just a few years ago and I like to diversify my portfolio. The decision really is always about being able to align with the brand and values of a brand. But it’s also a business decision: what does the trajectory of the brand’s growth look like?

Are you going to design pieces for Perfect Moment?

Doing a capsule collection or something else for the brand is something we’ve discussed.

You have been in business together, but when are we going to see you and Nick on a screen together or in a recording studio singing together?

I love working with Nick so you’ll see things happen as the years unfold. But I’ll never sing with him.

Why not? You’re also a singer.

Not like him! No chance. He’s a musical prodigy.

But you’ll act together some day?

We’re definitely developing a bunch of TV and film stuff together.Read more at:plus size formal dresses australia | formal dresses sydney

Fashion is my one true love; it’s been there for me when I felt like I had nothing else. Growing up, my love of fashion was nurtured by those around me, in particular, my mum’s family. My granny and aunties are all big fashion lovers, and they spotted that same passion in me.

My aunty was much the same – the three of us could go on all day and night about our shared love of all things feminine and beautiful (although I now realise fashion is so much more than this). As I grew up, and access to the inteet became a household staple, I spent more and more time scrolling through fashion pages.

I watched runways, pinned a million pictures on Pinterest, and made endless mood boards of my favourite sartorial looks. When it comes to fashion, there are so many aspects about it that I love, but I’m the first to admit the industry is problematic.

Behind the shiny exterior of fashion shows and clothing labels, there is toxic and dangerous rhetoric that preys on peoples’ vulnerabilities. All throughout my childhood and adolescence, I was blindly absorbing every message that the fashion industry impressed upon me.

Sometimes, the message was overt – think of those magazines in petrol stations or supermarket lines showing ‘unflattering’ images of celebrities or an article about how someone lost however many kilos to fit into a dress.

But usually, the messages were designed to be covert: it was the clothing websites that only went up to a size 12, or the fashion influencer sharing what they eat in a day. Every picture I liked or reposted, every runway I watched and every model I followed all led me to the same conclusion: that I must shrink myself in order to be truly fashionable.

As I absorbed all this fashion content, something else began bubbling under the surface. I started avoiding certain foods and would spend hours eating my dinner each night. I was always feeling anxious about eating and it was clear that something was wrong.

With hindsight (and after years of treatment), I now know that I was suffering from an eating disorder, but 12-year-old me didn’t realise there was a problem. As I grew older and became even more anxious, my tendency to manage my feelings through food was solidified.

Soon, the messages I was receiving from Instagram, Pinterest and beyond started to consume me. Food became a source of guilt, and each mouthful was eaten with a slimmer body in mind.

During my teenage years, I ran a little blog on Instagram and Blogger. It was just a tiny fashion page with schoolmates, family and online friends following me, but it was my favourite thing to do. I would take outfit pictures wherever I went and did collaborations and gifted posts with small Australian brands.

I always received lovely feedback about my outfits and my sense of style, and it felt like the one place I belonged. But no matter how much I accomplished through my blog, or how many compliments or positive messages I received, nothing could penetrate the self-hating thoughts swirling around in my head.

I had curated a perfect little world, all through an Instagram page and a blog. My life looked happy and light. It was an endless scroll of op shop finds, flat-lays and smoothie bowls (very 2014) all disguising my inner turmoil.

I never received anything but love in both my home and school environments, but I was so consumed with self-hatred that the negative thoughts about my appearance heavily outweighed the positive ones I received from those around me.

As a young adult on the other side of eating disorder recovery who now works in fashion, I have a few insights to share. Being free of these toxic behaviours is liberating, but it doesn’t mean the thoughts don’t come up.

Constant comparison is something I have to watch out for – working as an assistant in fashion, I’m often dressing models and working behind the scenes on photoshoots. Dressing the bodies I once coveted can be triggering, and intrusive thoughts and the tendency to compare do pop up, but I now have the tools to work through them.

I’ve gained resilience and now feel powerful enough to stand up to these old beliefs. The main way I do this is through practising positive self-talk and self-love. I’m not trying to make it sound easy, because it’s been a long and difficult path, with plenty of trips, stumbles and straight-up falls.

But I think I’ve leaed to lean into the discomfort because that’s where all the growth comes from. Now, I treat myself as I would anyone I love, because I finally love myself too.Read more at:formal dresses adelaide | red formal dresses

The month is February and the year is 2013. You just got home from another soul-crushing day at high school, and it's time to check tumblr. Scrolling past backstage photos of Sasha Pivovarova and scans of an NSFW editorial from French Vogue, something catches your eye: it's a GIF of Hussein Chalayan's Fall/Winter 2013 runway show.

You look closer. The moving image captures a model gliding down the runway, her face vacant in a very high fashion way. As she approaches the camera, her hand grabs at the neckline of her dress. She wrenches down, a forceful maneuver that, in any other case, would rip right through the garment.

But instead of destroying the dress, she creates a new one. The frock unfurls into an entirely new creation, a mind-bending feat of tailoring.

It was this GIF that introduced me to Chalayan's enchanting experiments with transforming fashion. The British-Turkish designer, a Central Saint Martins graduate, has been creating high-tech wearables long before the advent of WiFi and smartphones.

In 2000, he created a remote-controlled dress with panels that lifted to reveal a layer of tulle. In 2007, he upped the ante with computer-controlled dresses that seemed to shape-shift on their own accord. The same year, he debuted an LED dress that played videos on its surface. And in 2017, he partnered with Intel to create brainwave and heart-monitoring accessories that displayed visualizations of models' stress levels via tiny built-in projectors.

Chalayan's runway shows emanate a strange sort of magic that fashion today lacks. While watching footage from his past collections, everything else falls away — a transportive quality similarly present in the work of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.

Chalayan hasn't shown at Fashion Week since the FW20 season, and recent news regarding the designer is sparse. In 2019, he joined the University of Applied Sciences Berlin as a design professor. In 2020, Shanghai's Power Station of Art hosted Hussein Chalayan: Archipelago, a retrospective of his work. And in early 2022, he collaborated with homeware purveyor Karaca on a collection of tableware.

It seems the creative has indefinitely stepped away from fashion. "The industry favors all the same people and it is really boring, from stylists to photographers to designers... It is safe to say I haven’t really ever made myself part of the 'club,'" he said in a recent interview.

It's this unwavering authenticity that unlocked the imaginations of me and countless other fashion tumblr teens. And it's the reason why, after 69 seasons, Chalayan may have retired as fashion history.Read more at:black formal dresses | formal dresses adelaide

For millions of people, getting dressed or undressed is not a complex task. However, for thousands of others, it can seem like an impossible challenge.

That’s an issue one former Vol is tackling.

This adaptive fashion line has been years in the making for Mary Cayten Brakefields.

“So there are some special aspects in our clothes that make them more accessible,” said Brakefields as she describes her first clothing line. “First, our fabrics are all stretchy. so they’ve got a great stretch and retu in them. they’re super soft and comfortable. and all of the pockets on our skirts, they have inteal, exteal access and so you can thread any of your devices through there. then they have a clip strip that you can attach to your device to keep it nice and secure inside of your pocket.”

The former Tennessee Vol has always dreamt of creating a fashion label with her mom, Stephanie. Though it wasn’t until her time at UT, that she discovered in what industry.

“Being at UT was the absolute best. and being on the swim team was absolutely incredible. Being a VOLeader was the most incredible experience I could have possibly imagined,” said Brakefields.

The experience that changed everything for Brakefields was a conversation she had with two male adaptive athletes in Ecuador during a VOLeaders trip.

“We were having lunch and they started telling me about how frustrating it was trying to get dressed in the moing. so their experience really was eye-opening wow, there is so much missing from the fashion industry and there are so many people that are not being served well by the industry. and so maybe we can change that,” said Brakefields.

Her mission became increasingly personal her sophomore year when Brakefields was diagnosed with a genetic mutation.

One day after swim training, she passed out and convulsed on the floor of the locker room. An array of ailments would follow including, concussions, and infections. For two years she was in and out of the hospital. Eventually, doctors diagnosed her with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and dysautonomia.

This diagnosis caused her to frequently faint and endure convulsions. She reveals that it also attacks her collagen which directly impacts all of her bodily functions and day-to-day life. It also interrupted her swimming career with the Vols.

But she didn’t let this deter her from her love of fashion and serving those with disabilities.

“I was going through all of these medical experiences at the same time that I was leaing and continually being reminded of you’re so much more than your sport, you know, you have something to offer.”

In addition to her clothing line, a big part of her label is jewelry and its easy functionality.

“We’ve got our different head options here. so we’ve got our traditional post that is the coral and then we have our little rectangle provides so that is great for if you have limited mobility or if you have a caregiver is putting on your earrings for you so much easier than trying to get the little post into a little hole so we’re trying to make accessible accessories as much as possible.”

During her time with VOLeaders they worked with people with disabilities and there she leaed the power of representation.

“It’s so important,” said Brakefields. “And just representation and different bodies and different people being shown in an industry that has historically been less representative of a lot of people. it just has so much potential for good and it’s just really exciting. and so yeah, I’m just so excited to see where the industry is going and we’re excited to help maybe shape it a little bit.”Read more at:white evening dresses | long evening dresses australia

If anyone is ready for the metaverse, and the expressive, out-of-this-world outfits virtual fashion will afford us, it’s Iris van Herpen. Over the past 15 years, the Dutch designer has carved out a niche as fashion’s most future-facing designer, redefining the olde worlde charm of couture to show how technology can and will transform the way we dress. Consider the fact that she began experimenting with 3-D printed clothing way back in 2009—and that almost all of her designs today begin life as computer models, making her uniquely placed to outfit virtual events. “All of the 3-D prints that we’re doing are digitally designed first, so all those looks are basically already ready for the metaverse,” she explained at a preview. “Couture is where my heart is. For me, technology is a tool that makes it possible to bring the craftsmanship forward.”

Looking forward has always been Van Herpen’s gift. Though this fall 2022 collection marks her 15th anniversary, she was never going to trot out a retrospective of her favorite archive pieces. “I thought about it for about three seconds,” she laughed. “And then I realized—no! I want to look forward. I’ve always done that. The collection is very future-oriented, inspired by post-humanism, by transforming identities, the metaverse, but also hyperreality, where digital reality and physical reality are becoming indistinguishable.”

Naturally, to look forward, one has to look back—to the eighth century and Ovid’s Metamorphoses in this case. “Those poems are so timeless,” said Van Herpen. “We are still facing those same questions: Who are we beyond our physical bodies? Where are we going as human beings?” Inspired predominantly by three poems, those of Daphne, Arachne and Narcissus, she designed 16 physical looks and three digital looks to be wo by avatars for her show at the Élysée Montmartre. The only snag? A last-minute outbreak of COVID-19 among members of the technical team who were set to operate mixed-reality headsets for the audience meant the digital part of the show couldn’t go ahead.

No matter. The audience was entranced initially by a skeleton sculpture by Casey Curran depicting the nymph Daphne in the center of the runway, surrounded by gold laurel leaves suspended from the ceiling, her organza spine undulating in the breeze. As for the show: Van Herpen’s intricately constructed pieces, many of which blend hand-executed couture techniques with 3-D printed panels and innovative sustainable materials, were mind-boggling to behold. The opening look, for instance, comprised a biodegradable fabric made of banana leaf blended with raw silk which formed the sinuous Grecian draping. A chocolate-brown jumpsuit that rippled as model Cindy Bruna walked was made from a 3-D printed fiber based on the shells of cocoa beans, which was combined with upcycled organza.

What will the next 15 years bring? An exhibition at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs is on the 2023 agenda. But Van Herpen is mainly excited about the prospect of “mixed reality, where the digital and physical can go together.” She continued: “I don’t believe in replacing the physical beauty that we’re creating—that’s why I want the digital looks to be an extension of the physical looks. They need the same soul, the same intricacy, the same craftsmanship.” Will her clients embrace couture 2.0? “All of my clients are basically art clients,” she smiled. “The more time people will be in the metaverse, and the more they go to openings and happenings in the metaverse, the more they will want to wear something beautiful as well. It’s still in the early phase, but it will come.”Read more at:buy formal dresses online | long formal dress

By the time Warren Lotas’ first store opened its doors in Los Angeles on a recent Saturday moing, hundreds of people had already queued up outside. Some had started camping out the night before, eager to get early access to a streetwear brand known for its namesake designer’s distinctive heavy metal-inspired, hand-painted illustrations and high-quality cotton and denim construction.

But one particular group of fans was able to skip the line all day, not because they were celebrities or influencers, but because they owned one of 4,000 non-fungible tokens (aka NFTs) Lotas and his team released at the end of 2021 under the name The Wild Bunch. The hand-drawn skeletons, loosely modeled after the types of characters found in Spaghetti Westes, depict “federally wanted individuals” outfitted with cowboy hats, camo jackets, and neon sunglasses.

Owners of the NFTs received another perk: exclusive access to the second floor of the store. There, the brand created a hangout space dubbed Greeley’s Saloon, with sofas and a pool table. “It was great to put some faces to names on discord,” tweeted one Wild Bunch member after visiting the opening and picking up five shirts from the brand, referring to the messaging platform where crypto communities congregate online.

The store space is one of a number of rewards the Warren Lotas team is working to offer its passionate NFT community. Last week, it launched a debut collection of apparel and accessories, including T-shirts and varsity jackets, only available for the Wild Bunch community to buy.

“NFTs, in this case, are like a membership card—it’s super sick to be part of that club,” said Warren Lotas’ chief operating officer, who goes by the name Sto. He estimated about 200 of The Wild Bunch NFT holders attended the store’s opening, with some traveling from as far as Boston, London, and Tokyo.

“The hype that surrounds [streetwear] drops is the same hype that surrounds NFT drops,” he added.

Sto revealed that The Wild Bunch community has grown “like wildfire” since last year’s “mint,” a term used to describe the moment when NFTs are created on a blockchain and become available to buy. “We just want to keep delivering and giving them stuff that they will know they love,” he said.

Warren Lotas’ approach is an example of a new way forward for the intersection of fashion and NFTs, prioritizing community building over splashy headlines about sky-high sale prices. Despite being a latecomer to the first digital revolution, fashion—and, in particular, luxury—embraced the metaverse as it gained more attention in recent years. Luxury houses have partnered with digital artists, gaming platforms, and crypto firms. For many, the goal is to be seen as part of a culture that is not yet mainstream, but is at the center of widespread fascination and speculation.

The more eager brands like Gucci have set up branded towns on the popular gaming platform Roblox and collaborated with digital artists to release NFT collections. Nike has set up its own virtual studio and acquired RTFKT, the innovative virtual sneaker studio with grand ambitions to remake the idea of a virtual wardrobe. Even smaller labels have gotten involved with web3. Recently, Paco Rabanne announced a NFT collection selling images of its archive through Selfridges.

Fashion and the metaverse are natural partners in many ways: crypto has become a pop culture trend in recent years, and fashion loves aligning itself with the next hot thing. NFTs are also inherently exclusive and limited in nature, appealing to the same aspirational qualities as a rare handbag or limited-edition sneakers.

“Fashion is an expression of identity or belonging or cultures or even status…same thing with NFTs,” said Krzysztof Gagacki, a crypto entrepreneur and co-founder of reBASE, who is working on a forthcoming NFT collection called CY-B3LLA with supermodel Bella Hadid.

But after an explosive growth run boosted by the pandemic that saw more than $17 billion in NFT sales in 2021, the crypto market started cooling, and then plummeting in recent months. Bitcoin’s value has plunged as several high-profile crypto firms have fallen to the brink of collapse, triggering panic among some investors. While skeptics see this as confirmation the market is little more than a scam, crypto believers see this downtu as a natural part of the evolution of a market still in its early stages of development.

Gagacki said there are advantages to launching an NFT project during a market dip: it may deter people who only care about them as a financial investment, looking to make a quick buck, and, he hopes, attract a more passionate, devoted community, like the one The Wild Bunch has been carefully cultivating this year.

Other brands are trying to follow suit and attract a different type of NFT buyer. Prada’s newest collection of NFTs are being offered, for free, to buyers of its corresponding “Time Capsule” men’s shirt.

But it is unclear what else Prada has in mind for NFT holders, and it will likely need to offer them something special if it wants to grow a community of token enthusiasts.

Sto said most of The Wild Bunch coterie has chosen to hold onto their NFTs and experience the perks of ownership rather than flip them for retus. That behavior was clear even before the recent downtu, he said.

“The big shift that I definitely see with some of the brands is that they are…taking a step back and thinking of NFTs not just as a marketing activation or a PR play, but actually as long-term projects, long-term relationships with the people that love the brand and support the brand,” said Cathy Hackl, co-founder and chief metaverse officer at Jouey, a consulting firm that helps brands with emerging technologies. “Brands that might have wanted to drop an NFT to make a lot of money, I think they might be taking a step back.”

Gagacki hopes his new project with Hadid will attract fashion devotees and fans of the model alike. Those lucky enough to procure one of the project’s 11,111 unique NFTs will then get access to real-life events and experiences with her, as well as access to subsequent NFT releases. Eventually, they will also be able to use their NFTs as playable characters in different existing metaverses.

“We’re just taking this a step further and creating a real functional community, not only a digital community,” Gagacki said. “People who buy NFTs only for the profits, for trading—I don’t think we want them.”Read more at:formal dresses | formal dresses for women