I can now count five people who I know in person who can pull of party wigs and Carlos Santiago is one of them. He is the final of the three really REALLY young American designers who I got to know through Arts of Fashion and also roomed with at Hyeres (post holiday blues does cause one to mention destination an irritating amount of times… apologies…).
If Douglas is a master of print/textures and Amy does shape/volume well then Carlos is a superb judge of colour. In his ‘Broken Heart’ collection, the soft muted colours that are inbetween being vibrant and pastel reminded me of this editorial for Vogue Korea Oct 2007 by Kim Kyung Soo. By ‘Broken Heart’, Carlos has quite literally taken the shape of half a heart in the front to form a one shouldered shape. The halved, broken quality continues in the back where half a zipper is exposed and tied at the top to make half a bow. A further contrast is created with a short cocktail dress made out of double faced satin forming the stiff and masculine base with a flowing silk charmeuse fabric draped in different ways over the top representing a softer, feminine side. Structure and rigidity vs. unpredictability and unbounded emotions. A relationship incarnated in a dress? Miss Carrie Bradshaw could surely wear one for one of her many melodramatic farewells to yet another decent boyf.
I love that the charmeuse was also handprinted with motifs like lace, scissors, chains and buttons by Carlos himself which adds another dimension to the dresses. I also have the ‘shorty short short’ sillhouette stuck on my brain for reasons I’ll reveal later so these dresses that combine both sexy and romantic elements are quite alluring…
Gorgeous colors, especially the middle picture on the bottom row. I love your splattered diy dress too- I’ve been wanting to do one, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be starting with a Vivienne Westwood:)
So pretty. And such a nice contrast, chain prints on floaty fabric–dreamy.
Gorgeous mix of print and colors. I love the draping
For some reason i’m totally getting an austere Marie Antoinette vibe in spite of the minimalism.
Is it the creamy skin, voluminous draping, pastel colors and the ribbon laces? LIKELY.
I too, am gobsmacked by your DIY Vivienne. Whatta stunnah!
The drape – I love the drape. Im now kind of feeling sad – broken heart type sad, is this the effect he was after? its actually quite nice xf
I adore the way the fabric is draped
It is so elegant but not fussy!
i LOVE draped fabric all the time….. i want one.
I love it. I just can’t tell what I want more. The clothes or the model…
Amazing drape and pretty colours, I’m sad it’s out of my reach.
Truly exquisite! Please visit my Fashion Illustration blog if you have a spare few minutes. I am looking for quirky dislikes and fears to illustrate and would love your input!
Paris x
I’m a huge fan of one-shoulder, and yet I don’t have ANYthing one-shoulder. These pieces are beautiful and the drape is perfect.
Really enjoy every bit of your posting!
Do you have Korean friend? I’ve seen you mentioning Korean edition of magazine a couple times.
BTW, you should check out this brand from Korea. Very feminie and ethereal. http://www.erynbrinie.com
Keep up the great work! Always a pleasure visiting your blog. 🙂
the drape, the construction, the color!! these have the best of everything with a story to tell. where or where can we find these? i can’t wait to see what’s next from Mr. Santiago!