THE KOOPLES (Paris) Long Pleated Skirt

With elegant plissé pleats that lend beautiful movement, this chiffon long skirt from hipster Paris label The Kooples will be an instant It-girl favourite. Tuck in a tee and a cropped jacket for a chic downtown look, or contrast with a delicate beaded blouse, layered fine jewellery and high heels for a sensuous evening look.
(RRP £195)
Founded by three brothers named Alexander, Laurent, and Raphael Elicha, Paris-based The Kooples is known for its campaign ads and videos featuring beautiful real couples and their story.

The AW runways have been absolutely inundated with long skirts. What’s equally compelling is that many stylish fashion week attendees also happened to be wearing chic long skirts. The maxi is having such a major fashion moment, legendary New York Times street-style photographer Bill Cunningham even documented these attendees sporting different versions of such skirts. Check out Mr. Cunningham’s comments here.

New Brand Alert! LOFT DESIGN BY... (Paris) Men's Vintage Style T-Shirt

Cut as simply and as efficiently as possible, with a sense of detail and a colour pallet both neutral and contemporary: that is how the LOFT design by... products are defined.
Created by Patrick Frèche -a retail expert and arts enthusiast- in Faubourg Saint Honoré, Paris, lifestyle brand LOFT Design By… is now 22 years old, with a sterling reputation for its paired-down luxury basics for men, women and children.
The label is also known for applying unique treatments to fabrics to enhance the look and wear-comfort.

For founder Patrick Frèche, clothes are an affordable luxury which should never overpower the person wearing them. These LOFT design by... men’s T-shirts --in either round neck or a gentle V-collar-- offer a cool vintage touch and an inimitable softness - as if they have been worn forever.
(RRP €55.00)


With visible brickwork, metallic lamps and industrio-bourgeois ambiance, LOFT design by... boutiques are clear, airy spaces that project the label’s ‘loft’ spirit.

New Brand Alert: PALLADIUM (France)

Palladium, the legendary footwear brand from France, was founded in 1920 as a vulcanised rubber manufacturer for the European aviation industry. When demand for airplane tyres plummeted following the end of WWII, the company opened a plant in Pont De Cheruy, near Lyon, and began to produce boots and shoes that boasted a quality equaled to their tyres.
Palladium shoes amassed a huge cult following, before seeing a quiet period towards the 90’s. In 2006, however, the label was successfully re-launched in the United States, its guerilla-style campaign in particular garnering the praise of media, bloggers, and consumers.


• PALLADIUM PAMPA: Palladium’s most well-known model, Palladuim “Pampa”, was first produced in 1947. So functional, durable and comfortable were these shoes, that after putting the boots to test in the harsh desert conditions of North Africa and the rugged terrain of the Atlas Mountains, the Légion étrangère (French army) adopted it for their use.


• PALLADIUM PAMPA OXFORD LO: Comfort and retro simplicity define the Palladium “Pampa Oxford Lo” canvas shoes. The 100% cotton canvas upper is stonewashed for a vintage look.

• PALLADIUM BAGGY: A little bit sneaker, a little bit boot, the Palladium “Baggy” shoes say you’re not confined by one style. Everything you want in footwear in terms of style and durability, the distressed canvas and matching laces create a rugged industrial appeal while the thick sole and padded foot bed provide comfort and protection.

• PALLADIUM LITE: This Spring/Summer, Palladium finally cracks the secret of the summer boot. How? With the switch to a full EVA outsole. Breathable, durable, with moisture wicking dri-lex, and as versatile as ever, the new Palladium LITE boot in the signature “Baggy” style weighs just 283.5g or 10oz - the lightest boot Palladium has ever made in its 60+ year history!


• PALLADIUM ENZYME WASH: Yet another interesting line from Palladium is the Enzyme wash collection, which features a variety of silhouettes -including Pampa and Baggy- with a grimy enzyme wash. The special washing process accelerates the visual fading and weathering of canvas, resulting in an authentic vintage look and feel.

All the Palladium styles are urbane and trendy and all-purpose enough for the ladies, too.

See Palladium spend an afternoon with it girls Daisy Lowe and Alice Dellal as they explore London:-

PALLADIUM “PALCACHING”
Palladium’s revival a few years back was greatly fueled by an unorthodox but brilliant guerrilla campaign called “Palcaching”, Palladium’s version of geocaching (where thousands of players use their GPS to find caches -containing anything from poetry to cash- hidden in locations around the globe; it is one of the fastest growing leisure activities in the world).
Palcaches or clues were hidden in Palladium retailers -as well as odd places like under bridges, next to trash cans, stuck to change, hanging from sign posts, even on people’s clothing- around cities like New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Portland and Chicago, and when a player finds a cache and enter its code on the Palladium website, he/she wins free Palladium shoes and such.
The game became an underground sensation and, as luck would have it, Palladium shoes landed in the hands of Will Smith and a starring role in 'I Am Legend'. As word spread and demand exploded, Palladium caught the interest of K-Swiss, who eventually bought over the brand and expanded it.

IRO (Paris) Silk Pants

Oh-so Roitfeldesque (can’t you totally see the editors at French Vogue wearing these with a contoured tank and killer metallic heels?), these elegantly airy silk pants by slick French label Iro are the perfect complement to give a chic twist to your ensembles.
Or pair with a sharp jacket and glossy pumps for the freshest way to work office elegance.


IRO
Iro was created in 2004 by Laurent and Arik Bitton. The brothers come from the music industry and moved in a hip alternate universe -- trip hop, New York lounge and Tokyo private parties make up their daily world. Being at the forefront of all kinds of trends gave them the idea to create clothes for the girls in their cosmopolitan circle.
Even though its name was taken from the Japanese word for ‘colour’, you won't find a lot of colourful things with Iro -- grey, black, white and other toned-down shades dominate the palette. And the music-influenced rocker edge is only one aspect of the brand; the focus also lies in incorporating the Bitton brothers’ love of vintage and in using quality materials. The overall outcome is a modern, flirtatious spin on the nonchalance of Parisian street style and attitude.
No wonder that the line is rapidly amassing a cult following both in Europe and Tinseltown. As if that accolade wasn’t enough, Iro recently got the ultimate seal of approval via a personal email order placed by none other than Kate Moss herself (only just last week voted ‘Best-dressed Woman of the Decade’ by US Vogue).

THE KOOPLES (Paris) Lace/Leather/Satin Dress

The latest fashion buzz to hit Paris, The Kooples is the new brainchild of the Elicha brothers, who also founded the lauded French label Comptoir des Cottoniers. When Comptoir des Cotonniers was bought by the Japanese in 2006, the brothers found time on their hands to adapt their house signature to a new target: take the “couples” idea, combine it with the modern French “je ne sais quoi” -and a dash of rebellious attitude- and meld it into a diabolically hip, youth-arty-love version of the “Savile Row” look. Within just 3 months of opening, The Kooples has already opened up a whopping 20 stores, and are planning to open 150 more in the next three years, including outside France.

Elegant yet sexy, this robe dentelle, cuir et satin (lace, leather and satin dress) by The Kooples is brilliantly put together to help you fill in the missing gaps in your closet.
(RRP €235)


The Kooples’ ad campaigns, always featuring real-life, stylishly-swathed couples of all types and shapes and colours (scouted from the street, Facebook, and Myspace -- what a concept!), never fail to create a refreshing visual landscape, further upping the brand’s cool factor.

New from Paris - LOVEMILLA

With a name like “Lovemilla” and a slogan that states “In Love We Trust”, obviously all the ingredients are there for us to fall in love with this exquisite new brand, created by the talented Parisian designer Amelie Gillier just two years ago.
Leaving behind the Artistic Director seat of Zadig et Voltaire gave Gillier the opportunity to explore what she wanted to do most: to create a more feminine and sophisticated line that would reflect her intimate style and involvement. She hasn’t totally abandoned the principles that made Zadig et Voltaire amazing, but she did notch up the touch of romance whilst toning down the ‘rock’ attitude. Gillier also confessed that she often finds inspiration from things of the past, readjusting vintage style to life today.
Seductive without being trashy and understated without being boring, these precious 70s-influenced pieces beautifully communicate the DNA of Lovemilla.


AMELIE GILLIER
Amelie Gillier had been married to Thierry Gillier for twenty years, during which she helped her husband build up Zadig et Voltaire, the brand he had set up in the 80s. Following their separation, Gillier left the company and embarked on a new adventure. She named her label “Lovemilla” because she wanted to keep her daughter Manon Milla in the loop of this journey.
Carried by an extraordinary intuition, Gillier’s creations for Lovemilla is essentially an ode to love and femininity, besides also being a mirror into the core of her universe: vintage, chic and only an itsy bitsy teensy weensy rock :-)