-As a fashion design student I spend quite a bit of time looking at the collections of other designers, it can either be for inspiration, investigating technique or even styling. And because there are many amazing, creative, intuitive designers who create beautiful collections, I wanted to share with you some of my favourite either collections or designers.-

- This feature will be here every Wednesday-

This couture collection was designed by the duo; Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli. As they say when in Rome do as the Romans do, which means a huge Opera culture, which has lead to their inspiration; Fifty-Five looks for Fivety-Five Operas. Chiuri explained that they wanted to describe and embody the character of the protagonist from each Opera they chose to look at in a primordial way. Their chosen Operas included, Puccini's La Bohème and Bizet'sCarmen.

My favourite piece of the entire collection is the first image on the left; it's just so delicate and beautiful. Although the figures look more like a print than embroidery, the trim around the bodice, to me, looks like embroidery, which will have taken time and incredible conscientious patience. It is also the only piece in the collection that features human figures. The imagery of Adam and Eve is just to striking yet peaceful, I think it's the contrast of the layers and intricacy of the image on the skirt with the simple and transparent bodice that make this piece so wonderful.

Obviously with the theme of the collection being so broad within the world of opera you would expect to have some pieces that are rather different from one another, however I found that the spectrum was too vast. Although I think the piece featured next to the Adam and Eve dress is beautiful in its simplicity, it doesn't seem to fit with the theme, as I very much doubt that any character within an opera would be so simple as to be represented by this dress. That doesn't mean I don't like it, if it was knee length I would wear it, a lot, and if I was 5 inches taller and 2 sizes skinnier I'd wear it as it is.

There are aspects of the collection that also focus on animals, (I've not seen many/any operas so I can't really comment on the relevance of an animal as the protagonist, so you know) and these pieces seem quite similar in their style to come another, most feature, tulle skirts, a tight bodice and a feature relating to the animal it represents. The piece on the left embodies a snake, the right a peacock. I love the way the feathers drape down the edge of the skirt.

As I said above there are some rather big variations within the collection, but there seems to be rather large gaps between pieces in terms of modern and more traditional styles associated with opera. The piece on the left I feel is more the classic look with the heavy floral embroidery, the long length and the higher neckline, compared to the piece on the right, with it's plunging neckline and transparency. There are some pieces in the collection that I'm not so fond of that feature block illustration of animals, for example the catwalk show was concluded with a dress that featured a rather childish tiger among the grass, I much prefer the pieces above where the link to the animal is more metaphorical or symbolic. But overall, I adore this collection.

What are your opinions?

And remember, each day, live a little, laugh a little and love a little. ♥