Fashion Noir

Noir is the latest fashion obsession, mostly associated with stylish Hollywood crime dramas from the early 1940s to late 1950s, it has captured different designers' imagination with its striking visual narratives. Film Noir heroines are mysterious and empowered, just as some of the women who have emerged on the catwalk for the coming season.

Ava Gardner in The Killers, 1946. Bottega Veneta and Gucci 

Different labels are using this suggestive word for their latest fragrances: Tom Ford, Givenchy and Chanel. The iconic number 5 bottle has a new found prominence, it looks super chic in black, Coco Chanel's favoured colour.

The September cover of French Vogue magazine celebrates black's vibrant energy with amazing photographs by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott. After all the recent frills and girlie sorbet colours, Autumn/Winter is looking paradoxically dark, anticipating a need to gain strength. 

Vogue Paris September 2012 issue. Valentino and Alexander McQueen 

If you look to the latest films, we are drawn to female characters who embody power. Just as in the Film Noir era, they are not easy to read and can strike at any given moment. Charlize Theron is simply breathtaking as an evil queen.

Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012.
Jenny Packham and Givenchy 

Anne Hathaway is also captivating as catwoman: fierce, sexy and bordering fetishist. Some designers seem to have fallen in love with this kind of attitude, but just as yin and yang, it's always circling around in and out of fashion. 

Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Versace and Pucci

Other related blog posts:      
Stars in Dior
The Leather Dress
V&A Unveils Hollywood Glamour