Dressful

Yesterday I attended the opening of the Between Sense & Sanity exhibition by Young@Squat. Young@Squat is a collective of young Slovenian fashion designers (Ivan Rocco, Petja Zorec, Špela Hvale, Peter Movrin, Anđela Lukanović, Ana Jelinič, Nena Florjančič, Katja Magister, Sanija Reja, Dajana Ljubičić, Nina Tomažin and photographer Peter Giodani). This is the first time they're showing in London. With fashion week fast approaching, Young@Squat couldn't wish for better timing.

Nina Tomažin jacket

We saw a heavy, red rose-strewn fabric you might find on a very old and kitschy sofa transformed into something avantgarde ...

Ana Jelinič jacket

Ivan Rocco jacket

I found Ivan Rocco's jacket particularly relevant in context of Burberry's image crisis in the past, and how their legendary check is perceived today. A few years ago, Burberry suffered because some British public figures with less than stellar reputation and bad style were often seen in public decked in Burberry check from head to toe. Around the same time, football fans started waving Burberry scarves during matches, another thing Burberry didn't want to be associated with. They then brought in photographer Mario Testino, who reestablished Burberry as a high-end luxury brand. Ivan Rocco (intentionally or not) translated this story into a garment with clashing green, gold quilted fabric, fur, and Burberry's Nova check. The result of mixing high and low culture is a really cool jacket.

Nena Florjančič dress

Nena Florjančič dress detail

Nena Florjančič has been receiving lots of praise for this technique.

Špela Hvale design

Katja Magister dress

The back side of Katja Magister's dress is even more interesting, but I couldn't get a photo because the space between the dress and the wall is tiny.

Sanija Reja dress

Petja Zorec dress

Petja Zorec dress detail

Dajana Ljubičić coat

Peter Movrin coat

Peter Movrin's coat made me think 'female Darth Vader'.

Anđela Lukanović dress and fabric

In the time when creativity and originality are often subordinate to safe design that sells, it was refreshing to see clothes that weren't made under commercial pressure. I'm happy that some of the most talented young fashion designers I know come from my home country – a sign that something is happening after all. May Young@Squat continue their beautiful tale of fashion as art in the future with lots of international success.

You can see the exhibition until February 19 at The Embassy of Slovenia, 10 Little College Street, London SW1P 3SH. After that, it'll travel to Dublin and Wales.

A freezing winter morning is the best time to have an exhibition to yourself. Crossing the strangely quiet and empty Somerset House courtyard (how lost it looks without the frenzy of fashion week …), I entered a maze leading to the river side of the building where they had hid the Valentino: Master of Couture exhibition as the first visitor of the day.

The exhibition displays 130 of Valentino's haute couture looks worn by the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy, celebrating his 50 years in fashion. The first room introduces you to the glamorous world of the capital V with a collection of photos, invitations to haute couture shows, correspondences between Valentino and other notable fashion people (a rare chance to see Anna Wintour's handwriting), and his sketches.

Design duo Kinmonth Monfreda transformed the second room with the haute couture looks into a fashion show. Valentino-clad mannequins are dispersed among three rows of seats on each side while you walk up and down the catwalk. In a brilliant role reversal, you become a "model" looking at couture worn by the "audience".

Princess Marie Chantal of Greece's wedding gown, 1995

Although I recognised the catwalk in the second room immediately, the sheer quantity of dresses made me feel like I crashed a Hollywood awards ceremony. Everything sparkled: rhinestones, embroideries, beadings and sequins, the absence of which usually makes people wonder if the garment can still be considered haute couture (it can). Of course, my association is perfectly justified: Valentino has been a red carpet favourite longer than I've been alive.

In the third room you'll find Princess Marie Chantal of Greece's spectacular pearl-encrusted ivory silk wedding gown with a four and a half metre train and 12 kinds of lace, made in 1995 by 25 of Valentino's seamstresses.

Valentino's "Pagine" technique, Autumn/Winter 2007/08

At the very end of the exhibition is a display of haute couture techniques, some of which are unique to Italian couture or even the Valentino atelier (e.g. the "Pagine" technique, where disks of organza silk are piled to create an effect of pages, like in a book). Haute couture is (deliberately) kept a myth, too beautiful and expensive for commoners, but the exhibition gives insight into the process with videos of Valentino seamstresses doing their magic. Needle, thread, scissors, pins, and fabric – it can't be that simple, can it? Recalling the second room's intricate, lavishly extravagant dresses, Valentino's haute couture seems almost like sorcery.

Valentino: Master of Couture is open until March 3, 2013.
Somerset House, The Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Photos from the exhibition's press material.

Yesterday I and hundreds of other people visited the newly opened Hollywood Costume exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum. As per the press release, the exhibition brings together over 100 of the most iconic movie costumes from classical and contemporary Hollywood.

"The Addams Family" costumes

The exhibition space is divided into three dimly lit galleries with famous film scores playing in the background. Walking through feels like watching a film in the cinema, except this time the main characters are clothes.

I liked the innovative use of cinemagraphs to display characters' faces behind or above the costumes. These moving pictures give you a chance to recall the character in your mind, making the costume in front of you seem more alive.

There's one more thing you should know: the exhibition is as complete and comprehensive as it gets. I couldn't think of one memorable Hollywood costume that isn't there.

Better yet, it reminded me of some I had forgotten.

Highlight:

The section with costumes of women in royal courts. Opulence, ruff collars, massive ornate headgear and crinolines – these characters had clearly luxuriated in many fashion showers.

Top tip:

If you don't fancy looking at clothes over people's shoulders, wait another week to see the exhibition. The place was bursting at the seams (pun intended). You have to be constantly moving in the queue, which leaves you with approximately two seconds viewing time per dress. The queue? Of course there's a queue inside the exhibition, this is Britain.

Dorothy shoes (All photos from the V&A)

Don't miss …

Ruby sequin slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Since Dorothy appears on the poster for Hollywood Costume, you'd think her shoes would be the focal point of the exhibition akin to the Louvre's Mona Lisa. Au contraire, find them in the last gallery near the exit.

The exhibition is on until 27 January 2013.
Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL

JSP

Before coming to Maribor for Projekt Radar I was thinking that the conceptual exhibition, showcasing looks by 22 Slovenian designers (all in white), would definitely be more art than fashion. The uniformity of white and absence of trends allow you to focus on shapes and ideas; it has never been easier for me to discern clever, inspired design from cliché tactics.

Marjeta Grošelj // Nataša Hrupič

Marjeta Grošelj designed a series of handbags slash light sculptures. I immediately thought these handbags would be a very fashionable replacement for bedside lamps (you can turn the bulbs inside the bags on and off).

Though 22 designers inevitably translates to 22 unique poetics, Nataša Hrupič's dress stood out a little more than the rest -- several people told me this was the dress they had fixated on upon entering the gallery space. The clean lines remind me of Margiela's lab coats, yet this dress is much softer.

Ana Lazovski // Maria Moderna, Nataša Peršuh

The dress by Maria Moderna emanates retro properness and grace. Based on geometric deconstruction, it's an example of inspiration taking on a life of its own and producing unexpected connections. Nataša Peršuh put a veil in the front of the dress; I longed to see the dress on a walking model, breathing life into a seemingly unwearable garment.

In the midst of academic chaos and Kant's Critique of Judgment, I will semi-forget about the most difficult exam of the semester next weekend, attending Projekt Radar in Maribor, Slovenia. Projekt Radar is a three-day fashion and art event organized by the European Capital of Culture Maribor 2012 and Projekt27, which has previously co-produced Sens(n)ation Maison Martin Margiela, one of my most memorable fashion exhibitions.

Photo source

With fashion performances (Slovenian and foreign designers), photography and video exhibitions, presentations and roundtables with guests such as Koji Tatsuno (a selection of his looks will be on display) and Kristin Knox of The Clothes Whisperer, Projekt Radar is a promise of a full course dinner for the fashion-starved. Do I have to emphasize I'm excited?

Along with fellow bloggers Ana (Fensišmensi) and Anže (Ulični stil) I have been invited to stay in Maribor from Friday to Sunday, blogging and tweeting from the event. If you can't make it to Maribor, count on us to keep you up to date.

Check out the Projekt Radar official program.