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Cavalli for Hennes & Mauritz… Did He Shop in SL First?
By Grazia Horwitz | October 27, 2007
November 8th will be another great day in the Swedish multinational clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz. Following designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Victor & Rolf, now Roberto Cavalli is about to launch a special designer collection for this company. On a newsfeed earlier today I read that during a launch party in Rome, Sharon Stone has mentioned how wonderful the clothes look and what a master Cavalli is in combining chic and sexy.
When a few weeks ago I saw above campaign shot (by Terry Richardson), mise en scène during an actual party at Cavalli’s Tuscan Mansion I could not help but notice how similar the clothes are to things I already own in Second Life. Lets take a closer look for comparison.
The hotpants and white top outfit in the middle of the photo (next to Mr. Cavalli, who, and I never noticed this before, has a total Eric Forrester look in this photo… part of the campaign looks? *shivers): The top is Veschi Shwank Snow top by Alla Ruff, the scarf belongs to the Shwank outfit. The little black bow is the Sabra black satin bow from Roberta Beauchamp’s Love.Love.Love. The hotpants are Cashmere’s Risque by Gianni Broda (pants and jacket layer). The tights are Blaze’s and the shoes are by Tesla Miles from Tesla, who makes some of the best scultped shoes in SL. The skin is Tête à Pied’s Biba by CJ Carnot and Roslin Petion and the hair is Elika Tiramisu for ETD, Willow in smoke blackened.
The skinny armed cheerleader in the back wears a downright copy of Shai Delacroix’ Giraffe Fever dress, that I paired with Curio’s Rita Groshomme sleek bob hair in black because of the glossy texture, Lucas Lameth’s Earthtones Boho Giraffe earrings, and Boho gypsy necklace as well as Polyester Partidge’s Natural bangle at Yummy. The shoes are Maitreya’s Grace in black. Thank you Onyx Leshelle for these strappy divine shoes. The skin is Joannah Carter’s for Pixel Deep, Fit Dark Raven in grey-blue.
That Cavalli can be quite cheap too is not only proven by the fact that he made a retail collection for H&M, but also by the fact that he shamelessly shopped for inspiration at Pixeldolls and obviously up Nephilaine’s lovely freebie dress Celeste: the little gold number. The shoulder straps, the bodice…. even the skirt’s fringes… it is almost identical (as far as possible, considering the limits of fabrics ;-P). To achieve the blonde predator look I dug up the discontinued Tête à Pied Février skin in bronzage light and, I admit, I bought myself the dirty blonde Cora hair at ETD. It is about the only thing I bought for this post. The shoes are the gold T-straps revamped from Fallingwater Cellardoor at Shiny Things, the clutch is one of CJ Carnot’s classics at Tête à Pied of which I think he should do more.
I wanted to post this immediately when I saw the publicity photo and recognised the outfits in my inventory, but then RL got in the way and it became an… i’ll do it later project. But when a reader posted a comment in the “Measuring With Different Standards” entry about SL clothes makers lacking designs skills, I made it a priority again. Because even if they are not likely to execute their designs in RL the way Mr Cavalli and his team do, the latter is not likely to be able to make the same wonderful textures and his designs a pleasure to wear in SL. The designs though are really pretty much the same.
Anyway… as you may have noticed, I did not ALL the outfits on the photo. In case of the little leopard babydoll to the right, I do have Camie Cooper’s version of it, but not the snow leopard one and that would be better. The lovely black gold empire gown is an item I don’t have, and do not immediately get an idea who might have such a design. Same goes for the leopard dress in the back. So what I would challenge you to do is to make the missing outfits or improve the ones I did already and post them on Reader Style. There are only a few rules. Clothes you use for it must be available in Second Life already, and you should not make (big) changes to them in post editing. I will post the best outfits in an extra Reader Style post. It is not a contest, just a small pat on the shoulders of the many designers who are always being told that they look too much to RL for their inspiration. Well it sure looks like RL is starting to look at SL for inspiration too :-) /me dreams on
Topics: Accessories, Bottoms, Dresses, External Resources, Full Outfits, Gowns, Hair, Jewelry, Odds 'n' Ends, Prim Skirts, Reader Style, Shoes, Skins, Skirts, Spotlight, Tops |
The collection of Cavalli is launching for H&M is not a “new” collection. He chose some of his more famous clothes, who better represent his style over the years, and made them accessible for a larger audience. Basically, he kept the design but used different (cheaper) materials.
Posted by: Fae Eriksen on October 28th, 2007 at 2:31 amGrazia, I really can’t blame you much :) But this, if absolutely true, brings on a whole new issue: the SL creators need to start protecting themselves against the RL ones. DCMA’s need to be more serious!
Posted by: Tenshi Vielle on October 28th, 2007 at 6:11 am:( Please delete the first comment! heh.
Posted by: Tenshi Vielle on October 28th, 2007 at 6:13 amDeleted as per your request dear. ;-P
Posted by: Grazia Horwitz on October 28th, 2007 at 6:23 am[…] Whatsoever, RL in SL, SL in RL by smiletenshi Grazia Horwitz over at Second Style posted an interesting article this […]
Posted by: RL hijacks SL? « Shopping Cart Disco on October 28th, 2007 at 6:26 amI don’t think SL designers take too much inspiration from RL designers, and I definitely don’t think RL designers take inspiration from SL designers. I think rather that similar designs crop up because there are only so many variations of something that you can do. I mean, if you want to create a strapless animal-print dress then it’s bound to be able to be compared to other strapless animal-print dresses even if the details are different. Just because the two most striking design points are similar, the items will be compared.
In SL, we can create designs that would never work on the human body in RL, but even these radical designs could be termed Galliano-esque in terms of their sheer fantasical elements. I think this is just human nature and part of the way our brains work, to want to compare things to others and fit them into categories. I say we just celebrate the aesthetics of RL and SL fashion and leave it at that! :)
Posted by: Georgette Whitfield on October 29th, 2007 at 5:25 amHey Georgette, I agree with you. Probably the wheel got invented simultaneously in different places, so why not something far less revolutionary as an outfit.
I wrote this post the way I did it with a kilo of salt after a reader commenting that SL designers lacked designing skills and only possessed texturing skills and all the people generally whining about how SL designers dig for inspiration in RL, which according to me is logical as hopefully they live full and happy NON virtual lives as well. The same commenter that wrote about the lack of skills also commented that she hopes that bloggers don’t dress RL the way they do in SL… but if SL designers look too often to RL for inspiration,where, according to this reader, the real designing talents live… then what is wrong with wearing SL fashion in SL and RL versions of that in RL…. is SL fashion after all not that much inspired on RL fashion? Oooooh.. I am confused, I fear I don;t make sense anymore but I am going to post this anyway… I need tea and cookies…
Posted by: Grazia Horwitz on October 29th, 2007 at 7:42 am@ Fae… now that is cheap from Cavalli… whereas Lagerfeld and V&C went through the trouble of actually creating a new collection, Cavalli just downgrades existing designs with cheaper material?
Cavalli is not one of the designers that I follow on a regular basis. I thought he would be more original though
Posted by: Grazia Horwitz on October 29th, 2007 at 10:52 am[…] Cavalli for Hennes & Mauritz… Did He Shop in SL First? When a few weeks ago I saw above campaign shot (by Terry Richardson), mise en scène during an actual party at Cavalli’s Tuscan Mansion I could not help but notice how similar the clothes are to things I already own in Second Life. Lets take a closer look for comparison. […]
Posted by: The Grid Live » Second Life News for October 29, 2007 on October 29th, 2007 at 12:50 pm“she hopes that bloggers don’t dress RL the way they do in SL” LOL well I sure hope the Goreans don’t wear silks to pop down to the local 24/7 LMAO!
Yeah I read that comment. A lot of folks don’t ‘get’ the SL fashion world. But then a lot of folks don’t ‘get’ the RL fashion world either. The point of a Comme des Garçons or PC show is to show off fashion as art. The fact that most of these items can be mixed and matched to be worn in a practical sense is a bonus as far as Haute Couture is concerned. Yes, the SL fashionistas have a ‘quirky’ sense of style, but so do the RL ones. Individuality is key and the days of matching your shoes and handbag to your outfit are long gone. Yes, elegance will always be in vogue, but that does not mean it has to be boring! I think this person needs to maybe push a little at the boundaries of her style principles and be a little more adventurous and see where it takes her. After all, this is the beauty of SL that we can try out these looks without spending a fortune. :)
Posted by: Georgette Whitfield on October 30th, 2007 at 3:01 amgreat post georgette…
it’s funny to me that often people are trying to figure out where someone “got” inspiration, or judging their inspiration, or whatever.
the biggest drawback in sl vs. rl fashion is we can’t “feel” in a digital world so we can’t use different fabrics. so a nylon skirt that’s cheap in RL might cost a pretty penny in silk, lined, and hand finished in RL. we can “say” that’s what ours are in SL, but we can’t prove it :P
i personally think all fashion rules went out the windows years ago… in RL… we used to see ‘the new black’ or a time when hemlines were “in or out of style” and that’s just not the case anymore.
like music… fashion is just an open field… yes certain trends may appear (for a NY minute) but there are no “rules” anymore.
(well unless you’re VERY conservative and have to attend county club events on saturdays with your great auntie)
i’m rambling. but i find this both exciting and frustrating… i personally enjoy ‘restraints’ on the creative process as for me as it often challenges me into creativity.
anyway, cool post and comments.
xoxo,
caLLie
Posted by: caLLie cLine on November 2nd, 2007 at 8:21 pm