"I wanted the collection to be luxurious, but still easy," explains Peter Som in this Swarovski.tv interview backstage with the designer, who has been quoted as saying his Fall 2010 collection was about "psychedelic Woodstock color meets Park Avenue elegance." Known for his way with color, Som mixed and matched painterly color, pattern, and texture – including Swarovski crystal pearls and beads – with playful, escapist abandon. "These are clothes that have a sense of exuberance and happiness about them, but are a little bit psychedelic and escapist…there's touches of lots of different things. But at the end of the day, it was really about a woman who's a little cuckoo, but chic!"
While our raccoon-like love of anything shiny has always made us heart Swarovski, it's their longtime support of designers like Peter Som, Rodarte, Phillip Lim and Alexander Wang (who we first covered back in 2005) that really make us love puttin' on the glitz. "We embrace our commitment to supporting talent and creativity in the fashion industry in general, and particularly, to nurturing young design talent," explains Nadja Swarovski about her company policy of forging influential collaborations with leading designers, and, more importantly (to us), nurturing up-and-coming talent.
OTHER SWAROVSKI DESIGNERS & BACKSTAGE VIDEO INTERVIEWS AT NYFW:
ALEXANDER WANG The recent recipient of the CFDA Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent in Womenswear, and known for his refined, luxurious silhouettes contrasted with urban street edge, Wang chose to take Swarovski glass pearls for a walk on the wild side by removing them from their expected "ladylike" context, tranforming them instead into graphic patterns and bold accessories. "Anyone can get all dressed up and glamorous," he adds, "but it is how people dress in their off days, that are the most intriguing.” (photos via NYMag.com)
PHILLIP LIM "For Fall, I was thinking about the tension between Disco and Punk, and a woman who is classic but has a penchant for Baroque adornment," explains the designer, who favored fancy yellow Swarovski stones. "We've used shades like 'Jonquil' and 'Dorado' in very modern insets and collars where the sparkle is veiled in chiffon. Swarovski's modern approach to creating crystals in the most inspiring colors and shapes was the starting point to enhancing the idea of elegant rebellion in a youthful and unexpected way."
OHNE TITEL Design duo Flora Gill and Alexa Adams, Top 10 nominees for the 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, embellished their signature architectural shapes and soft draping with fancy set Swarovski stones sewn into lace. “For the Ohne Titel Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, we used crystal encrusted surfaces to add strength and dimension to streamlined silhouettes.” (photos via NYMag.com)
RODARTE When you win the CFDA Award for Womenswear as did sister duo Kate and Laura Mulleavy did last year, it's safe to say you're not longer "emerging." As imaginative as their designs are fabulous, their collections often have a somewhat trippy start: "It's like they're on psychedelics, the way they describe things," mused a somewhat puzzled Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth about the Spring 2010 collection of futuristic-primitive ensembles made from pieced-together ends of plastic, cheesecloth, wool cobwebbing, macrame, leather, plaid, and, of course, Swarovski crystals. A visit to Death Valley and fire-scarred scenery "somehow evolved into a tale, part Mad Max, part Tim Burton, of a woman burned alive who is transformed into a California condor (you begin to appreciate Gordon's point)," wrote Laird Borrelli-Persson in his review of the collection for Style.com. "Forced to scavenge for existence in a barren, war-torn landscape, she pieces together her attire from rags that, as Laura Mulleavy pointed out, only serve to expose her wounds."
THUY “Fall/Winter 2010 marks my first collaboration with Swarovski and one word comes to mind: stunning," explains the designer, who chose crystal fabric and sew-on stones (more commonly found in European collections) to accessorize her sophisticated tailored looks which typically combine elements of drapey ease. "In my collection I play off of the innovation and beauty of the CRYSTALIZED – Swarovski Elements to incorporate them with novel applications, such as embroidery on top of prints and the stunning impression of three dimensional construction. The sparkling effects will surely be showstoppers at Bryant Park!”
JOSEPH ALTUZARRA Using sewn-on stones with custom-designed hot-fix transfer art for an ombre'd look, the Fashion Group International Rising Star Award winner opted for a blend of French couture fantasy tempered with New York edginess. "This season I was thinking of the dichotomy between myths and fairy tales and the fast paced urban world. I used some tone on tone Crystallized Swarovski Elements on languid long dresses to evoke trailing blood." (photos via NYMag.com)
PRABAL GURUNG Like Altuzarra, Gurung also snagged a FGI International Rising Star Award in 2009. Born in Singapore, raised in Nepal, and educated in Dehli, India, he apprenticed with Manish Arora and later worked as Design Director at Bill Blass. He incorporated fancy sew-on stones into his modern pieces painstakingly constructed using old-world techniques. (photos via NYMag.com)
YIGAL AZROUEL The cosmopolitan designer – born/raised in Israel; of French-Moroccan descent; NYC-based globetrotter – opted for Swarovski sew-on stones and crystal beads to give his drapey, ultra-feminine silhouettes some high shine. (photos via NYMag.com)
JULIAN LOUIE "For fall/winter 2010, the collection is based on old-world interiors" says Louie, a former architecture student at The Cooper Union (in NYC) who once interned for art-house fashion label Imitation of Christ, and was later chosen by Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa to be his protege. "Some points of inspiration are a chair that was designed for Marie Antoinette's country house the Petit Trianon, the technique of hand-tooled leather inlaid with gold found on antique books, sumptuous upolsteries in velvet and silk. The entire collection is designed to evoke this sense of heightened craftsmanship while at the same time–through cut, fabrication, and color–proposing a new and severely modern way of dressing. The Swarovski Crystal Elements are being used in two ways: first, the Crystal Pearls were chosen because of their classic and iconic luxuriousness, and are used in degradé grid beading on the sleeves of a wool melton coat, the neckline of a wool and silk velvet dress, or the hemline of a geometric skirt. Secondly, tiny Swarovski crystals are used in threadwork embroideries based on the floral motifs on Marie Antoinette's chair, inserted by hand into the intricate patterns to bring out light and sparkle. In a collection conceived around a re-imagining of old-world luxury, the Swarovski Crystalized Elements are the key components that provide amazing richness and depth." (photos via style.com)
GRAEME ARMOUR “I am really thrilled at the opportunity of working with Swarovski on my AW 2010/11 collection. They have allowed me to develop my linked-metal garments idea with added Crystallized Swarovski Elements that are on track and looking very special indeed. They have a long history of supporting the best of young talent internationally and I am happy to be included in their choice for this season. We worked closely with the team at Swarovski and they were amazing in listening to our thoughts and grasping my somewhat crazy thoughts. I can’t thank them enough for their support.” (photos via WWD.com)
