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)

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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

Will she or won't she?

It's been quite entertaining and informative to keep up with all of your comments on the previous post. I guess I didn't realize exactly how much some of you care if Freja walks this season or not. For me, I just kind of accepted the fact that she wasn't going to be walking, welcomed the break from chronicling her season, and took the opportunity to follow the shows more closely. But if Freja is your absolute, hands down favorite model, then I can absolutely understand the unwavering hope that she will eventually turn up this season.

So to stoke that hope even further, models.com has put up IMG's Paris showcards and Freja's is included in the bunch. But don't necessarily take this as confirmation of anything, for Freja had the same showcard for Milan and didn't show up at any shows. At this point, all we can do is wait and see.

Even if Freja ends up skipping the season entirely, her career won't be much affected. She's cemented her status as a top model, working icon and cult figure. She's reached the point that all models hope to reach: the point were her career is self sustaining based on her reputation, extensive oeuvre, and all the hard work she put in for 12 straight seasons. One missed catwalk season isn't going to push her out of the minds of the photographers, editors, and stylists who have worked with her before, and who want to work with her in the future.

Some of you might still remember SS08 when she missed most of Paris, or SS09 when she missed most of Milan and ALL of Paris. That was earlier in her career and she managed to bounce back, no problems. In fact, she came back stronger than ever. I guess if you're a seasoned Freja fan, you've come to expect and learned to deal with her runway absences.

So in the meantime, let's enjoy her Vogue Brasil cover shot by Henrique Gendre, and be happy that she's being given the opportunity to display all the other facets of her modeling abilities. Feminine Freja FTW! ;)

Image Credits: models.com

Paris SS11 Recap

Paris Fashion Week S/S 11 - 12 Shows Total
1 Opening Slot
0 Closing Slots

Balenciaga - 1 Look
Balmain - 2 Looks
Celine - 1 Look
Chanel (O) - 2 Looks
Chloe - 2 Looks
Isabel Marant - 3 Looks
Lanvin - 2 Looks
Louis Vuitton - 1 Look
Miu Miu - 1 Look
Stella McCartney - 2 Looks
Valentino - 2 Looks
Yves Saint Laurent - 2 Looks

Ahhh, what a month it's been. We finally come to the end of the SS11 season, and while I'm always sad to see the shows end, I'm relieved and happy that I can get my life back. I'm sure most of you feel the same way. No more hunching over the computer compiling showlists, no more straining your eyes to take in a fuzzy live stream, no more searching through magazine sites for backstage pictures, no more any of that. As happy as we are, I can only imagine how elated the models, designers, editors, buyers, etc are to be going home to finally sleep in their own beds after a month straight of traveling. But I suppose there's no rest for the weary, for there is always business to take care of. Speaking of, Freja's Paris recap follows.....

SS11 seemed to end with a whimper and not a bang. After numerous closings and openings in New York and Milan, Freja left Paris with only one under her belt. A bit disappointing, but I know I'm being pretty ridiculous here. It's like being sad about getting an A on a test instead of an A+. It was a wonderful season overall, and Paris gave us a number of good appearances. The week started on Thursday, two days after shows started. Freja didn't walk for Dries Van Noten on Wednesday (which was the biggest disappointment for me since I love Dries), but she was at Balmain and Balenciaga as expected. These shows are staples in her runway repertoire and it's just comforting to see her on their runways.

I think one reason why Paris seemed a bit quiet for me was because it lacked surprises. It was all a bit predictable. On Friday Freja walked for Isabel Marant and Lanvin, both eagerly anticipated shows that we all expected her to be at. Don't get me wrong, she looked great; but it was all a bit boring......maybe that's just the show season fatigue speaking in me. I do love to see Freja at Marant, mostly because her models always look so chic, effortless and stunningly beautiful. There's just something about that Parisian, bohemian style that gets me every single time. And do I even need to mention that both Marant and Lanvin are known for their own respective interpretations of femininity? So I do LOVE that Freja is a runway regular at both shows.

The weekend was definitely slow and quiet, with Freja only walking for Celine on Sunday. But most of the shows that happened over the weekend weren't shows I expected Freja to walk for. Yeah, I hoped for Givenchy, but that was just a pipe dream. After her refusal to smile at Rykiel two seasons ago, it will be a miracle if we ever see here there again. And with Karl Lagerfeld's namesake line discontinued, that left Celine. But since it's Celine, that made everything ok in my book for Phoebe Philo can do no wrong.

Monday brought about a flurry of activity compared to the slow weekend. Freja started the day at Stella McCartney with two sleek, but trendy looks. Denim? Conspicuous prints? Check and check....expect to see a lot of those come spring. Next came Chloe and my two favorite looks of the week. It's just so nice to see Freja look simple and refined. Her true beauty really shined through because this kind of pared down styling enhances and compliments her features. It's the kind of thing that makes me remember just how pretty Freja is; because to tell you the truth, I do forget sometimes. I look at so many pictures of Freja and so many different models, especially during fashion season, that everything kind of blends together and loses its impact after a while. So it's nice to be reminded. :) I also love how Freja is giving the side-eye in her first Chloe look. Anyway, Monday ended with two looks at Yves Saint Laurent. With rumors running rampant about Pilati leaving and the inevitable shakeups that would cause, we should enjoy Freja at YSL while we can!

As I've made pretty clear, I love Karl Lagerfeld. And after this season I love Chanel. On Tuesday Freja opened the Chanel show at the Grand Palais along with Stella Tennant. If you haven't seen video of this show yet, stop reading this and go watch! This is fashion at its best: it whisks you away and drops you off in a fantasy land where everything is beautiful and problems don't exist. For 15 minutes you can forget about your daily life, or the problems that plague the world, or the upcoming midterm elections in the US. Yeah fashion can be frivolous, but sometimes you really just need a good 15 minutes full of frivolity. The day continued on with Freja walking for Valentino. Two shows for two brands, both featuring Freja in their campaigns. Chanel has already signed her on again, can we expect the same for Valentino?

And this brings us to today (or I guess yesterday considering the time it is here), the last day of Paris Fashion Week and the SS11 season. Again, no surprises.....just two good shows. Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu. The former being a nice reprise after an absence last season. The later being the always dependable and pleasant end to the season.

So there you have it! A post season mega wrap up to come later, after I pay some attention to all the life things I've basically ignored these past few weeks. I tell you, the more seasons I follow the shows, the more things and models (beside Freja) I develop an interest in. It's fun, but it makes it a pain to try and follow everything. Anyone else have this problem too? Or am I basically just talking to a bunch of hardcore Freja-only fans? :) Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the season! Our girl did great and we should all be proud. Now everyone can rest, relax a bit and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Image Credits: style.it