Today we have a very special treat from my good friend David Pedroza. David is the Editor in Chief of Master the Art of Style and has graciously shared his amazing journey to the Dior Spring 2012 runway with us. Read his incredible insights here:

The Art of Haute Couture: Dior Couture spring 2012

by David Pedroza, Editor in Chief of Master the Art of Style 

Haute Couture has been known as a way for designers to express them selves through experimentation of fashion with an emphases on workmanship. Through the years new ideas have changed fashion and inspired the world, but Haute Couture became a tool for marketing and brand image.The tables have turned, making workmanship and quality as the main focus to drive sales.The workmanship of haute couture was evident, with Bill Gaytten’s second couture outing for the house of Dior. Gaytten analyzed the inner workings of a haute couture garment, and reveled its beauty to the outside surface. Delicate, fine layers of organza and crain or horse hair, created nipped waist day dresses that would make Grace Kelly swoon. Fine, window pane prints, where in fact created by individual sequins sewn by hand.

All Photos by Stephanie Kaufman, contributor to Master the Art of Style, 2012

Small irregular squares where painstakingly applied to organza, by hand, to create a crocodile effect, with out giving up the integrity of softness. There was a lightness and ease to Gaytten’s second couture Collection for Dior, and much of it seemed to be inspired by its founder and his ideal look, the New Look, which was introduced in 1947. Though nostalgic in reference, the collection was fresh and modern. Some pieces where very simple, with a few pleats and top stitching to adorn them, making it it obvious that Haute Couture is no longer a marketing tool, but a craft of making quality clothes for real women to wear every day. The restrain in the color palette makes it easy for a client to imagine her self wearing these creations, leaving the color up to the clients decision. Bill Gaytten did not leave fantasy out of the equation, the end of the show was filled with lavishly frilled and beaded cocktail dresses, and ravishing ball gowns that makes one dream of being a princess.

I wanted to introduce you to one of the most precious and special things I have come across. The J’adore Dior L’Or Limited Edition fragrance is available by order only and there is an extremely limited number of pieces worldwide. This special piece is hand-blown Baccarat Crystal made in France. The neck of the refillable bottle is carefully gilded with fine gold by master engravers, and is delivered with two 15ml refills. This unique version is encased in a white leather box, lined with gray satin. The box is handcrafted out of fine hardwood and cradles the J’adore bottle which is secured with hand-tied golden thread. This is a true collectors item and each is unique. Contact me to order: marisol_rivera@S5A.com

For J’adore L’Or, Fancois Demachy, Dior’s Perfumer-Creator, selected absolutes of the rarest flowers such as Rose de Mai and Jasmine de Grasse, grown exclusively at the heart of the Domaine de Manon. Together with Tahitian Vanilla and the Tonka Bean, these ingredients form a sensual composition.

I’m obsessed with the Chanel costume jewelry for Fall. The colors are rich deep jewel tones. There are bangle bracelets and multi-chain necklaces that will go with any outfit. I just went to a seminar about how the jewelry is made and learned some very interesting things. Did you know that every piece of costume jewelry and button from Chanel is hand made and never repeated?

Desrues is the creator of costume jewelry, buttons, hardware, and other ornamentation for Chanel. The factory is located outside Paris in a small village and employs around 300 people. Many hours are spent creating just one piece of jewelry, and each artisan is a master in one step of the process. The hand made details and one-of-a-kind pieces are what makes each so unique and special. Check out these pictures of how the pieces are made, and the final product on the shelf!

MORE COMING SOON!

  article by STYLE.COM

Chanel was up at cockcrow for a gigantic fashion romp in the hay. A huge barn had been conjured up in the center of the Grand Palais, and the models emerged from it, wheat ears clinging to their tousled blond Bardot beehives, straw stuck to their clothes, and a little smirk and stagger in their step as if just caught out at you-know-what. Naughty, naughty! Between them, the Chanel country coquettes managed to flirt their way around every rustic reference in Karl Lagerfeld’s extensive repertoire of craft-y couture skills, from hopsack to basket weave and cane work to aprons, dirndls, peasant-y poppy prints, and fantastic wooden double-C clogs. It was a bumper harvest of everything that is chicly tattered, beribboned, and gloriously made about Chanel, as well as the season’s sole experience to make the anxiety and earnestness around fashion evaporate, to make it seem like fantastic fun again.Never mind the hay, Lagerfeld was on a roll. Digging into a theme can sometimes throw up some embarrassing puns, and the effort to be youthful has occasionally had off-beam results at Chanel. But with this collection, Lagerfeld’s summing up of the season’s tendencies—beige, ivory, and black; rough textures; transparency and lace—was spun into a collection so masterfully balanced between classicism and current fashion affairs that the whole thing felt delightfully sure-footed. The knack was that he didn’t rush it—just let the thing keep bouncing out in a sustained variation of caramels, taupes, and ecrus, all logically adapted to the house’s nubby tweed suits, frothy blouses, and fluttery chiffons. The editing of everything to short lengths looked sweet without being chichi—the test being that every teenage girl looked naturally at home in the little thigh-split skirts (that’s what has happened to the bottom half of the Chanel suit), as well as in the mini-crinis and ruffled dance dresses.Prince and Rihanna were competing for attention in the front row; there was a surprise turn from Lily Allen, who rose out of the floor on a hoedown platform to belt out a saltily worded country number; and at the end, Freja Beha Erichsen, Lara Stone, and Lagerfeld’s constant companion, Baptiste Giabiconi, were literally rolling around in the hay together. And yet, remarkably, the clothes never became a sideshow. In a season when celebrities, concepts, and a lot of forgettable mediocrity have got in the way of seeing why luxury fashion should merit the price, this was a Chanel triumph. – Style.com

 DID YOU KNOW THAT ALL CHANEL JACKETS HAVE A CHAIN SEWN INTO THE HEM IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM HANG MORE EVENLY AND SMOOTHLY  !