Francophone Patrick Stephan began his career embroidering corsets for Mr. Pearl and designing alongside John Galliano at his namesake line and Christian Dior before moving to begin his own line.

At Patrick Stephan`s exhibition for his new F/W 08 collection, he rented out an organic space that had ivy creeping the interior walls and cracks in the windows. His collection however, seems to be 100% infused with technology and modernity with his super structured and architecturally inspired clothes.

This time his muse was Annie Lennox- the androgynous chanteuse whom Stephan praises for her “balance of femininity with a masculine exterior”. There were solid tin belts, frail suspenders made of chain, sheer black blouses, low-gauge knits and lots of his signature raw leather bags. My favorite however was a pair of boots that were fashioned to look like armor.

Even my friends-the picky buyers- were impressed and tried to steal my lookbook. In the photos a model wanders through a rocky desert with beautiful photography and graphics. His lookbooks are almost as good as the collection itself- they inspire me every season and I always end up using some photos for my inspiration boards.