CELINE Our first showroom appointment for the Pre-Fall 16 season is Celine. Celine is by far our largest appointment every season and one we always look forward to. The Celine showroom is held in their headquarters in the beautifully refurbished neo-classical mansion Hotel Colbert de Torcy in the second arrondissement. Walking into the courtyard, you are immediately brought into the world of Celine. From the singular signature potted ficus tree (seen in every Celine store across the world), to the multicoloured marquetry floor that typifies the classic and chic Celine design ethos, the entire showroom experience is extremely controlled and reflective of the house’s approach to fashion. This season we were blown away by Phoebe Philo’s use of on-trend colours including Sage Green, Bordeaux, Jungle Green and Sahara Tan. Silhouettes were typically Celine, with fantastic striped collared mens shirts with bustier style wraps and boxy blouses that are then paired with wrap skirts with a twist. One of the stand-out pieces in Philo’s Pre-Fall 16 RTW collection was the new leather biker jacket. Still classically shaped, this season’s leather biker jacket featured more hardware and a fantastic belted waist. We will receive this style in Jungle Green and Black and can’t wait to see them in-store! After finishing our RTW selection we moved onto shoes. The shoe salon in the Celine showroom is a charming room that features handcrafted wooden stools and display cases designed by Philo herself. Our shoe selections from Celine this season include a fantastic pair of lurex boots, the new version of the Bam Bam sandals in a combination of patent leather and suede, and a chunky heeled boot that will be perfect for Australia’s upcoming winter season. As well as the classic styles like the Mini Luggage, Sangle Tote and Mini Belt bag, this season we have ordered new styles that include the Twisted Cabas and the iconic Box Bag. The Twisted Cabas is a take on the traditional cabas style and this pre-fall season Celine introduced this bag in a variety of textures. Our favourite in particular was a tri-colour version in Navy, Green and baby blue that featured felt on one side and leather on the other. The Celine Box Bag is one of the most iconic bag styles in Celine's range and this season we have ordered the mini style in smooth black leather. We have had many requests for this classic Celine style and we will receive this bag in Black, Light Anthracite and Navy. A fantastic colour palette for everyday use. This season we ordered the classic knot bracelet in three colours; silver, rose gold and yellow gold and the double barbelle bracelet - all Celine classics. We also loved the Knot Pendant necklace which will be available in both gold and silver. CHLOE   For Pre-fall, Chloe’s Creative Director Claire Waight Keller was inspired by traditional Afghan rugs and the idea of nomadic living. The result; the Chloe woman this season is bohemian and a free spirit while still maintaining the fashion-forward and sophisticated outlook that is signature Chloe. Keller illustrated her vision for Chloe this season with jacquard harem pants, delicately printed silk bat-wing blouses and dresses, crocheted knitwear and velvet oversized separates. The collection had a distinctive earthly colour palette, with reds, oranges, ochres, chocolate brown and mustards all playing major roles in key pieces of the collection. Our selections embrace the key themes and colour palette of the collection and includes a pair of velvet jacquard track pants matched with a classic silk lace-trimmed camisole, a crew-neck crocheted jumper, and a pleated ribbed knit top and skirt set. Texture and contrast also played a major role in the pre-fall collection; our favourite pieces included these fantastic knit jumpers with scalloped detailing at the hems. We will be receiving all three colour ways and cannot wait for them to arrive just in time for Australian winter. The shoes offered by Chloe this season were some of the best yet! We in particular loved the laser cut chunky sandals. We also chose some fantastic lace up ballerina flats and a pair of heels with a suede ruffle detail across the foot. Chloe has always offered a strong jewellery collection and this season we re-ordered the classic Darcey cuff in Gold with Pearl detailing and the new Darcey Pearl earrings. The colour palette that dominated the RTW collection also played a major role in the bag offering this season. Along with the classic Drew Bag in Black with both silver and gold hardware, this season we focused upon the Faye Bag. We in particular loved the new colours Dark Purple and Pearl Beige. We will also receive the Faye in the classic colours; Black, Motty Grey, and Classic Tobacco. We will also be receiving the Hayley, Hudson, Marcie and Georgia bags in a range of new colours and fabrications. The Hayley Bag in particular will be available in suede next season and we loved the Silver Blue colour way.  The earthly colour palette was most evident in the Hudson Bag selection. Along with the Faye, the Hudson bag has become one of the most popular and sought-after Chloe bags. We love this style, particularly in the suede version! Expect colours including Sienna Red, Caramel and Motty Grey in this style next season! ACNE STUDIOS This season Jonny Johansson found his inspiration for pre-fall in youth culture and the anthropological study of the ‘clique’. Johansson approached this collection fascinated by how teen girls often break into cliques and generally mirror one another in their clothing and style. Thus, the Acne woman this season represented what Johansson perceives as the cliques of 2016; the neo-grunge musicians, alternative artists and the preppy, sophisticated academics.   Our selections reflected the more sophisticated options from the collection, however the youthful spirit that is present throughout the entire collection definitely shines through. In particular the baby pink silk bomber jacket and leather mini skirt reflect Johansson’s vision while still maintaining Acne's timeless design aesthetic. Acne’s shoe offerings this season were amazing! We loved the western style boots and the snakeskin heels and suede heels. We chose these heels as they are the perfect heel height for people to wear for work and play. MSGM We have carried contemporary collection MSGM for the past four seasons and we always look forward to seeing the often colour offerings each season. MSGM’s Creative Director Massimo Giorgetti was influenced by Karl Largerfeld’s sketches of cats during his tenure at Chloe and Italian filmmaker Frederico Fellini’s clowns for his pre-fall RTW collection. This eclectic inspiration produced an exuberant and dreamy range of dresses, blouses and skirts.  People love to wear MSGM as everyday casual and work wear and this season we chose pieces that will fit this brief perfectly. Our selections include colourful pleated palazzo pants and skirts, a fantastic open-back blouse in Black and White crepe and a floral printed collared shirt, short-sleeve dress and blouse. Giorgetti has also just recently been appointed as the new Creative Director of Pucci and you can see how this new influence has in turn been carried into his own line. The prints this season were some of the strongest yet! MOTHER OF PEARL A pleasant surprise for us this season was Mother of Pearl. Parlour X carried MOP several years ago and we are excited to welcome this British brand back into our portfolio. Creative director Amy Powney was inspired by the work of English photographer Nigel Shafran in the 90’s. Shafran shot English suburban landscapes and interiors and this season Mother of Pearl reflected the kitschy and often melancholic essence of these images. Our selections included a daisy printed mini dress with contrasting cuffs, a long shift dress with mixed print underlay, and great separates including a printed long-sleeve blouse, and a pair of tie-waist trousers with a blue daisy print. We are so excited to receive Mother of Pearl again at Parlour X and this collection is one of their best yet! ISSEY MIYAKE BAO BAO A perennial favourite, Issey Miyake’s Bao Bao bags will be available next season in classic black and white and also fantastic metallics including gold and silver. Our favourite styles in the Bao Bao collection are the Lucent and Prism Basic tote styles. These tote styles are the best shapes as they are perfect travel totes, everyday bags and also evening bags. ISABEL MARANT This season Isabel Marant showcased one of her strongest winter collections to date. We loved both the Etoile and Mainline collections and can’t wait for all of the pieces we ordered to arrive in-store in June. For her Etoile collection, Isabel was inspired by three key themes; the Velvet Underground, the Decadent 80’s and Colour Blocking. The result; a diverse collection that celebrates alternative culture, youthful silhouettes mixed with masculine elements and rock’n’roll. The collection definitely had a sporty aesthetic that worked well with the chunky knitwear. Our favourites from the RTW collection were fantastic colour-blocked striped knit tops and jumpers, a classic leather biker jacket and metallic pleated mini and knee-length skirts. This season we have re-ordered the popular Bobby sneakers in Black, Chalk and Taupe and the Crisi boots in Black suede.  The Bobby sneakers have been a part of the collection for over four years and their popularity does not look to be waning with waiting lists for our next delivery already filling up! For her Mainline collection, Isabel sought to present an evolved, alluring silhouette that reflected both an oversized Bowie-esque elegance and sophisticated tailoring. Our selections included a classic Isabel Marant jacquard printed bohemian story, tailored culottes and great knitwear options that will be available in a stand-out yellow. PROENZA SCHOULER This season Proenza Schouler took a controversial stance with their pre-collection. Designer Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez announced that they would not be releasing any look-books, imagery or allowing press to review the collection until mid-April. Their explanation; they want to present their collection to the consumer closer to the drop date, an idea which is becoming more and more popular in the Instagram and over-exposure age. This season the Proenza Schouler collection was inspired by the work of American artist Georgia O’Keefe. O’Keefe has been described as the “Mother of American Modernism” and her work focused on enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. It was O’Keefe’s work with flowers that inspired the key print of the season - aptly named Falling Flowers. This delicate print featured on a long-sleeve tunic top, short-sleeve shift dress and a high-waisted ruffle skirt. The print also featured on the classic striped t-shirt and we will receive both the long and short sleeve versions of this t-shirt. As well as these pieces we also loved a turtleneck knit top with laces at the back, and a tweed knit story that includes a crew neck jumper and skirt with tassle detailing. VALENTINO The Valentino RTW collection is one of the largest offered. Held in the Milan Valentino headquarters, the RTW collection spans over 7 rooms and the lookbook alone featured 84 looks.  This season Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli took inspiration from the late designer Elio Fiorucci who they described as both “local and global”, a sentiment that Valentino strongly identifies with. The RTW collection travelled from Asia to the Americas to Outer Space and each section of the collection reflected this seasonal inspiration in both print and silhouette. Our selection for pre-fall included a beautifully-cut silk shirt that features a delicate ethereal bird print illustration, reminiscent of traditional oriental watercolour paintings. We also loved a chic knitted jacquard story that featured one of the key prints of the season - the Herron print. Another key print this season is the Astro Couture print. This print featured constellations, half moons and stars painted on silk and we ordered a perfect cocktail shift dress in this print. Chuiri and Piccioli have also continued their signature butterfly print, this time on great chunky knit jumpers. Along with the classic Valentino Rockstud Ballerina’s and High Heels, we have also re-ordered the Open Sneakers and the new version of this style that features the Classic Rockstud. A favourite with many clients, the classic Rockstud Pouch Bag will be available again in a range of colours including Light Stone, classic Black and Light Tan. The perfect timeless accessory. We will also be receiving the classic Valentino Pouch and Camera Bag next season in a range of colours including Light Tan, Field Green, Valentino Red and Light Stone. STELLA McCARTNEY  For Pre-Fall, Stella McCartney showcased her collection at a star-studded event held at Amoeba Records in Hollywood, complete with performances by the Beach Boys, Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson. This season, McCartney presented an eclectic collection full of fur-free fur jackets, her classic tailoring with a flared twist and a foray into lace. McCartney is generally known for her seasonal prints and this season she was inspired by cats of every variety. Our favourite feline-inspired pieces included a cat tapestry jacquard skirt and faux fur leopard print jacket.   Our Stella McCartney selections this season included dry-wool tailored flared pants in classic black and charcoal grey, a subtle cat printed short-sleeve dress and a delicate long-sleeve jumper in a large rose printed lace. Stella’s colour palette this season was more muted than her previous season’s offerings, however we loved the mix of grey, black, cream and raspberry from our selections. We also ordered this season the classic Falabella wallet in Black with silver hardware. This style will be perfect as a classic wallet or small clutch. We loved these slip-on platform sneakers in beige snake-skin! BALENCIAGA With the appointment of Vetements Creative Director Demna Guvasalia to Balenciaga late last year, we were interested to see what the interim creative team would present for pre-fall. Walking into the showroom, we were both surprised and excited that although Demna’s first official collection is to be AW16, he obviously had a strong influence on the entire collection Demna has himself been compared to founder Cristobal Balenciaga who “was always reinventing the way he was working, reinventing the way he spoke to the client, reinventing the way he presented his collections, to the point where at the end he was doing a show without any press in the audience” and the collaboration between the house and avant-garde new designer looks to be incredibly successful. Our favourite pieces from the collection included a story that features an archival Balenciaga Red Poppy print from the 1950’s mixed with a distinctly Demna silhouette and a classic Balenciaga silk bat-wing top with Demna’s signature triangle detail. We were also very excited to see many of the classic Balenciaga pieces re-introduced into the collection, in particular the Classic Leather Biker Jacket. It was hinted in the showroom that this may be the last season many of the classic styles will be offered, so this upcoming pre-fall season may be the last chance to own many of the iconic Balenciaga styles and silhouettes. This season’s shoe selections also saw us choosing more classic Balenciaga styles including the Giant Arena Sandals which will be available in Black, Grey, Blue and Plum leather. We have also ordered an amazing pair of thigh-high leather boots and in the same family chic black and silver leather pumps and flats. ELLERY The Ellery Pre-Fall collection was inspired by broadway choreographer Bob Fosse (Chicago and Cabaret) and the dramatic flair of this muse was evident in the dramatic silhouettes and fabrics Kym Ellery chose to present in her collection. The classic Ellery silhouettes featured again in the pre-fall collection including the iconic flared pants, shift dresses and fluted sleeve tops. Inside the showroom, we were excited to see the collection up close and workshop our collaboration. Parlour X collaborates with Ellery to provide a completely unique and exclusive capsule collection for Parlour X. This season we loved the lurex that featured thoughout the collection and we have commissioned a classic Ellery fluted skirt in a blue multi and silver gold lurex check. We have also ordered the same silhouette but in a deep ink blue silk with matching esplanade top. We also loved the Dallas wrap top from the collection and we will be receiving this style with an extended flared sleeve in classic black and ivory. Finally, we have also ordered a humilis top with lurex neck detail as seen on the model above. We can’t wait for these pieces to arrive in-store! SAINT LAURENT Hedi Slimane stunned the fashion world this pre-fall season by announcing this his Fall Men’s collection and Part 1 of his women’s collection (part 2 to be concluded at Paris Fashion Week in March) will be shown in Los Angeles. Los Angeles has been a constant source of inspiration for Slimane, whose entire studio is based there. This inspiration continued in the Pre-Fall RTW collection with hints of the 1970’s Laurel Canyon era shining through in retro Paisley and floral prints and silhouettes. There was still classic Parisian Yves Saint Laurent influence, in particular in a tie-neck sleeveless polka dot blouse, however the majority of this RTW collection was Slimane’s rock’n’roll vision. This vision was obviously apparent in a slim-fit, beautifully cut velvet blazer that will be available in Black, Bordeaux and Marine. Along with a fantastic D’Orsay pump, we will also be receiving the popular Jane heel in Black in both the 80mm and 110mm heel. Another popular style we have re-ordered is the Monogramme Wallet on Chain. This classic style will be available in both Silver and Gold hardware as well as some fantastic seasonal colours. The Saint Laurent shopping totes have been a massive hit all over the world and we have re-ordered this style next season in classic Black, Fog Grey, Marine, Bordeaux and Bronze.   STAY TUNED FOR RUNWAY SEASON IN MARCH!