#benedikteutzon

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Benedikte Utzon skind bluse str. Xl 1499,-#butikoe #secondhand #benedikteutzon (her: Butik Ø)

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After show #benedikteutzon #cphfw #copenhagen #fashionweek #live #myteacup #thewalkiecup #blog #blogger (presso Københavns Rådhus)

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copenhagen fashion week: benedikte utzon

(images via cfw)

a season ago, when closing out my coverage of copenhagen fashion week, my review of benedikte utzon's a/w 2011 show was a curious mixture of raptures hedged in by skepticism, at once appreciative of the designer's alluring and elegant range and fraught with concern that she wouldn't be able to maintain it in the ever-oppressive-and-pressing-forward manner the fashionies have of imposing on us younger and sexier aesthetics.  could ms. utzon retain her refined silhouettes and adult-appropriate designs while still appealing to the ever-seeking-the-fountain-of-youth fashion crowd?

to answer that question, a lot of hemming and 'umms' are required, for while the ending wasn't satisfying and classic as i'd quite hoped (although i can feel smug & prescient for having asked those questions last season to begin with), neither was ms. utzon's s/s 2012 range entirely pandering to the botoxed-'i still wear my daughter's clothes!' crowd or the twenty-something wannabe blake livelys.  to be sure, there was a significant glamming-up, with a firm target of the club-going types for the season, but those willing to keep the designer on their radars might still find themselves satisfied, if looking a little harder through the collection than the last incarnation demanded. 

the soft palette included classic shades such as navy, pearly gray, nude, milky white, teal, black, and powdery pink, but the flash of metallics like champagne-gold, silver, and brilliant gold added a heavy dose of pizazz, while sweet floral prints and stripes were amped up by gucci-esque snakeskins and batik-like hazy abstracts.  materials included fluid luxuriant fabrics such as silk, satin, and chiffon, served alongside the club-going staples of leather, fur, feathers, and metallics (possibly lamé). 

the site modette chose the term "power woman" to describe the range, while stilreif magazin commented that a theme of (trans.) "female sensuality" ran throughout a collection defined by jazzy little cocktail frocks, draped jumpsuits, smart work-ready blazers and suits, flowing evening gowns, and leg-baring microscopic minis and short shorts.  with feather accents, ruffles, fringe, bows, flounces, and ruching, broad metallic gold waistbands, and collar-like necklaces and cuffs, while most girls toted a fabulous clutch or handbag, this was a collection for the girl who dutifully trots to work to spend most of her day in eager anticipation for the 5:00 happy hour. 

makeup was heavy: girls were given thick black brows that had an almost japanese theater-like effect, with hair tightly slicked back and gathered into a little topknot.  sheer socks with heels accentuated the asian-influenced styling, although the collection itself maintained more of a costume-y appearance than anything from the east.  indeed, these girls gave off the perfume-soaked vapors of hollywood club-going types, perhaps a little older than some of their peers (most of the clothes seeming suitable for the thirty-something), but working all the harder because of it, intent on making their mark.

and though there were some striking clothes to be found, i missed ms. utzon's range of six months ago.  yes, that girl was fashion-forward in the extreme, but she seemed as comfortable at her office, an art gallery, an opera as she did on the dance floor at the local hot spot, and spring's girl seemed concerned with that to the extreme, with little good impression inclination left in her thoughts mostly tied up with outshining her neighbor (she's not younger or prettier than me!). 

certainly it's all in the way you wear it, but fashion seems forever occupied of late with the pursuit of hedonism, seeming to little remember that most of us need something to carry us to the place we make the cash to live all that out first, and that we can't get it without our forty (or sixty, or seventy)-hour week to place it firmly within reach.  we're not all blake lively, however much she rises and people seem to want to be.  and i wish more than a few designers would remember to cater to that as well. 

(watch the complete show video here)

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copenhagen fashion week: benedikte utzon

(images via cfw)

...and another copenhagen fashion week passes beyond our reach into the recesses of the past, where the images may be archived and brought up for further speculation, inspiration, and reflection on a time period we will never be able to quite understand in the same way again. 

benedikte utzon offered one of the more outright elegant shows for the f/w 2011 season, a full wardrobe in luxe fabrics, including neat suits, beautifully draped dresses and blouses, structured jackets, and even a few lush evening gowns, with spots of lush fur cropping up now and again to provide striking texture. 

tonally, the show was largely set for the palette of a scandinavian winter, with bluish and whited grays, the occasional muted eggshell, and black. we were ready to calmly and complacently lull the season away in the comfort of silks, sipping fine brandy by the fire, but she was not; to reinvigorate us, we were treated to the shocking caramels of fox(?) fur positioned around the models' necks as accessories and the fervid jolt of candy-like colour to our parched eyes appearing now & again on the draped silk dresses--teal, aubergine, ultramarine, and even one ruby creation with ruffles gently draping along center front (and accompanied by a sassy matching fur tote).  

though the label, by the designer's own words, is not, perhaps, the trendiest sounding (nor the most enticing, as she instead selects a mix of rather tired, empty-sounding spirited adjectives: "mid priced, feminine, contemporary...great appeal..beautiful colours and shapes, an exceptional fit, and unique details..."), she executed a quite fluid collection, surprisingly skillfully (for all those above selling points) offering all the items genteel young things need for their fashionie lives. 

the designer opened the show with a pair of fitted, sueded gray jeans worn with wedge sandals; long, slouchy evening gloves;, and a furry, black blazer with wide lapels that could have been ombré, but seemed instead almost splattered with cobalt paint, and didn't stop the surprises, keeping what should have been another prosaic experience a revelation. 

unfortunately, while i may be something of a cynic, i've learned long ago that the momentum isn't something we ought count on in fashion; will this be repeated chez benedikte utzon come s/s 2012?  unlikely.  while the fashionies claim they like to see rapid transition, i believe, instead, it's change to keep in place.  yes, we see new models each season, but aren't they just more blond 16-year-olds, set to replace the 22-and-23-year olds, now retiring from the catwalk?  so, too, do they fill their coffers with the same clothing an accessories, whatever has worked from previous seasons, made with slight adjustments for the upcoming ones, never enough to really startle us.  but sometimes we may be treated serendipitously, as today.  and we should now take just a moment to enjoy that. 

(see the full runway video here)