Prints and sportswear: Adidas Originals x Mary Katrantzou

Mary Katrantzou, the Cyprus-born print queen has expanded her portfolio by collaborating with sportswear giant Adidas. Reminiscing her fledgling design days (dresses with chain prints) she has gone very far has her not?

It's just a but of a bummer that there is no menswear clothing in the collection (for the obvs reason, of course). But street footwear fanatics rejoice, as there are men's shoes included as well! Should I ditch my sparingly worn, floral print adorned Raf Simons?

57 Years of...

The entries on DF seemingly turn into a government website these days isn't it? But don't get me wrong, it's so heart-warming feeling reading/listening to anecdotes on Malaysian unity. And watching Digi Merdeka ad does the same thing (clever play of multi-ethnic terms on 'brother' pulls the right nationalistic string in me). And I've been trying to feel a little bit more Malaysian by spending the Malaysian Day with a 5km fun run yesterday and had a short-but-sweet outing with Jaspreet a few days back. That included eating paneer thosai (my virginal experience), and discovering Tommy le Baker (didn't have any room in the tummy for more bread though). Looking forward to doing a 'heritage' trail of my own to discover the off-the-beaten tracks of Kuala Lumpur next time...

Margiela fever

I suppose you are getting pretty tired to see endless entries regarding THE Margiela, but we could not hide our excitement on their upcoming collaboration with H&M (another three days left, have you eyed on any specific pieces?). True, the designer has left his eponymous brand but the nostalgia definitely lingers. Doing re-editions at a mass scale is a pretty brilliant move to introduce the enigmatic brand to the more 'commercial' world, at least to me, personally...

I'm sooo excited to have acquired a few Margiela-related pieces previously (some are vintage from Labels Inc, and some are from their MM6 x Opening Ceremony line that I scored during the Musa sales). Regretfully I rarely wear them out. This might sound pathetic but the reason being I truly cherish the pieces and I fear ruining them from over-wearing!

Hopefully the impending H&M collaboration will provide me another Margiela piece (albeit not truly authentic I'm satisfied enough; to those MMM elitist/purist fans, go away to your regular MMM boutique, thanks). In fact the launch which is barely a few days left pushed me to style up and wear my personal pieces, that serve as a memento, just in case I could not get hold of the high street pieces come November 15th. The date will surely be anticipated with excessive palpitations...

MM6 x Opening Ceremony palazzo pants, worn with Zara blazer, Uniqlo striped tee, eBay belt

Black and Yohji Yamamoto

Those who have been following Dunia Fashyon are well aware that I prefer colour and pattern over dreary hues in my outfits. But sometimes I just feel like wearing predominantly black clothes. This stands at the opposite spectrum of my philosophy - on the contrary, black is actually an absence of colour. But undeniably black has the ability to give this weird feeling of empowerment - all of the sudden you look slimmer, slicker, more elegant.

A relaxedly tailored linen blazer, the unconventional trousers silhouette, the white sneakers - things that seem fresh in my outfit principles. I've been reading a book about Yohji Yamamoto which contains tonnes of pictures of his earlier creations (can't wait to share the images!). His convictions of using less color perhaps make his work of art stand out more. Somehow wearing this drop-crotch pants remind me of his peculiar cuts. Or perhaps Rei Kawakubo's? - at some point Yohji did have a professional relationship with Rei, so it;s difficult to say who influenced who in this case...

Summer sales happiness

It's good to know that MUSA has managed to clear much of their inventory from SS2010 and beyond, in order to move on to their next project which is still in a hush hush mode. But it's sad the venture into independent European labels is rather short-lived though. I try not to toot my own horn here but dare I say I am among the lucky persons (but unlucky financially, if you'd like to think the other way) who managed to scoop a great bargain that this sale offers (offers, as in present tense. Yes, it's still ongoing). 

As I tweeted previously the Christopher Kane items at MUSA are so greatly discounted it surpasses the London sample sale calibre. I'm not exaggerating! Now the seemingly unattainable FW2011 tartan print shirt becomes my possession at a fraction of the original price...

I tried to pair the (here's my attempt to create a new colour vocabulary) dusty gold t-shirt with a nearly-matching jacket, tailored to my petit frame. Remember when the jacket was a tad too large? The pleated wool trousers are from Et Vous, a French label, acquired during a separate MUSA sale. I love the baggy yet tailored silhouette, the pleats, and the best thing is they're cropped at the ankles! They actually come together with a jacket but the Gaga-esque exaggerated shoulders made me think twice to wear it...

I'm wearing a custom-tailored jacket from eBay, Christopher Kane FW 2011 tartan print shirt, Et Vous pleated trousers, Comme des Garcons Shirt shoes, Ayame socks, brooch from a market in Sabah

It was not a coincidence as Arman and I decided to wear Kane's t-shirt from the same collection. The purple hue is a more vibrant option than my more subdued version. This is further augmented by a shiny clutch from Marc by Marc Jacobs. I guess outfit color-coordination speaks volumes in terms of reflection of the wearer's personality - perhaps the notion of bright colors equals to outgoingness and vice versa is indeed a tried-and-tested concept...

 

Arman's recent trip to Johor Premium Outlet has resulted in this interesting beaded sneakers from Adidas x Jeremy Scott commercially successful collab. Arman always gets amazing footwear on our jaunts to JPO but I, on the other hand, always come back empty-handed due to the lack of small boyish shoe size there.

P/S: By the way, if you haven't noticed we have joined forces at Dunia Fashyon and Arman has put on some wonderful news, e.g. all the Oroton updates. 

Have a great weekend!

written by Hafidzudin
twitter: @naboonies

All layered up

The layering madnesszzz is perpetuated as being at a higher point gives me bone-tingling chills that needs to be whole-heartedly combated. This time around, I wore the once-forgotten cardigan with ombré/degradé effect from New Yorker. Strolling around a beautiful pot plant nursery in this cardigan almost gave me a camouflage feel because of the rather bright colors, loosely resembling a morning glory...

And of course this time around I managed to dig out the jeans of my yester years - the only Levi's that I have, purchased in 2003 as a self-gift for commencing the first year as a student in Russia. Sentimental notions aside I like the jeans very much because of the baggy-cut denim (this is prior to my skinny jeans obsession), and I cannot stress much on how comfortable walking in them is. Also, the back pocket print effect at the sides of the front pockets is simply quite unique and I haven't seen such technique done in any other jeans, I believe.

 

A bloom on a knit

I joined a family trip to Cameron Highlands recently (yes, don't laugh at these two facts that a) I still join family trips, with extended members all included and b) it was a Cameron Highlands of all places).

Maybe most of you will shudder and object at the notion that CH is still worth a visit, but, if you could travel pass the tourist magnet Brinchang town, the Cameron Highlands Resort awaits you with its stunning and well preserved architecture complete with high French doors and Tudor-styled cottages. It is simply a quietly elegant place to spend the weekend, plus, the balconies face a spread of green carpet of golf course just opposite of the building.

Being on a higher altitude meant cooler morning climate, that was a signal of opportunity for layering or wearing sweaters. And of course I chose to wear this sweater from H&M to help me guard myself against the relatively chilly weather.

We took the opportunity to roam the area which is beautifully lined with exotic flora, one of which aptly matches the digital print on my sweater.