maxime simoëns

maxime simoens is a French designer. he is an 'invited member' of the chamber of parisian couture union.

Maxime Simoens

at first inclined to pursue after filmmaking he deemed it too technical, it was at a madonna concert in june 2001, the drowned world tour, he decided to make sewing his profession as he was profoundly inspired by the sketches of the great couturier jean paul gaultier, displayed in the program. his degree in hand, maxime went to study applied arts at the school of conde de lyon, then joined the paris union chamber of couture. he came first in several fashion contests. 

Singapore Fashion Week 2011

Couture AW 2011

nourishing inspiration in art, music and movies from all eras and styles, maxime simoens creates narrative collections each season, telling a new story full of icons and strong visuals. the identity of his style is marked by the structure refining the silhouette, cuts, contrasts, embroidery, incorporating printed and put into abyss of optical illusions, organza leaves miles to be desired. 

Blake Lively, Gossip Girl

on several occasions, maxime simoens dressed melanie laurent or astrid berges-frisbey. on the fourth season of gossip girl, maxime simoens dressed the two main heroines, blake lively and leighton meester. 

Rachel McAdams

in search of creative independence, the desire to create his own house was quickly born. he strives to create his world free of influence and create its logo, a barcode, a nod to the consumer society. in february 2009 he was selected to hyères fashion festival in april and thus presented the first 10 pieces of his first collection, an innovative vision, combining graphic design at the architectural level of the garment. his silhouettes combine structure and fluidity and he's often compared in the press to the younger yves saint laurent. the last quarter of 2011, maxime simoens became creative director of french fashion house's ready-to-wear léonard. in the grand palais of paris, he presented his first collection for leonard the 5th of march 2012. 

Beyonce in Maxime Simoens

in 2011, he dressed the singer beyoncé on the cover of her album '4' the deluxe version, with one of his creations for spring-summer 2011-12. as always, a look at the designer's haute couture collection.

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givenchy

Givenchy store

givenchy is a luxury french brand of clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics with parfums givenchy. the house of givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer hubert de givenchy and is a member of chambre syndicale de la haute couture et du pret-a-porter. 

Hubert de Givenchy

during his reign (1952 - 1995) as the designer of the label bearing his name, hubert de givenchy was known for his modern, ladylike styles, which earned him many loyal clients. the most famous ambassador of the brand was audrey hepburn in films such as sabrina, for which edith head claimed the academy award, how to steal a million and breakfast at tiffany's. his other famous patrons include the guinness, grimaldi and kennedy families, who famously wore givenchy clothes to the funeral of john f. kennedy. hubert de givenchy retired in 1995.

John Galliano with Givenchy

john galliano succeeded givenchy upon his retirement but was in turn promoted to christian dior less than two years later, prompting the hiring of alexander mcqueen. in 2001, designer julien macdonald was appointed artistic director for the women's lines, which consist of haute couture and ready-to-wear. 

Givenchy Spring / Summer 2012

the reins for both collections were ultimately passed on to riccardo tisci in 2005 when he was named chief designer of womenswear. tisci's apparent fascination with gothic touches (dark, languid dresses on sickly-looking models for fall couture) and space-age minimalism (one ready-to-wear show featured white-clad models drifting aimlessly around a sterile-white sphere) have drawn new attention to the brand. reviews and output so far have been mixed and inconsistent, but many, including influential fashion critics (such as cathy horyn of the new york times and suzy menkes of the international herald tribune) have homed in on tisci's conceptual leanings, as well as his future potential for revitalizing the givenchy brand and infusing it with his precision and imagination. 

givenchy designs have been worn by a number of celebrities on red carpet occasions, including gisele bundchen, rooney mara and beyonce. also responsible for working with madonna designing her costumes for her sticky & sweet tour as well as the 2012 super bowl halftime show.

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@dd it: cat eyes

yay! it's that time of the week again. somehow, i always feel happy when i write the trending post. maybe because i know that it's the end of the week. i love the weekends because it's the time for me to just let loose and leave writing aside for a moment. but before that, something to add your fashion collection! 

Angelina Jolie

since this week has been all about animals, we shall trend something animal-related. nope it is not going to be fur, simply because i am still undecided about my stance on it. instead, i am going to promote a style of makeup: the 'cat eye'.

Beyonce

my first encounter of the 'cat eye' was with a friend who loves cats and i thought that the cat eye was nice in elongating the shape of the eye. it was somewhat of a femme fatale for me. cat eye makeup can give you a stylish look, suitable for every occasion, whether it is a party, business dinner, or usual weekday.

Rihanna

as with most posts on makeup, here's a video that helps you achieve the cat eye of rihanna and angelina jolie.

if you need more ideas, here are twenty-one ways to wear cat eye makeup, straight from fall 2012 fashion week.

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five leaders you must know

i remember sitting in economics lectures eons ago, thinking about how big exactly are multi-national companies. how much money can the top companies in an industry generate? well, A LOT... before we move to the nitty gritty five things of the fashion industry, there are just five companies (which are market leaders) that one must know...

LVMH global logo, image courtesy of Forbes

1) lvmh: french multinational apparels and accessories company headquartered in paris. the company was formed after the 1987 merger of fashion house louis vuitton with moet hennessy. it controls around sixty subsidiaries that each manage a small number of prestigious brands... brands include fendi, donna karan, emilio pucci, givenchy, kenzo, berluti, moynat, louis vuitton, marc jacobs, loewe, celine, thomas pink, bulgari, tag heuer, zenith, hublot, chaumet...

Francois-Henri Pinault with wife, Salma Hayek

2) ppr: previously known as pinault-printemps-redoute until 18th may 2005. the company is a french multinational holding company which develops a worldwide brand portfolio distributed in 120 countries. it was founded in 1963 by the businessman francois pinault and is now run by his son, francois-henri pinault. subsidiaries include fnac, gucci, puma, stella mccartney, alexander mcqueen, balenciaga, sergio rossi, yves saint laurent (or saint laurent), bottega...

Shanghai Tang Fall/Winter 2012 featuring Hu Bing, He Sui and Hyunyi Lee

3) richemont: compagnie financiere richemont s.a. is a swiss luxury goods holding company founded in 1986-88 by the south african businessman johann rupert. the group's activities and products include jewellery, fine watchmaking and premium accessories, which encompasses writing instruments, leather goods and fashion. it is the second-largest luxury goods company in the world by turnover, behind lvmh moet hennessy - louis vuitton s.a. the list of subsidiaries would include alfred dunhill ltd, cartier, chloe, maison azzedine alaia, met-a-porter ltd, shanghai tang...

Victoria Beckham with her Hermes Birkin bag

4) hermes: hermes is renowned for its handmade luggage and handbags. the company does not use assembly lines. only one craftsperson, who may have been employed by the company for decades, makes a single handbag at a time, hand-stitching individual pieces with linen thread and using an awl. hermes international s.a., or simply hermes, is a french manufacturer of quality goods established in 1837. part of hermes' management secret is keeping it in the family.in june 2013, axel dumas will become joint-ceo of hermes international. dumas is a member of the sixth generation of the hermes family and is currently the chief operating officer.

Beyonce in L'oreal ad

5) l'oreal: the l'oreal group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. with its registered office in paris and head office in the paris suburb of clichy, hauts-de-seine, france, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics with concentration on hair colour, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfume and hair care. click here for their list of brands...

if you didn't know about them before, you're welcome!

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before and after

keeping in the spirit of all things children... this post will be dedicated to how some big names in the fashion world looked while they were still children... so let's start the ball rolling...

any guesses to who this little boy grew up to be? the answer will be revealed at the end of the post... but here are more faces that continually impact the fashion world...

our covergirl! need i say more? i loved watching ellen while i was growing up. i didn't understand many of her jokes but i'm so happy for her... she's like the best friend that everyone would love to have growing up... if you missed her covergirl commerial, click here...

yes, yes, her songs are great... her acting is brilliant... her mark on the fashion industry, other than being stunning on the red carpet? beyonce has her clothing line, yo! it's the house of dereon!

liz hurley (or elizabeth hurley)... associated with estee launder for over fifteen years... imagine that! on top of that, she was the face for a host of other brands... liz hurley now owns her own line, elizabeth hurley beach...

it's jenny from the block... jennifer lopez (sidenote: i love dance again!!!) long story short, show stopper on the red carpet and at events... well, in the fashion world, she has her own lifestyle brand.

last but not least, paris hilton... rich, beautiful and oh-so-perfect (okay, maybe not perfect but i actually like her...) her estimated net worth as of 2012 is $100 million... a fashion line may not be her thing but bags are...

finally who was the boy i shown much earlier? this is he...

Karl Lagerfeld

enjoy the chanel spring summer 2013 show...

big thank you to the chobble for all the images (except the karl lagerfeld ones)!

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