The Final Tally - FW1112

What month it's been. The fashion season is officially over and what started out on such a down beat for Freja fans ended on a high note with a great turnout in Paris! Arguably the most important and most meaningful of the four cities when it comes to impact, important impressions and future bookings. That's up for debate of course.

I'm a little sad that there's no need for a detailed recap like previous seasons since Freja walked so few shows, but oh well! More time to play the campaign guessing game. If you're interested, previous season recaps are here: SS10, FW1011, SS11

FREJA BEHA ERICHSEN
FW1112 TOTAL: 14
FW1112 MILAN/PARIS: 14
OPENED: 3 | CLOSED: 2

London: No shows walked

Milan: No shows walked

New York: No shows walked

Paris:
Alexander McQueen (O)
Balenciaga
Balmain
Celine
Chanel (O)
Chloe (O)
Givenchy
Haider Ackermann
Hakaan
Lanvin
Louis Vuitton
Miu Miu
Valentino (C)
Yves Saint Laurent (C)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of.....

• Cities walked: 1
  
• Shows walked: 14
  
• Shows opened: 3
  
• Shows closed: 2
  
• Outfits total: 23
  

In order of appearance...............

Biggest surprise of the season for me was seeing Freja open McQueen. Show I was most happy to see her at is a three-way tie between Haider Ackermann, Celine and Chloe. The former two because I love the clothes so much, the later one because it was absolute heaven to see Freja open and Aymeline close. Best look was Freja's stunning YSL closing number. Talk about breathtaking. Anyway, another successful season down. I feel like Freja made the right choice by taking some time off early in the season and coming back for the important shows. Standard supply vs. demand. :) And it would have been awkward to see her not walk for Chanel, Louis Vuitton or Valentino since she's in all their current campaigns. For me, not seeing her at her usual NY and Milan shows made me miss her and realize I was taking her a bit for granted. I suppose there is a lot of truth to the saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder."

In any case, much like how there's no crying in baseball, there's no rest in fashion. You can bet all the models are now jetting off around the world trying to secure their placements and bookings for the very fast approaching campaign rigmarole. That being said, I hope Freja scores Chanel again. That dark, masculine collection was tailor made for her. And yes, as much as I'm over the masculine side of Freja, I really can't think of anyone else who would be as great a fit for the collection as she is. Don't let us down Karl. Not now. Lets go for a record 5 times in a row, 7 times over all! I'd also love to see her for Chloe again, and something like Miu Miu. Lots of wishful thinking I know; but with Freja anything's possible.

Image Credits: vogue.it

Redux: F/W 2007

What a strange season so far. All the places you expect to see Freja (Stella, Isabel) and all the places you don't expect to see her but hope to anyway (Givenchy, McQueen) have switched on us. Her absence at the two aforementioned shows is most certainly made up for by her appearance at the later two. Neither of which she's walked since the Fall/Winter 2007 season back in February of 2007. It's a redux! A strange, surreal but pleasant one.

Givenchy and Alexander McQueen 2007



Givenchy and Alexander McQueen (O) 2011

Amazing how someone can seemingly change so little on the outside over the course of four years. Lets do the time warp again. It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right, put your hands on your hips.....whoops sorry, off topic. Models must really have that mysterious and enviable ageless gene.

Anyway, just when you think you know what to expect, Freja changes it up on us again and reminds us to expect the unexpected when it comes to her. In all the time I've been blogging about her, overturned expectations is a constant theme. And yet somehow I'm still surprised each time. Maybe I should just make "Expecting the unexpected since 2005" this blog's motto. :)

Image Credits: style.com, vogue.it

New Directions? Collaborators?

Paris is nearly over and Freja is there in full force, but the biggest story for me is her appearance at two shows this week. Hakaan and Givenchy, to be specific.

The last time Freja walked for Givenchy was back during the F/W 07/08 season. Four years later she shows up once again on Tisci's catwalk, also having walk for the first time in Hakaan's runway show earlier in the week.

Now what's so interesting about this you might ask? It's no secret that both Hakaan and Ricardo have the blessing and heavy backing of photographers Mert & Marcus and Carine Roitfeld. So what does it mean that Freja showed up at both shows this season? And all of this in light of Carine's recent resignation and uncertain future placement? Maybe nothing at all, other than a simple casting decision. But I'd like to think it means something more in regards to Freja's future editorial and campaign bookings.

Just something to think about and mull over on this Sunday afternoon. Castings in Paris have seemed unpredictable all week so I'm not saying this means anything at all. On the other hand, it would be nice to see another new direction for Freja's career, and new collaborators for her to work with.

Image Credits: style.com, vogue.it

She Will!

After all the speculation and worries, we only had to wait a few days for all our questions to be answered, for Freja finally made her FW1112 appearance today on the Paris runway of Hakaan.

It's great to see her in Paris, walking the shows. The break did her well, as I'm actually really happy to see her face. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Anyway, as per my usual MO, I'll update on Freja's runway shows only at the end of the city/season, as updating for every show gets pretty repetitive and boring. But don't worry, I'll be keeping track......I'm sure all of us will be keeping track.

Until then, enjoy Paris and the prospect that Freja will walk more shows. :)

Image Credits: vogue.it

NY Out, Europe In?

It's official. Freja is skipping New York Fashion Week for the first time in her career. The word comes to us from streetstyle photographer extraordinaire Bonae.

"A good source informed that Freja Beha Erichsen is skipping NYFW this season."

Now it remains to be seen if Freja will be skipping the entire FW1112 season, or just the city of New York. Will she show up in London? She didn't walk there last season and she doesn't have a showcard for this city either, but it's where Tom Ford is showing his intimate presentation this time around. Will she make it there? She's not necessarily a favorite of his, so I have my doubts.

That leaves us with Milan and Paris. If showcards are any indication (thanks to reader Julie for the tip!), she'll make her debut there. Possibly in grand style at Gucci, as a friend with a knack for crystal ball speculations jokingly predicted to me. :) All jokes aside, I really do think Freja will wait until Europe to walk. It's nearly impossible to think of her missing shows like Chanel, Fendi, Gucci and Valentino. Right?

So with a European showcard for reassurance, we'll just have to wait a little while to get our Freja fix. In the meantime, enjoy the shows and discover some new girls to follow. As usual, there's plenty of them stomping up and down the catwalks of NY.

Image Credits: imgmodels.com