Designers. Victoria Barlett Loves the Ladies: VPL Collection Titled "Modern Sufferagettes." Second City Style Fashion Blog

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While there is always much debate about the best qualities of the "modern woman," Renata Espinosa of FashionWireDaily reports that Victoria Bartlett has titled her latest collection to reflects all the ladies who allow us gals to do just about anything we want. Each piece was created with a particular woman in mind, using fabrics and styles to reflect Bartlett’s vision of their character. Detailed Dressing Renata Espinosa Sometimes the smallest detail can make a big difference in a collection. It could be a specially designed pocket, a strategically placed box pleat or a cashmere fabric as soft and light as jersey, and just as machine washable. Or, maybe the collection has an intriguing story or inspiration behind it. Take Victoria Bartlett’s latest VPL collection, which features all of the above. For fall-winter 2007, she’s titled the collection "Modern Suffragettes" and it’s a homage to a handful of women who made strides for the cause of women’s equality in the 20th century: Suffrage movement leader Emmeline Pankhurst, Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein, artists Valie Export and Adrienne Piper and Guardian Angel Lisa Sliwa. "We wanted to do a topical show," said Bartlett in her sunny New York showroom on a crisp spring day. "Heroic women who fought for women’s independence." Each of these women are represented through different styles, with period details given a modern edge – there are the fitted Victorian-style jackets that reference Pankhurst’s turn-of-the-century style, but lack the discomfort of the originals – made with a French terry designed to look like a woven fabric. A top with silver metallic "sash" is reminiscent of a suffragette’s banner while the "Toklas Tunic" with Twenties-esque drop waist and scarf tie. For the second season in a row, VPL also collaborated with Jean Michel Cazabet to produce chic shoes and boots – high patent leather wedge boots with side snaps and Mary Janes with VPL’s signature elastic bands for straps. The oversized handbags achieve something that few, if any, bags by luxury brands can claim – they’re substantial looking, but incredibly lightweight. No more feeling like a horse weighed down by a saddlebag – now that’s liberation! And yet, they’re still capable carrying a city girl’s entire life inside of them and have plenty of design bells and whistles, like a tasty drawstring closure as thick as a licorice rope in VPL’s fantastic take on the bucket bag, the "Cabin." "Modern Suffragettes," as a tribute to women’s independence, is a fitting concept for VPL, whose clothes are all about liberating the body through comfortable fit – just like Chanel did in the 1920s – but never at the expense of style, something contemporary fashionista feminists can appreciate. –Joanne Molina for Second City Style

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