Love, Tilda.

In the heat of the summer, it's easy to convince people to part with at least $12 of their hard earned dollars to sit in the icy cool of a sun-less movie theater. But, in the case of I Am Love, I'm not persuading you to watch it on the big screen, I'm demanding it. The film demands it. The smooth alabaster of Tilda's skin abutted against her paled strawberry chignon simply won't look the same on your personal-sized laptop screen. Neither will the swooping tracking shots or the perfectly plated meals. The brightness of the big screen was invented for films like this. The rich colors, the lush and surprisingly intense score--it all needs a theater.

The film is a study in freedom and family. It executes its narrative through thoughtful details on every level--the costuming most impressively. Tilda's assimilated Russian character plays house in the estate of an historic (and rich) Milanese family. Their rituals and customs, those that only old money can pass on, are tightly arranged and sophisticated. In the beginning of the film, when Tilda's Emma is ensconced in that culture, she too is tightly arranged and sophisticated. Her hair is smoothed, her clothes are pressed, her jewels are in place, and her tailor is obviously preternaturally talented. As passion seeps in the cracks of the heavy doorways, Emma unravels, blushes, brightens. Raf Simons designed Swinton's wardrobe to speak a chromatic language. The premise may sound cloying (red=passion), but the result is more subtle than all of that. Besides, it's not until Emma's clothes start to get stripped away that they really start to speak for her. They are peeled from her, like so many layers of hiding. Underneath it all, her bare skin is almost translucent as it gleams in the San Remo sunshine, appearing especially pale in contrast to her darker lover, the one who has undressed her.

Her clothes wind up back on, sometimes forcefully and you see what a burden they are. In the context of the film, yes they are a burden. But my, oh my, in the eyes of a fashion fan, they are pure bliss. Do yourself a favor, put down the internet and see this film on the big screen if you get a chance. It's simply gorgeous.

Stills and film clip from Nowness.com.

Feasting On Scraps.

Another series of raw seams sealed a second superlative for Milan Fashion Week. After Prada's remarkable postcard to sunless beaches of the past (or future?), Raf Simons's collection for Jil Sander played the game of hide-and-seek better than any other in recent memory. The understated sexiness of the collection was a marked difference from the va-va-Versace revival that's hitting the catwalks in other house presentations, but it was infinitely more alluring.

The show opened with straightforward shift dresses making good use of the fabric leftovers they were scissored out of. Scraps of dress material were attached to the opening cream sheath for a minimalist's method of embellishment. There was a black version, and a couple more in sheer or shiny fabrics that floated themselves down the runway.

The shimmering violet and golden version appeared to make it's own light, and was exactly what I would picture a dress made of sunset soaked water vapor would look like. The black net version, austerely adorned with rectangular bits of it's own material, was a darker version of and for night.

The sheer, wide-legged pants that floated under burlap looking jackets were a light and loose version of the slouched, transparent tights that made it onto so many runways back in New York. The jackets themselves, some of which were bisected and melded with a see-through second half, were so sexy. The models were suited up in sheer and the juxtaposition made the visible bodies seem strong and soft at once. Like a real woman at work.

How Simons managed to make a duo of mylar-look dresses appear minimalist is mind boggling, and speaks loudly to his talents as a designer. The woven dresses and tops that hid and revealed skin in a game of show and tell were offset nicely by boxy, big suit jackets, skirts, and shorts that concealed enough to give the show balance.

In fact, the wearability and functionality of many of the pieces was so practical and smart of Simons. It was smart, but not sell-out. None of the pieces felt forced or inserted into the lineup to give the department stores something to sell. Instead, the whole collection remained cohesive despite the strong differences between some of the adjacent looks. Again, this shouts (in a whispered way) design talent.

The tied, knotted, and wrapped dresses that came near the end of the show were fond odes to artist duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude who famously tied up monuments, museums, and buildings throughout their collaborative career. The match of aesthetics is apt. Both the wrapped monuments and the wrapped dresses are revealing and concealing. They conceal their exact complexities and reveal the talents of their makers. Also, the shoes in this show were striking and gorgeous. Wood, iron, and snipped fabric? It all works so well.

Excellent, excellent show.

All photos from Style.com.

Raf Makes Me Dream of Real Life.

Raf Simons is a designer who's work makes fashion artistically relevant. (Yeah, he's one of those.) Yet, he denies being an artist. According to him he's simply a fashion designer, that's it. But of course with his mind and skill, his role as a fashion designer elevates the title to top artistic potential. It's a back and forth. His clothes tend to be the same way. One step forward into the area of fashion as conceptual, wearable art, and one foot firmly on the solid ground of real-life, working women. That makes his collections a win-win with something for everyone. Some of the dresses and pieces in his latest Fall RTW collection for Jil Sander were gorgeous, molded, peaked, color-flashing garments, and some were clear palate cleanser ensembles with smooth lines, easy shades, and lots of wearability. It was deft. It made sense and created newness. Watch Suzy Menkes make an excellent assessment of the collection while talking to the camera-shy Simons AND rocking her signature hair puff.

Love it.