Talbot Runhof (Q8791)
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| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Talbot Runhof |
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Talbot Runhof’s Spring collection was the most understated presentation this reporter has seen in years. There’s a reason for that: The duo can do exuberance like nobody’s business, but as a German/American couple they are as affected as anyone by the drama that never ceases to unfold Stateside. Before this week’s events, the fashion lineup was already set. But there was still room to make a statement through extra diversity in casting and show notes. For that, in lieu of a discourse, the pair opted to match colors with descriptives like “courageous” (khaki), “iridescent” (strength), and “sparkling” (salvation). They even did a hashtag #hardtoget. You get the picture.“It’s all about strength—strong shoulders, strong silhouette, strong colors and metallics,” Johnny Talbot offered backstage before the show. “These are times to endure,” interjected Adrian Runhof. “We have to do the best we can to make women feel strong, comfortable, and courageous. We have to give that extra portion of whatever it takes to survive these times.”No wonder they went for fatigues. A series of khaki numbers was notably spare, save for a ruffled bandeau or two on eveningwear. That soon segued into some hologram numbers, including zigzag jacquard in moiré and one standout coatdress in lilac Lurex Chantilly lace, fully embroidered with two kinds of sequins—one as iridescent as a soap bubble, the other thermo-heated into scrolls. A succession of silver looks in “mirrorball” jersey was by turn paired with sport references (like boxing shorts) or steered toward red carpet iterations. The camouflage print might prove a little trickier to pull off. The final look, a black and jersey voile top with squared-off shoulders and black stretch leather jeans, was as apt a Grace Jones impersonation (circaSlave to the Rhythm) as it gets.Talbot Runhof termed this collection “start anew.” But even so, they stayed on message: If you’re going to go out and kick some ass, you might as well do it in pointy boots with beading.
29 September 2018
Anyone in the market for a #MeToo–suitable black dress for the Oscars will find that Talbot Runhof is the wrong place—and Johnny Talbot is perfectly okay with that. For the Munich-based brand, the logic is: When things aren’t so great, you might as well OD on color and embellishment.“This wasn’t the moment for us to be subdued and quiet,” Talbot said backstage after the show. So they took the subject of traditional German craftsmanship and armed themselves with a coffee-table book on the subject and the hashtag #FaithLoveHope. The designers showed looks embellished with hearts, anchors, crosses and, most compellingly, 3-D treatments in sequins, rhinestones, beads, pearls and a velvety fil coupe in lavender, lilac, green, and mallard blue. It was a magpie’s feast. Among the interesting twists was a Lurex “mountaintop” bomber in silk organza jacquard, paired with a guipure sequin midi skirt, as well as a very pretty forest green sequined tweed in several iterations. The pair also proved that they could scale back a little by buffering all that glitz with a black cashmere hooded shawl or cape, for example.Talbot Runhoff has always gone its own way, and its society clients—plus a number of social media darlings—love the house for it. If that means sequins with wool socks and metallic stiletto boots, so be it.
3 March 2018
Last Fall, Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof were feeling a little (okay, a lot) disgruntled, and they vented on the runway with message shirts emblazoned with the messageunpresidented, among other things.At least three attendees of this Spring show were wearing a version of that shirt, but the duo switched tactics, opting instead to fight ire with flowers. And color. And a constant infusion ofTori Amos’s “Healing Tips” video. “We wanted to say something positive, so flowers naturally came into the equation,” Talbot explained.Concretely, that translated into lots of ’70s-inflected silhouettes and a new hashtag as a collection title: #FlowersNeverFailYou. And lots of wild colors. As the show notes proclaimed: “If it’s loud, turn it up.”Color therapy came in powder blue, turquoise, periwinkle, forest green, cognac, and mustard; by turns on sleek flared trousers with contrasting topstitching, often topped with cotton poplin shirting with jeweled daisies. Then came the eye-popping prints in silk jacquard on short dresses, separates, and suits. Suffice it to say, this is not a look for wallflowers. But it’s kind of fun to imagine the woman who has the guts and humor to go for it.That said, it’s probably safe to surmise that a sleek shantung pantsuit—here in mustard yellow—will be spun out in other (more neutral) colors and prove a hit. For evening, the duo kept things upbeat with dresses and gowns in layers of tulle and mousseline.Backstage after the show, Runhof noted that when the world gets unbearable, you have a choice: take drugs or look at flower prints. They chose well.
1 October 2017
For those who don’t believe the industry’s claims that fashion is getting more casual—see: athleisure, denim everything, and our waning interest in eveningwear—then Talbot Runhof’s new Resort collection is proof of the shifting tides. Chances are Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof still have a big business in their signature ruched satin gowns, but they’ve been turning their attention to easier, less-fussy dresses that work double duty for day or night. It mirrors a trend we’ve been seeing in bridal, too: That women want to look like themselves when they’re dressed up, not like a radically different person.The most surprising way Talbot and Runhof addressed this for Resort was with new, denim-like fabrics, including a fringy fil coupé and a dark-rinse, cross-hatched material that resembled chambray. The opening look, a floor-length “chambray” wrap dress with gold buttons, would work for brunch with flat sandals or a cocktail party with strappy heels. Other looks had “denim” flowers appliquéd along the bust, and their version of a jean jacket came in a delicate burnout fil coupe. There was even a full-on ball gown that mimicked denim: It came with a sheer, caped back, which you could wear loose and billowing or cinched with a jeweled belt.
18 July 2017
At Talbot Runhof, fashion is (among other things) political. About two and a half years ago, Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof sent out a Putin rant that, in hindsight, looks prescient.For Fall, the duo staged a show-cum-protest of the post-truth era. Its title: Lie to Me (also a Depeche Mode classic that will be familiar to a certain generation). “With all of the lies, the fake news, and alternative facts, we wanted to do a collection about truth,” Talbot said backstage. It’s worth noting here that the Nashville native originally trained as an electrical engineer and once worked for the Pentagon. Now that he’s engineering clothes, the ardent Democratic fundraiser figures that fashion is as good a medium as any to get a message out. “If you have a platform to say something and you don’t, then shame on you,” he declared.This season’s soapbox was, simply, “truth.” It started with “true and honest“ fabrics from mills such as Schlaepfer, Denholme, and Taroni—which have been around for decades, if not centuries. Among their picks were double duchesse satin in many colors, including a shocking orange that came complete with a punch line (We now all have something in our lives that is “orange and shocking!“). Winnowing down the sound bites for the message shirts was a tricky call. Only half of them appeared on the runway; another handful will crop up in stores. One example:When you’re a star.Or one bearing just a number: the differential in popular vote.On the runway, the collection hewed emphatically evening, including several half-cropped gowns that will be displayed in-store and sold at full length. Of the looks that will be produced as shown, the black beaded numbers and a sweet, Hepburn-esque plum cocktail dress were the most convincing, elegant, and fail-safe. For the bold, there were multicolored guipure and velvet sequined numbers that would forgive a flaw or two, or olive camouflage distressed and embroidered “combat” dresses. Talbot’s note: “There’s a war going on. Ripping it apart, washing, and embroidering it with rhinestones feels significant.”Backstage after the show, the designers observed that “truth in fashion” is about a woman who does not cede to delusion. “Our way of telling the truth is to help our customers accentuate their best selves,” Talbot offered. Sounds universal enough. If some looks failed to convince, it only makes one want to toss the designers’ own message back at them: Persist!
6 March 2017
Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof get a lot of face time with their customers, and it was one of their most loyal shoppers who inspired their colorful Pre-Fall lineup. It all started when she asked the designers to create a tribute for her family’s glass and mosaics company, Franz Mayer of Munich, ahead of its 170th birthday. (Fun fact: Franz Mayer fabricated the lifelike mosaics on the walls of New York’s new Second Avenue subway stations.) Talbot and Runhof were up for the challenge and whipped up a mosaic-like feather and glass evening top, which appears in their Pre-Fall lookbook. But their visit to the company’s historic facility got them thinking about glass, light, and texture in a bigger way, too.The final results were mostly subtle: Fil coupe dresses and pajama sets had a subtle glimmer; scuba gowns came in geometric black-and-white patterns that mimicked shadows; and a tulle party frock was dotted with glass “candy” beads. The looks with square “mosaics” of jet beading were a bit too on the nose, but the evening tops with tiny squares of silk were meant to be in your face. One spelled out2,864,974—the number of votes more Hillary Clinton earned than Donald Trump—and another was even more direct:She Won More Votes. They aren’t the only designers channeling their postelection emotions into their work; it’s been a popular theme at the menswear shows, and we expect it to pick up again when ready-to-wear kicks off in February.Politics aside, it felt like a missed opportunity for Talbot and Runhof not to continue to explore more of the languid, sequined dresses from Fall ’16, namely therose gold oneKim Kardashian Westwore last summer. Sequins catch the light beautifully, after all—sort of like glass—and that kind of dress makes a simpler, cooler statement than one with lots of frills and flourishes.
11 January 2017
Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof, the designers behindTalbot Runhof, were inspired by the jungle. And they arrived at this theme via a rather unexpected course. One of their fabric designers introduced them to a 10-color silk jacquard featuring flowers and a vaguely emoji-like monkey. They compared this discovery to the feeling one has after seeing an incredible painting at some art fairvernissage. They “couldn't stop thinking” about it.And though the material was used frequently, as seen on a full skirt or “briefs,” the strongest fabric in today’s Talbot Runhof roster was seersucker. It evoked the tropics they were after without being so blunt. And it looked both wearable and interesting when cut into a single-shoulder maxi dress, knotted at the shoulder blade and lower back, with mock sleeves. There was also an interesting, though far less easy to pull off, matrix of feathers that comprised the front of a top.Back to the sleeves: The duo called out an exploration of sleeve treatments, from oversized to drawstring to pocketed. That backfired, a little, as the collection ended up coming across as disjointed and too varied. They'd have been better served by sticking to the leaner and cleaner—as they managed with another highlight, which was a powdery blue hooded tunic with a quartet of buttons down the placket.
1 October 2016
Talbot Runhofhasn’t typically been associated with pretty young things or celebrities on the cutting edge of trends. On the contrary, Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof’s customers tend to be women of a certain age, particularly actresses and high-society ladies in Germany, where the label is based. That started to change last month whenKim Kardashian Weststepped out in a blush, sequin-covered dress with trailing sleeves from Talbot Runhof’sFall ’16 collection. At first glance, one might have guessed it was designed by a different label; Talbot and Runhof are known for clingy ruching, embellishments, and graphic prints—not languid, fluid numbers like the one draped over Kardashian West’s famous curves. They would do well to build on that success in future collections; it feels a lot fresher than the clashing prints and away-from-the-body shapes that appeared in the Resort lineup.Minimalism has never been Talbot Runhof’s thing, but they often find themselves on the wrong side of over-the-top, as in Resort’s printed-lace dresses and clashing pink, citron, and bronze jacquards. More successful were the streamlined pieces that left room for interpretation, like a stretchy, lace-paneled black tunic that could be layered over pants or zipped into a body-con minidress. You could picture one of the Kardashians, Jenners, or Hadids clamoring to wear it with thigh-high boots.
5 July 2016
AtTalbot Runhof—the German, event- and evening-centric label by Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof—there’s always just the slightest bit of disruption somewhere in the otherwise beautiful nighttime. For Fall, that jolt arrived in the form of appropriating the most elite of menswear staples—the tailcoat tuxedo—into shimmery, trail-away, and actually quite feminine womenswear. “We were invited to the opera in Vienna,” said Runhof backstage. “We already had a lot prepared for the collection, but we were very intrigued by the tails, which are required for the men.”The idea of taking something so identifiably male and creating, say, a melted-sequin and burnt-out gown with forks flying behind it like gold-flecked pennants, is enticing. There was plenty here for intelligentsia society dressing, the just-mentioned dress being one of a number of strong options. Others included the finale look, which also shone with these curled sequins (they are baked to achieve such dimension), a bordeaux red dress that mostly held the body but also poured away from the shoulders, down and out; and fun collegiate scarves in primary colors, also sequined (these were a loose interpretation of the movement and form of tails). There was also an interesting, sparkling fil coupe top made of two perfect-circle cutouts sewn together. “Your arms hold it down,” said Talbot, “and sort of push the fabric out behind you.”Weaker points, like broad-striped bits and houndstooth tweeds, felt less fresh—one got the sense the boys were on a more à la mode ultralight beam with all the dazzle (cueDolce & Gabbana’s princess dress finale in Milan last week). Viennese formality worked its charm: “We had our tails made at a tailor in Berlin before we went,” said Talbot. “And you know what? They were actually so flattering,” concluded Runhof.
5 March 2016
ByJohnny TalbotandAdrian Runhof’s estimation, they have done about 800 variations of their ruched stretch dress, whose svelte effect has endeared the brand to legions of political wives, red carpet regulars, and other women with busy social lives back home in Germany and elsewhere. Thanks to that little number, Talbot Runhof has quietly built a small empire and, last spring, the house unveiled a new flagship in a Baroque-style manse in Munich.There’s always a lot going on at Talbot Runhof. For Spring, the story was very much about a palatial lifestyle. In the same spirit as last season’s homage to Mona Bismarck, a copy of the lavishMarella Agnelli: The Last Swan, picked up at Rizzoli in New York City, became the springboard for exploring what the duo terms “sleek maximalism.” In other words, they remained true to their love of intricacy but toned down the volume just a tad, sticking to noble fabrics and a neutral palette jazzed up with the occasional splash of blue. The result was a succession of loose, elongated silhouettes in crisp sun-pleated chiffon, satin, and crepe, sometimes paired with an embroidered shell in layered taffeta trimmed with silk tassels, at other times with ecru trousers, and always worn with palazzo slippers in candy-color satin.Obviously, this woman is not headed to an office anytime soon. But if the clothes were intended to feel like a perpetual vacation, the collection also nodded to the empire that made the Agnelli lifestyle possible. The iconic Fiat factory in Turin, Italy, for example, was the concept behind the modernist Lingotto print that cropped up on a silk top, caftan, and long cotton skirt. Likewise, an Art Deco–inflected cogs-and-gears print emerged on a chiffon pantsuit and under a veneer of transparent sequins on an evening gown. Elsewhere, the pair threw it into high gear to express movement, in rows of fringe in guipure lace and laser-cut hologram foil on a sleeveless tweed jacket. The one-off white parka with tufts of fil coupe was a bit of a wild ride, the designers allowed. Wisely, they stopped there. And anyway, it was aperitivo time.
2 October 2015
Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof built their name on body-hugging satin gowns—i.e., "conventional" red-carpet fare—and while that part of their business is certainly lucrative, they're craving a change. A few seasons ago, that meant dipping their toes into daywear, but they've pivoted back to the opulent, embellished gowns that draw women to the rack. Unusual fabrics are the starting point for every collection, and this time the designers played with "wet-looking" silks, velvets, and jacquards shot through with Lurex and cellophane. Those high-tech materials were a lot to take in, but they were deceptively lightweight and backed with jersey to feel smooth against the skin. The big takeaway was the oversize, away-from-the-body silhouettes. A metallic pink dress with a billowing caped back didn't exactly have hanger appeal, but when the model slipped it on, it was sweet, flattering, and just a little bit sexy. Convincing the Talbot Runhof woman to experiment with those conceptual shapes straight off the rack will be their biggest hurdle.
26 June 2015
Typically, Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof are exuberant maximalists who like to throw politics into their runway mix—last season they goaded Vladimir Putin with cheeky tourism-inspired T-shirts. Those drew chuckles from the crowd, but fortunately this season they changed tack.For Fall, the designers looked to the past, drawing inspiration from two bona fide fashion icons: the late American retailer Harriet Kassman, who led them to the bookThe Power of Style, and Mona von Bismarck, whom they met in its pages and in whose former Paris home the show was staged.Those two ladies coaxed the designers toward new stylistic terrain of exaggerated volumes and shapes that Garbo might have chosen for a party on the Riviera in her heyday, and which will also be perfectly at home in Paris, New York, or Ibiza today. Key pieces included tops and coats in white guipure lace embroidered with laser-cut hologram flowers, an easy navy sequined bouclé cloque coat, and a dress cut from a single circle of fabric, with slits for the arms in lieu of structured sleeves, and no seams. Backstage after the show, Talbot noted that he considers the fluid dress "one of the best patterns I've ever done."The designers also had a ball bringing new treatments to old-world fabrics, extrapolating the salon's historic moldings into a sienna metallic foil motif on a black tulle top and skirt, for example, or working a subtle silvery leopard motif into an avocado silk and Lurex fil coupe gown. On a simpler note, the long black cocktail dress was the kind of faultless little number that one could hang on to for years. It seems that this is a direction the designers want to consider exploring. Said Talbot: "For years, we made this familiar silhouette with waists, chests, and necklines. And then you do something new and you can't see the old stuff anymore." What a relief it is to turn away from the world's countless woes and rest your gaze on something pretty.And despite Talbot and Runhof's new adventures in volume, their customers can rest assured that the draped cocktail dresses beloved by legions for their instant slimming powers are not going away. Quite the contrary: Buoyed by that success, the designers are set to open a second boutique back home in Munich this spring, in a onetime mansion still known as Preysing Palais. Mona would have felt right at home.
6 March 2015
In recent seasons Talbot Runhof designers Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof moved away from their signature draped gowns in favor of elevated daywear. Many designers made similar decisions as more retail-friendly pre-collections gained traction on the sales floor. But you can't argue with the numbers: Those satin dresses were still Talbot Runhof's top sellers, so for Pre-Fall they shifted their focus toward new, more inventive twists on evening. "We sometimes get tired of the conventional look of eveningwear," said Runhof. "We tried to design things that are elegant and flattering, but more modern for the red carpet."Well-cut, relatively simple silhouettes like shifts, cardigans, and shirtdresses left room for the duo to get creative with fabrics. One standout textile was a jacquard of blown-up checks outlined by touches of glimmering lamé, which looked particularly red-carpet-worthy on a dramatic ball skirt. Paired with a simple cashmere top, it was also super wearable. Elsewhere in the collection were splashy floral prints and intricate beading inspired by a recent trip to Majorca. "We interpreted the idea of Spanish tile work in many different ways," Runhof explained. "The prints, the texture of tweeds and embroideries…all of these details are actually inspired by the same idea." However, he was most enthusiastic about a few simple stretchy dresses that were made using a high-tech knit technique not unlike the one used to make socks. "Each dress is knitted in one piece around, so there are no seams," Runhof said. The body-hugging silhouette and lower price point should attract new, younger shoppers and will likely be a hit for Talbot Runhof's established clientele, too.
22 January 2015
Last season, Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof used a 1970s influence to make sociopolitical commentary about tolerance and freedom (full-on corduroy is not a sin!). For Spring they lightened up the fabrics but held on to the politics, this time taking aim at Vladimir Putin. "Visit before he does!" was the headline in the From Russia With Love collection, and it appeared above Photoshopped mockeries of the Russian president sporting an Eiffel Tower on his head, Jean-Paul Goude-style, or embracing the Empire State Building, bare-chested, like King Kong. No one in the Kremlin would crack a smile, but the designers likely don't care. More to the point, how do you wear such a manifesto? Literally, for starters, with spangled graphics by Talbot and Runhof's longtime collaborator Stephan Heering emblazoned on basketball tricots with swingy fringe (here's betting those will move fast). Then came more sequins! Stripes! Shine! Plaid! Barbie hues! All at once! No one ever accused Talbot Runhof of understatement. Yet when you broke it down there were subtle, pretty pieces, such as a black mesh sports blouson embroidered with floral and coral motifs, a skirt in hand-painted silk jacquard, and a black floral-embroidered crepe dress with white and blue sequined ribbing. Talbot Runhof has tripled its sales in the past four years. This morning, the label's designers offered further proof, as if any were needed, that in the face of all the world's many injustices, a solid sense of humor goes a long way to making things bearable.
26 September 2014
Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof often draw inspiration from history. This season, the Talbot Runhof designers referenced Paris' famed Grand Palais and its magnificent interior. "We sat for hours and studied the way light beamed through the thousands of beveled windowpanes onto the painted floors, which were recently restored to their original composition," said Talbot at a Resort preview. Citing the floors' specific Reseda shade of green, the duo incorporated the minty hue throughout their new collection. They featured the color on cocktail looks, including a standout embellished silk crepe tunic boasting a cape-like train in back that paired nicely with matching cropped trousers. The label has been ramping up its daytime offerings and separates, and continued to deliver on that here. Cute crop tops and shifts came splashed with pastel Art Nouveau prints that echoed the Palais' geometric framework and gave off a slight Palm Beach vibe. Elsewhere, the designers revisited signature sparkly tweed, showing bouclé slip-on sneakers that had modern appeal. "It feels so much more accessible," they said of the sporty footwear. Runhof joked, "We would love to completely get rid of dresses," but eveningwear remains the brand's best-selling category, and so there were plenty of frocks with draping, including a strapless pink bustier gown with a bubble-shaped, high-low hemline that felt fresh in embossed cotton piqué and a mixed-material maxi style combining a Tetris-like pattern with "oxidized" silk and three different kinds of lace.
23 June 2014
If Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof went to town with a riff on the seventies, thank Christopher Pesto: His hilarious, iconic student protest over the unpardonable sin of a corduroy skirt sparked the duo's desire to turn the ultimate no-no into, as Talbot put it, "hopefully, a fashion yes-yes." But while Talbot Runhof's highly textured and embellished Fall collection aimed, in a roundabout way, to make a broader stand for inclusion—no discrimination, even for fabrics!—it was emphatically not about your mother's (or grandmother's) corduroy.Instead, there was a catsuit in deep-blue baby cord printed with a hippie orange necktie pattern; a full, floor-length skirt in wide cord cut on the bias; and cord mimicked in silvery blue Lurex or jacquard. The material was also used on a sleeveless tweed crop top layered over lace, and reprised in bugle beads on a "sofa tweed" party dress. Occasionally, the designers took a little breather to focus on original fabric development, most compellingly on full jacquard ball skirts such as the one in a picture-frame mosaic of purple, orange, and red.
1 March 2014
After coming across an original 1970s necktie print from a renowned Milan fabric mill, Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof couldn't resist giving it a star role in their new Pre-Fall lineup. "It felt very unusual for us," explained Talbot at a preview. The geometric pattern (somewhat reminiscent of Pierre Hardy) was splashed on colorful tops, pleated skirts, and a midi-length trumpet dress—a new silhouette for the season. While compelling on its own, the graphic print simply didn't work worn head-to-toe—down to the matching socks, no less. Beyond that, the Talbot Runhof duo featured their signature draping on evening separates, and incorporated a soft napa leather into tough pieces including a body-skimming black gown, which looked modern styled with a ribbed dickey turtleneck underneath.
5 January 2014
"In May of this year, Barbra Streisand sang for us in Berlin. This compelled us to methodically review our huge pile of chronologically sorted Barbra DVDs…." Have less encouraging words ever been written in a brand's show notes? Frankly, the idea of a collection inspired by a year-over-year rethink of the career of Barbra Streisand made the mind boggle, and induced a kind of nauseous dread. How bad could this be? Well, not bad, really. The Talbot Runhof clothes aren't groundbreaking by any stretch of the imagination, but they are executed with a lot of polish, and it's easy to understand why designers Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof have made such a commercial success of their label. There's a market for a covered-up gown with deftly placed color blocks, or a pastel satin cocktail dress with a cape back and jeweled neckline. The embellishment here did border on gaudy, but the designers never actually crossed that line. And their customer will undoubtedly appreciate the eccentric flourish of holographic flowers on a group of pert cotton-tweed dresses. It's tempting to sum all this up with a lyric from Babs, but you know what? Never mind.
26 September 2013
There's something to be said for being slightly removed from it all. Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof run their 20-year-old formalwear label from Munich, and because of that, it has a distinctly unaffected point of view. Whatever Talbot and Runhof are designing, it is very much their idea. And that's usually a good thing. For Resort, the duo relied heavily on two distinct visual resources: the digital archives ofL'Officiel—particularly images from the early seventies—and the work of American photographer Saul Leiter, one of the first to experiment with color. The latter's influence was evident in the shades used: lots of peach, sky blue, and lime, but very saturated in a Technicolor sort of way. "Like a pastel, but not," Runhof said. The standout number—a fit-and-flare dress with matching cape jacket—was covered in a print engineered from a photo of ripped-up pieces of paper. "We tore them up ourselves," Talbot said. Look closely enough, and you could see the differences in the jagged edges. Other daywear, particularly a two-piece set done in a black-and-white rickrack pattern accented with those saturated pastels, had an artsy, quirky feel about it.
30 June 2013
Neatly timed to fashion week as well as the brand's 20th anniversary, Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof have opened their first boutique in Paris, located on a side street off rue Saint-Honoré. They opted to show their Fall collection here, noting that the clean, well-appointed space motivated the designs. In both store and style, there were standouts, namely the notion of a cement "parquet" floor and then a grouping of dresses that paired a faintly printed red cashmere tulip skirt with a netted sequin top. The designers sourced the latter material from Jakob Schlaepfer in Switzerland and explained via a quick chemistry interlude that the sequins had been woven onto a fabric, which was then treated with a solution to dissolve the material, leaving only a loose grid of spangles. There were 24 looks in total, most of them aspiring to that red-carpet golden ratio of glamour, allover sparkle, and body-skimming silhouette. For novelty's sake, the designers added a flared panel to one hip. This asymmetry proved too much for a two-tone lamé gown—half copper, half turquoise.Bon courageto the starlet who tempts that fate. "Sometimes the red carpet can be the enemy of fashion," said Talbot. Maybe. At least the store allows them to control their own image. Their next goal: to ease up on the sequins.
1 March 2013
It's been a milestone year for Talbot Runhof. Designers Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof are celebrating two decades of working together with a hot-off-the-presses coffee-table book, and the label recently opened several boutiques, including one in Paris on Rue Saint-Honoré (located right next to Colette). Their new pre-fall lineup echoes many of the TR hallmarks cataloged in the glossy pages of the new publication. Cocktail dresses reportedly make up 60 percent of the business, and there were several figure-hugging sheaths that would be a hit at, say, the office holiday party, in both a mensweary Prince of Wales check and a lush digital floral pattern. Occasionwear is an expanding category for the duo, and the likes of Kristen Stewart and Helen Hunt have recently been spotted on the red carpets wearing more dramatic versions of the long-sleeve velvet column gowns and holographic sequin numbers here. (We'd recommend showing them without the tulle wrap next time.) With the focus placed largely on evening, it was easy to overlook some of the everyday separates—bootleg trousers and color-blocked shells—that rounded out the collection.
14 January 2013
What would Lucy Ricardo wear to a job interview? That was one of the questions Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof asked themselves while designing this season's collection. (It would have been Lucille Ball's 100th birthday next year.) Their answer: a slim-line midi shift in fine chocolate wool with a skirtlike swag of chiffon fluttering from the hip. Did it make sense? Not quite, but then, logic has never been an absolute fashion essential.The pair's aim seemed to be to inject the parade of fifties- and sixties-inflected elegant workwear, cocktail dresses, and bodysuits-cum-swimwear with some element of Ball's absurdist comedic sensibility. The most overt example was a floral baby doll with a sort of reverse halter. The visual joke was that from the front it read as a strapless dress and floating collar, and from the back as a shirtdress. But otherwise, their Spring muse was mostly left in the wings, with only an embroidery based on TV static and a black and white palette to represent her.An entire page of the duo's show notes was devoted to an impressive listing of their many stockists in North America (Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Holt Renfrew), as well as Europe and Asia. This collection, with lots of pretty, uptown-girl dresses, will thrill those retailers. But whether these clothes needed a turn on the big stage of a Paris runway is another question the designers might want to pose to themselves.
5 October 2010
Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof's experience designing ballet costumes for the Dortmund Opera House last summer clearly had a huge effect on them. Their Fall presentation was dance-inspired, from the tip of its ballerina topknots to the toe of its pointe slipper-influenced heels. Dress after dress exploded at the hem into tutus of tulle, and the finale featured a solo by Lisa-Maree Cullum, prima ballerina of the Bayerisches Staatsballett. Talbot name-checked Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Red Shoes" as direct inspiration, while heaping scorn on the classic Powell-Pressburger film of the same name. Both spin a dramatic story of destructive obsession, which is scarcely what you'd expect to see reflected in the controlled cocktailwear that is Talbot Runhof's core business, but in fact a little more emotion would have been welcome in a tightly edited show that struck one note and stayed there.Dark fabrics were draped and swagged for an effect that was anything but balletically airy, especially one floral print that looked likeles fleurs du mal. The less said about the red propylene "legwarmers" the better. What levity there was came from the froths of tulle. Two gowns at the end featured a technique called "aluminum steaming," which loaned an elusive metallic shimmer to a floating floral print. They could almost have been the most glamorous shower curtains you ever did see. Following Cullum's solo (in red pointe slippers), the designers took their bow in red kicks. Cute.
9 March 2010
Something Alexander McQueen said about the unnecessary pace of change in the industry got Munich-based Johnny Talbot and Adrian Runhof thinking about what attaches women to their wardrobes. What makes a dress a favorite dress? That's where they started for Spring. So why, one wondered, was their collection so insistent about a silhouette that was essentially a bathing suit? There was a pinstripe version with an obi-like belt, a chiffon style with puffed sleeves, and one in stripes with a crisscross bodice. Granted, we're talking spring/summer, so there's a possibility that a bathing suit might indeed be a favorite piece. But some of these dresses will have to work at becoming wardrobe staples. The most disconcerting feature was a pleat of fabric that was draped across the bodice and gathered to one side at the waist. It looked clumsy. There was also a heaviness to a one-shouldered tweed column and a single-shouldered pinstriped gown whose other shoulder was draped with a mass of beading.Still, the label's cocktail dresses have a solid trunk show-worthy following with the Bergdorfs and Neimans of this world, and there was some art to that tweed when it appeared as a skirt paired with a top in a print of the same material, photographed as it unraveled.
6 October 2009