Great escapes with Elle

BREEZY, colourful summer escapes filled the runway for Elle/Elle Men Fashion Week over three days last weekend as the magazines presented spring and summer collections in 10 separate shows.
Anchavika, Asava, Fri 27 Nov, Greyhound, Issue, Nagara, Painkiller, the Only Son and Vickteerut flexed their design muscles against an array of foreign brands presented separately as “Central Visions |of Style”.
Every imaginable shade of blue, green, tangerine and yellow played against white tones on tops, skirts and slacks that looked at once elegant and comfortable.
Asava’s “State of Mind” series celebrated the way women love to make fresh discoveries in life, with lines dubbed Urban, Sophisticated, Realistic and Authentic.
The Statue of Liberty evoked freedom as well as New York on a short-sleeved cocktail dress and a long-sleeved gown that oozed confidence.
Geometric shapes and lines drawn straight and at angles lent a jazzy feel to Bermuda shorts and trousers, either of which perfectly coordinate with a sharp suit jacket.
Among the intriguing details were a one-shoulder cowl back and a handkerchief hem, recalling a draped poncho.
This in turn inspired a caftan and poncho blouse, rendered mainly in a plaid pattern constructed as if to mimic the geometric angles of New York’s concrete jungle.
Very modern colour pairings included Persian blue with shamrock green and, on Lady Liberty, salmon pink grading into moss green.
Teerut Wongwatanasin of Vickteerut went for a more relaxed approach with a line called “Spirited Away” – a memorable sea cruise free from all anxieties. Off on a soothing summer holiday were clothes as minimalist in structure as a ship’s canvas sails, which indeed loaned their texture to fringed panels on oversize trousers and sleeveless tunics.
Pleats in varying sizes on mini-dresses and evening gowns and knots of the sort seen in ship rigging adorned blouses and dresses, while some of the dresses also bore front slits and big ruffles in front and at the back to resemble sails billowing in the wind.
The dance of light and shadow as the sun peeks through the sails at the sea’s surface was rendered with a burning technique on the sheer fabrics, a striking effect on shirts, long-sleeved blouse s |and trousers. And, as ever, Vickteerut’s signature cut-outs added a sensual touch to the more elegant pieces. The palette was just as leisurely, covering baby blue, mint green, beige |and grey.
Greyhound Original sought to remind us that our world might be troubled, but it still |has much beauty to offer. Surrealistic imagery merged with the abstract visual language of painter Henri Matisse and ceramist Kenneth Price in a collection called “The World on the Bright Side”.
The primary graphic approach was dubbed “Panorama Landscape”, a camouflage-style overlay in the loud hues of comic books. Cartoon characters lurked in mountains while Greyhound’s staple tones – black, white and grey – were contrasted with cobalt blue, orange and brown. In pursuit of lightness and a natural flow, the chief materials were cotton and a textured, shiny linen with charming crinkles. Among the menswear shown, natural denim was used in suits and T-shirts, fitted to emphasise the natural crinkles and raw edges.
Linen predominated in biker jackets, sweat pants and utility shorts. Sweaters bore graphic prints of landscape reminiscent of Japanese woodblocks, combined with a more Western, more surreal comic sensibility. Slim-fit and boot-cut slacks were joined this season by |wide-leg trousers.
For the “Central Visions of Style” show, the catwalk became a Paris boulevard for celebrity models showing increasingly well-known foreign brands – |La Petite Robe, Sandro, Maje, Vivienne Tam, ICB, Tara Jarmon, 23 KU and Valerie Khalfon.
Singer Violette “V” Wautier from “The Voice Thailand Season 2” opened the proceedings with an acoustic rendition of “La Vie en Rose”. Then models including Treechada Petcharat, Namthip Jongrachatawiboon, Serina Piece, Matcha Mosimann and Phitsinee Tanwiboon appeared in turn in a dynamic show with |a powerful ending.
Equally impressive was the show presented by Anchalee Vickasidnakhakun of Anchavika, whose “Dolly Steampunk” collection was inspired by her love of art and dolls.
Little girls’ dolls give them their first opportunity to express themselves in clothes and makeup, Anchalee pointed out, and steampunk lets her do the “dressing up” in Victorian-Edwardian costumes replete with the imagined ornate |details of the Steam Era.
If it sounds like women |walking around in tin cans, |it was anything but: The Anchavika outfits were |wonderfully shapely and slim.