Groupielove #6

Trey Speegle’s giant paint-by-number canvas spelling out the word YES at the back of Stella McCartney’s runway summed up the mood of her collection quite succinctly. These were uncomplicated, upbeat, and above all colorful clothes for women who prefer not to think too hard about getting dressed but still want to look young, sexy, and chic. It’s a sentiment that McCartney, a mother of three young children and the head of a growing fashion empire, understands intimately—as do her loyal customers, including front-row pal Gwyneth Paltrow.

Make-up trends ss2010: bright eyes

No smokey eyes next season, but bright colorful ones that really stand out and give you that summer-feeling.

The models’ eyes were painted in every color of the rainbow. At Dior they were purple, blue and green. At Fahri they came in a pastel green and purple combination. Galliano’s girls had pink eyes. Luella Bartley gave her models a thick layer of blue eye shadow, which even crossed their eyebrows.

At Issa the eyes were metallic green and at the Derek Lam fashion show they looked like little rainbows in orange, purple and green. Viktor & Rolf gave their models a mix of pastel-colored eye shadow as well; we saw pink, blue, purple and green. Those colors matched with the outfits from their SS2010 collection.

The combinations of many bright colors looked great on each of the models. So for next summer I think we can spice up our make up and try to create the same pastel-colored eye shadow look for ourselves. If you dare, use green and purple; they seem to be the main colors for 2010.

Groupielove #4

Karl Lagerfeld is still going strong and he can’t get enough of fashion yet. “I like imagination — and the way I think things could be, had been, or should be — better than reality”, is one of hist latest oneliners at Twitter. Well, hios collection for Fendi was better than reality: wispy fabric, ivory and ecru, off-pastels, and fraying edges with a little touch of Parisian lingerie. It looked as if Karl Lagerfeld had drawn from his French vocabulary to make a cream silk high-necked playsuit (part classic blouse, part romper) and a dotted tulle shirt with a frilled triangle bra beneath. Thankfully, it didn’t slip completely into the clichés of boudoir (hypersexy is not the mood). That’s because of the more rough-hewn elements—say, a pale blue linen sarong, wrapped like a simple piece of raw-edged fabric around the body—and the incredibly luxurious Fendi craftsmanship.

Trends ss2010: braids

Past year braids made a huge comeback. We spotted them in different shapes and sizes on many celebrities. Later on the trend  the crowd picked up the trend.  Two small braids along each side of the face were popular, but also one large braid (around the head like a headband) and, of course, fishtail braids and French braids were re-introduced.

Judging from what we saw on the runway braids are still hot, like long loose and untidy braids at D Squared, Alexander Wang, Margaret Howell and Giambattista Valli. The models at Oscar de la Renta worked the braided headband. For those braids a piece of fabric was braided together with the model’s hair.

The girls at Paul Smith, Jean Paul Gaultier, Issa, Jaeger Londen and Zac Posen must have had had enormous headaches during the fashion show. Their hair was braided so tight, it hurt just to look at it.

At most fashion shows the models wore their hair down without any fuss. Yet several hair and make-up artists understood that braiding your hair can look very sexy and sophisticated as well. So if you haven’t mastered the French braiding technique yet, keep on practising it in front of your mirror, because you might need it next summer.

Tess van Daelen

Trends ss2010: colorful kisses

In many shows the models had a very natural look. The make-up made them look pretty and fresh but it was not exaggerated. Sometimes it was as if the models had no make-up on at all.

Of course there were exceptions. We could see dark smokey eyes, white-painted faces and strange-looking eyebrows. We also noticed some colorful lips passing by. Altogether nearly every possible shade of red was used for the models’ lips. Some bright colors like blue (Paul Smith, Doo Ri), green (Iceberg) and orange (Loewe, Prada) were shown as well.

At John Galliano’s show the models had ultra-thin eyebrows and small dark-purple pursed lips. The models at Viktor & Rolf had bright red lips with an extra gloss. Vivienne Westwood’s models had red lips that ended halfway their chin, looking somewhat like a bird’s bill. It made perfect sense, since all models had the looks of a tropical bird.

There is no specific trend when it comes to the color of the lips. It seems next summer any shape or color will do.

Tess van Daelen

Groupielove #3

Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer of Burberry, and one of Great Britains best-known designers, collected last monday his MBE from Buckingham Palace. Bailey, 38, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire  in June this year, for his services to the fashion industry “This award also recognises the incredible team that I work with and it is a privilege to be a part of Burberry, a great British brand” Bailey said.

The recognitions are the latest in a long list of awards for the talented Yorkshireman. In 2004, Bailey received an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Art, from where he graduated with an MA in 1994. He also holds honorary doctorates from the University of Westminster and the University of Huddersfield.

Groupielove #1

Balmain is the hottest label in town. For spring  Christophe Decarnin brought out another whammy of a no-brainer blockbuster: disco cavewoman goes to the front. His army of sizzling, sleek-limbed supergirls strode out with huge-shouldered, metal-epauletted military tailcoats. Their T-shirts were tattered; bullet belts were slung around artfully “destroyed,” stained, and holed jeans or, yet more sensationally, minute, hypersexed, raggedy suede and leather loincloths (the term “skirt” hardly covers it). No wonder the models had fun, these clothes were made to suit their bodies. Daria Werbowy was exclusively booked to do the show.

Backstage atmosphere ss2010

We will have our backstage-material online soon. It’s always a pleasure to flip through those images, because the give a totally different view of the collections, models and sometimes designers. We’ll be back with more asap!

Toronto Fashion Week ss2010 Impressions #3

Toronto Fashion Week ss2010 Impressions # 2

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