The Return of the TSAR ♥

I fell in love with LAS8 Paris Maison De Couture last February when they sent me an email about their first collection of exotic leather jackets. I have never seen leather jackets this creative and exquisite until I saw their creations. The first collection was an 11 out of 10. Each piece has a personality of its own but still gives off that kind of sexiness that only LAS8 can show. And now they're back again with their latest collection, TSAR. And this time around, each piece is more. Sexier. More exquisite. More creative.


And I am thankful to be able to be one of the first people that gets a peek of this collection. So, I'm sharing it with all of you so may find inspiration just like I did. :)

Opus, the exclusive piece that highlights their collection

And once again, Philippe Anton, one of the co-founders of LAS8 Paris Maison De Couture, was very kind enough to answer a few questions I have for them regarding their new collection.

1. How did you get this inspiration? 

This is never an easy answer. We take inspiration of many things.

I would say that the first source is the leathers we are working with. As we try to work with different type of skins interplays, the reflection on the skins is a serious and inspiring exercise for us. When we decide to work with one specific leather, we have to think about a lot of questions (Is this leather a coherent choice regarding our creations? What can be relevant with this leather? For women? Men? Both ?…) what lead us to a precise model that we can improve. We are always working with a “work in progress” process.

In terms of pure design or details, our inspiration comes from many sources, such as history, cinema, art and architectures, but also famous or important people that we like to “dress”...

Regarding specifically the Tsar collection that we have just presented to you, we can say that we have played with two adjectives that we appreciate in a woman : strong (in terms of personality) and refined. Generally speaking, our creations are always thought to answer one condition: to sublime the woman who is wearing it.

2. Why did you choose crocodile leather for your collection?

First, we work only with rare leathers what leads us to keep looking for new types of skins (in term of color, finition, species). It is important for us to share our passion in our creation with people and provide exclusive jackets with other leathers. For this collection, crocodile skin and stingray leather have been “honoured”.

To be true, we have been willing to work with Crocodile leather for a long time. So it was a priority for us to work and design a model in this wonderful and noble leather, and we created the OPUS jacket.

Crocodile leather is for us very precious. It is a “refined and strong” material. Even if this is not the easiest leather to work with (technically), we truly believe that it reveals a while side to the jacket, while remaining also « classy ».

Then, our clientele is sensitive to crocodile leather, which is one of the most luxuous. This is also a necessity for us to meet our customers’ expectations and to propose creations that will touch them.  

3. How is crocodile leather different from the typical leather? 

Crocodile leather has some specificity which has to be taken into consideration if you want to appreciate it as much as we do.

The design of the skins depends on the species and the differences between the species are obvious when you look attentively at each type of crocodile skin. New Guinea and Niloticus are our favourite.

The work of this leather requires specific skills, especially for the cutting process. We work with specialized workshop that guarantees us the best quality and finishing.

In term of design and style, the crocodile skin offers a lot of opportunities: lot of finishings are proposed by our tanneries (shining…), the older the crocodile was, the bigger is its skin  and its “shells”. For this collection, we choose to work with quite old crocodile skins, which are rare and also more “precious”.

4. Why did you choose to name your collection 'TSAR'? Is there a story behind it?

Regarding the name of our collection, it represents a lot of symbol for us. First, the Tsars were great art collector, with the wish to get a unique and prestigious collection. Our fashion house shares this spirit and we like to think our creations like “art” and the prestigious leather we work with are the key of this reflection and of the unique side of the model. 

Each of our models is considered as an artwork, whose owner is the ambassador. 

We end up with the name of TSAR at an exhibition about the ROMANOV’s art collection in Paris. With the name TSAR, we refer to the illustrious and legendary history of Russia, which exerted its influence on a large part of the world and which is still a worldwide symbol.

The TSAR collection definitely exceeded expectations. And this just made me excited for their upcoming collections. Truly, LAS8 Paris Maison de Couture, as their name suggests, never fails to come up with the next (big) thing.

Of stripes, hearts, and bows

(Oversized striped top by H&M, Ankle boots by Forever 21, Aviators by ALDO, Golden bow earrings by H&M
Grandmother's vintage necklace, Vintage bangles)

I fell in love with this top the first time I laid my eyes on it at that crazy sale in H&M a week back. My friends and I were just casually strolling around the mall in front of H&M when we realized that they were on sale, and so we darted inside. You'll  never guess how much this costs. I bought it for 9 DHS, which is roughly $2.45. *insert jaw-dropping here* I know. It's one of the things that I love about H&M.

It's quite a general rule in fashion that when one wears horizontal stripes, their width would increase. Funny, I don't feel and I don't think that I look big in this. Even my mom said so. She said that I looked thinner. Was it the stripes, or did I really lost weight? :-) I'd say it's the stripes! ;-)

I got these cute ankle boots for my birthday this year. It has a bow on one side, and that was what made me buy it. They actually don't have my size here in Abu Dhabi. They ran out of stock. So just imagine how glad I was when I found my size in Dubai and they were the last pair. The last pair. Can you imagine that? I don't know why I always seem to find myself in these situations. Haha. I don't know why, but I always tend to buy suede boots. Do you think leather is better? Let me know. :-)

The heart locket and the bangles have always been with me. The locket is actually a family heirloom. It was passed on to my little sister originally by my dearest grandmother. How it managed to land in my hands? Don't ask. Just know that I didn't steal it from her. :-) On the other hand, I bought these bangles about a year ago, and they kind of stuck with me along with the locket. They've become my signature pieces. You would rarely see me without them. :-) Check out the intricate details of the bangles! You'll fall in love!

This bag, which a lot of people call "the swing", is from Egypt. My dear aunt got it for me from Source when they visited Egypt earlier this year. I've always fantasized about having a bag that is exactly like this. It's funny because no one knew that I wanted one. I never told anyone. And during the time that I was looking for a bag that is sturdy and big enough to carry all my things, my aunt comes home with it. The beauty of it is that I didn't tell her a thing. She doesn't know that I was looking for a bag, let alone something like this. :-)

So now you know what I want for Christmas. This post might have just gave it away. ;-)


Photo courtesy of the little sister, thanks!

Do It Yourself

Sometime last week, I've stumbled upon this post reblogged by quite a few of my followers. I was amazed and tried to do my own version.

So, here's the inspiration:

Credits to Alexandra Lynne

Amazing, right? Later on, I found out that she used her dad's old shirt, hence the size. It's pretty easy to do actually. You see it and you get the concept of how she has done it. So, I encourage you guys to find your dad's old shirt and do your own version! Or better yet, you use your boyfriend's/husband's shirt. It will feel sexier (and let's not forget, sweet). :-) Wish I had one, I'd definitely ransack his closet a lot! :-)

And here's my (lame) attempt on the do-it-yourself shirt dress:

Yes, it's actually a top for me. I used my own shirt, that's why. Her bow is prettier too. And mine's, well, I don't know what that is. :-) The bow effect is not really seen, because the sleeves weren't long enough. *sigh But, I think it still looks good. And yes, I've bothered with makeup. I cringed at the memory of last week's Wardrobe Wednesdays. I will never be caught looking like that again. So yeah, I did a little makeup to cover up my tired and sleepy eyes, and of course, the bags. Hope it worked. ;-)

So there you go for this week's Wardrobe Wednesdays! Do you have any DIY suggestions? Share them with me and I'd try to do my own version of it. Or better yet, do it yourself and send a photo to me via email: themazuona@gmail.com You can even go as far as creating a tutorial video, so we can share them with others. :-)

Hope to hear from you soon! :-)

*On a side note, we did not have Tuesdays with Mazuonas this week, because I've been really busy. It's exams week, and work has been pretty hectic. I did not have the luxury we call 'free time'. Hence, I wasn't able to roam around the streets much. Hopefully, we'll have it back next week. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

EUniformity

Dress by Juana (Philippines), Gray Boyfriend Cardigan by Inspire, Black Booties by Pimkie
Accessories: Grandmother's heart locket, Bag by Sisley

Sorry for the very tired face. This week has really been an exhausting one for me. Anyway, I totally forgot that today was Wardrobe Wednesday, hence the outfit. This is my typical outfit, or at least it's the template. It's like my 'school uniform'. Short dress, black leggings, boyfriend cardigan and my locket. Except for the shoes, I usually wear ballet flats. That's why it was a surprise when my friends saw me running in heels. :-)

I hope you liked my Wardrobe Wednesdays entry today. I know it's not much, but I'm not going to stop trying. :-)

Oh, before I forget. For those people who does outfit photos a lot by themselves with a tripod, can you give me some tips? I tried doing it a while ago. But, I can't just seem to find my angle. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment, as usual. I will really really appreciate your help! Thank you! 


Photo courtesy of Mercy Imoudu. Thanks dear! :-)