Luxirare Fall/Winter 2011: Convertible Shearling

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Since last year I’d been working on an outerwear series (on and off) and finally it feels like the right time to share. With this group I focused on taking inspiration from convertible cars, airplanes, classic aviator jackets and most important: our modern lifestyles. The main point of this whole thing was to really emphasize changeability, and how the weather directly affects how we dress. Each of these jackets allow so much flexibility, some are completely reversible, others can be worn as a vest, pieces of a jacket can even be worn as a separate scarf..the list goes on. This past month I noticed how temperamental the weather has been. One day we have a blizzard, the other day it’s freezing cold, and this whole week it’s been warm. These jackets cater to these changes, obviously designers have done things like this before so it’s not a new idea, but I worked hard to create pieces for a customer who wants flexibility with their garments, these designs are also classic, there’s nothing here I feel that can’t be worn for seasons to come. Photo below is a small example of this, the collar of a jacket I designed easily comes off so that you can use it as a scarf.

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This was the first time I didn’t take one design with expanded colorways, each of these designs is different but this time I focused on only one color: Charcoal grey. You can see in this lineup, a design I’ve posted before, the moto capelet, it was originally part of this collection too.

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For the first design in this presentation, I started off slow and simple. I thought about street wear and the things that we just throw on everyday without a second thought, a boyfriend cardigan, light jackets…and from this I devised a casual v cardigan with a center front zip, detachable zippers, and two zippers located at the side seams for expandability. So the two jackets below are really one design, and the material is a snakeskin textured double faced shearling. Most of the edges here are sliced with a raw edge, didn’t want to have too many bulky seams for this look since it’s supposed to be modern and easy.

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Maybe when you walk around outside you can wear it as a full jacket, and when you get to the office you can take the sleeves off and just wear it was a vest, just enough warmth but not too stifling for indoors.

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My favorite way to wear this cardigan is with a short a line dress and a belt.

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Here is another style, these two jackets are the same, it’s just that one’s reversed and the other isn’t. On top of it’s reversibility, the sleeves come off (there is a discreet zipper placed at the armhole). The quilting does different things to the fur side so you get a completely different look. The pockets when reversed are also fully functional.

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Example of jackets on both sides (reversed and normal) and how it can be worn as just a vest as well (reversed and normal).

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This one’s a classic aviator style with detachable sleeves and collar.

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The jacket is easy to wear for winter, and above I threw it on over a pair of ripped jeans and an old t-shirt, but I love to style it over a dress. A while ago I posted about the movie, Tree of Life by Terrence Malick and how much I loved it. Since I’m always so obsessed with my work, everything I watch and do seeps into what I design, and Jessica Chastain’s 50′s  style dresses in the film was something I wanted to work into this collection. It was very last minute, actually, but I had the perfect fabric. The silhouette is a classic 50′s style, but I recreated the shape by integrating the waist darts into a panel that resembles that of car seats. See below for reference.

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Fabric: I chose something very strict, stiff, and something that has a slight resemblance to car and airplane seats. No no, I did not stud this fabric with tiny black nailheads..no way. The fabric came like this.

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And with the sleeves off. The zipper in the back isn’t there for fun, it opens into a pleat so that you can get a looser fit for the jacket if you want.

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The collar on this jacket can also be worn over a cowl neck sweater as an added scarf.

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This jacket is the exact same one I’m wearing above, but the sleeve has a different material on it.

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Okay, that’s all. All of the styles are available in the shop now, you know how I roll, I show now, and I sell now. Also, the holiday season is coming up and I worked on a small collection of canvas bags for my readers. These bags also come with a key chain attached that you can use if you take it off, I like to keep it on as an embellishment. You can see more photos on my live blog, and the canvas bags are available in my shop too. Thanks for reading, see you guys soon.

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