Regarding The Muse

The recent passing of Loulou de la Falaise, style icon, close friend and “muse” to Yves Saint Laurent, and designer in her own right, had me reflecting on how far-reaching one’s personal style can be. I encounter women of style on a daily basis. Some come to it from “within.” Some… well, they have a bit of help through stylists or PR teams, while others developed their style from a personal connection, like a mother or grandmother, whose influence has stuck with them for life with the clothing being the culmination of this influence.

story by Evan Ross, proprietor of Frock
illustration by Aya Rosen
photos by Tal Shpantzer

The recent passing of Loulou de la Falaise, style icon, close friend and “muse” to Yves Saint Laurent, and designer in her own right, had me reflecting on how far-reaching one’s personal style can be. I encounter women of style on a daily basis. Some come to it from “within.” Some… well, they have a bit of help through stylists or PR teams, while others developed their style from a personal connection, like a mother or grandmother, whose influence has stuck with them for life with the clothing being the culmination of this influence. Continue reading “Regarding The Muse”

Victor de Souza – Fall 2012 – Espana de Souza

Victor de Souza’s Fall 2012 collection brought valor and drama his past collections lacked. Previously, we’ve seen Mr. de Souza play with lighter fantasies of ballet and romance, but this season, he pulled out all the stops. With floral ball gowns and Victorian maxi skirts, de Souza drew inspiration from Spain (an apparent recurring theme in New York this season), and further carried out that motif via matador tassels, ultra-tailoring, taffeta rosettes, and arm-length leather gloves. “I wanted to go back to the roots of fashion, when it was dedicated and sophisticated, but with a twist. I let the masters of Haute Couture… Dior, Givenchy, Balenciaga… speak to me,” de Souza said.

view the full collection in our Photo Gallery

story by Landon Peoples
photos by Stephen Bodi
web editor Rachel Reneé

Victor de Souza’s Fall 2012 collection brought valor and drama his past collections lacked. Previously, we’ve seen Mr. de Souza play with lighter fantasies of ballet and romance, but this season, he pulled out all the stops. With floral ball gowns and Victorian maxi skirts, de Souza drew inspiration from Spain (an apparent recurring theme in New York this season), and further carried out that motif via matador tassels, ultra-tailoring, taffeta rosettes, and arm-length leather gloves. “I wanted to go back to the roots of fashion, when it was dedicated and sophisticated, but with a twist. I let the masters of Haute Couture… Dior, Givenchy, Balenciaga… speak to me,” de Souza said. Continue reading “Victor de Souza – Fall 2012 – Espana de Souza”

Victor de Souza – Spring 2012 Review – Armoresque and Alien

story by Zimir Hernandez
photos by Aeric Meredith- Goujon

designer Victor de Souza

The Spring 2012 collection of Victor De Souza displays compelling creativity that engaged viewers with armoresque silhouettes coupled with elegant lines, ruffles, hand-stitched silk ripples, and pleated horse hair. The designs of this collection showcased a special balance of structure and fluidity with the use of satin,organza, and wool. Continue reading “Victor de Souza – Spring 2012 Review – Armoresque and Alien”

Victor de Souza – Fall 2011

Consummate perfectionist Victor de Souza was still sewing things onto garments as the girls got dressed backstage at his Fall 2011 show, but what came down the runway was finished and refined. His tailoring skill with wool and silks was more highly evident than in any previous collection.

story by Charles Beckwith
photos by Adrianna Favero

Consummate perfectionist Victor de Souza (one of modaCYCLE’s 10 Designers To Watch in 2011) was still sewing things onto garments as the girls got dressed backstage at his Fall 2011 show, but what came down the runway was finished and refined. His tailoring skill, particularly with wool and silks, was more highly evident than in any previous collection. Asked what he set out to accomplish between last season and this one, Sr. de Souza said, “well, I always wanted to do tailored, really well tailored clothes, and that’s what I added. We worked really hard at it. We have the perfect jacket, the perfect fit, the perfect everything, and I was all about that. And mixing things that I feel is really personal that I’ve been involved a lot with, the ruffles and the lily tails, and the couture elements.” Continue reading “Victor de Souza – Fall 2011”

10 Designers To Watch In 2011

modaCYCLE recently hosted a showcase party for a group of emerging designers whom we believe showed the most promise during the most recent New York Fashion Week back in September.

story by Charles Beckwith
photos by John Pringle and Adrianna Favero

modaCYCLE recently hosted a showcase party for a group of emerging designers whom we believe showed the most promise during the most recent New York Fashion Week back in September. It was a chill vibe affair held in the beautiful Italian furniture showroom Natuzzi Soho (101 Greene Street). Each designer who participated showed three looks throughout the evening. Our intention was to put emerging designers with viable collections in the same room with boutique owners and buyers from retail chains, and it seemed to go quite well. Continue reading “10 Designers To Watch In 2011”

Victor de Souza – Spring 2011 – New York

Victor de Souza’s third collection continued the development of the construction techniques and fabric choices that are quickly becoming recognizable as his personal signatures.

story by Seth Friedermann
photos by Nico Iliev provided by the designer

Victor de Souza’s third collection continued the development of the construction techniques and fabric choices that are quickly becoming recognizable as his personal signatures. His love of beautiful rich fabrics and pairing the freedom of long flowing cuts with very stiff shoulder pieces continued in this Spring 2011 collection. It is a very promising sign from this young talent that he even has signatures at this point, as often it takes young designers a few seasons to find those touchstones that they cleverly reinvent yet consistently revisit again and again. However, Mr. de Souza did not simply trot out a bunch of pieces from his past that he knew were winners. There were very definitive attempts to experiment and grow inside of his established aesthetic. Continue reading “Victor de Souza – Spring 2011 – New York”

Victor de Souza – Fall 2010 – New York

This was definitely a fashion-as-art sort of collection, with sufficient attention to wearability, and he seems to have a lot of buzz around the brand to a point where it might just be sustainable commercially, despite the unorthadoxed presentation style.

story by Joseph Davis and Charles Beckwith
photos by Tal Shpantzer and Charles Beckwith
edited by Alexandra Dawes

For Fall 2010, de Souza took his ideal woman and gave her an other-worldy makeover in a chic Greenwich Village Moroccan restaurant. His models drifted through the space in alien-inspired makeup, making them appear to have landed in New York City for fashion week from points far further and abroad than St. Petersburg and Rio.

Continue reading “Victor de Souza – Fall 2010 – New York”

Victor de Souza Spring-Summer 2010 Collection

Walking into the white studio space, I saw a lineup of frozen models held up by the strong cuts of Victor de Souza’s spring-summer 2010 collection. It is a sublime fusion of both the classical and the fantastical.

story and photos by Tal Shpantzer

Walking into the white studio space, I saw a lineup of frozen models held up by the strong cuts of Victor de Souza’s spring-summer 2010 collection. It is a sublime fusion of both the classical and the fantastical. Continue reading “Victor de Souza Spring-Summer 2010 Collection”