Donna Karan Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

It was all black at Donna Karan, only two other colors popped up during her show – purple and electric blue. But this was a kind of celebration-collection, because the house turned 25 now. Enough reason to look back in black, but not too obvious. Donna Karan stuck with the sculpted tailoring and draped dresses – they were a hit the last two seasons – but she changed the silhouette. It all looked fuller, away from the body-conciousness, also thanks to the dense fabrics she used. The cocoon-coats looked great and comfy and had big sculptural shawl-collars, black and white tweed was mixed with satin and laminated wool looked like a wet pavement. The overall look was modern, powerful and very feminine – and didn’t feel like looking back at all.

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

It looked like Alexander Wang took the traditional banker’s uniform – the darkblue pinstriped suit – deconstructed it and put it together again. The result was sexy and dark, almost with a Belgian touch. But where designers like An Demeulemeester and the early Martin Margiela put a lot of effort in the making, the cut and the fit, it seemed Wang aimed more at the effect. Cropped blazers, tailcoats and vests exposed flashes of skin and were worn with thick thigh-high legwarmers and chunky heels. Layering also played a part in this collection, but was less relaxed. For evening and partywear Wang chose velvet and chenille.

Jason Wu Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

Everybody talked about Jason Wu’s inspiration, photographer Irving Penn, but you better ignore that. The designer just wanted to do something different than the princess-like clothes he’s famous for thanks to Michele Obama. So Wu took a good look at menswear – that’s where the personal style of Penn comes along – and morphed influences into pretty womenswear with a mannish touch. He presented short sleeved jackets, oversized cashmere coats,  mohair sweaters and fold-over pants. The overall look had an appealing, relaxed sensibility. Grey, black, white and blue were the main colors with splashes of mustard, orange, yellow, golden and green.

In the end Wu just couldn’t resist to design a few real princess-dresses, just for the fun of it. I’m sure a few of those will return sooner or later at the White House or some red-carpet event.

Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Burberry Prorsum

The collection Christopher Bailey presented yesterday for Burberry Prorsum was one of his strongest and focused of past seasons. He cut out all the crap, and what was left over were strong, big coats inspired by army-wear (off course, Burberry’s heritage lies in the trenches of World War I) – from army-green, big coats with golden buttons to bulky aviator-jackets and comfy marine-duffels. All a man needs besides coats like these are a shirt (washed denim, grey or off white), a soft knit, a slim pant in black and a pair of army-boots. And maybe a jacket for more formal occasions – but he only needs te coat to make a good impression.

Beautytrends ss2010: frizzy hair

While we’re spending millions on hair straighteners and anti-frizz products the frizzy hair look is promoted big time on the catwalks.

In many shows the models’ hair was messed up and looked frizzy. At the Etro, Westwood and the Sonia Rykiel show the hair looked extraordinary. And what about the big Afro-wigs at Vuitton!

Of course the frizzy hair had to be the look of Sonia Rykiel’s models. That hairstyle has become the brand’s trademark. Other fashion brands must have chosen the look because they wanted to show something else, not because it looks so good.

The frizzy hair trend could be catastrophic for the economy. Yet it would be a solution for all women who’ve died, bleached, curled and straightened their hair so much that it has become frizzy itself.

Trends ss2010: the men’s skirt

The men’s skirt has been all over the news lately. Maybe because fashion brand H&M recently introduced a men’s skirt for their spring/summer collection 2010. And usually when H&M comes up with a trend it is picked up by many followers.

Of course H&M is not the first brand to introduce the men’s skirt. We’ve seen this fashion item on the runway for years. One true lover and wearer of skirts is designer  Marc Jacobs, who takes his bows most of the time dressed in a kilt.

This year there were some skirts in the menswear collections as well. At Thom Browne we spotted an ultra short version, at the show of Jean Paul Gaultier (one of the first designers with skirts for men)  the skirts were much longer. Rick Owens’ models wore multiple layers, one of those layers being the skirt. Other brands which had skirts in their collection were John Galliano, Francisco van Benthum and Kris van Assche.

We’re very curious if the skirt will become the trend for men in 2010.

Trends ss2010: women’s accessories

Next summer large necklaces (and wearing multiple ones) seem to be the it-item for women. These necklaces could be seen at fashion shows of Vivienne Westwood, Bottega Veneta, Barbara Bui, Byblos, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Badgley Mischka and Moschino.

Another accessory that kept popping up was a handbag that the models literally wore in their hands. Sometimes it had a belt to carry the bag on their shoulders but they still kept them in their hands.

One special handbag at the Alexander McQueen fashion show resembled a bowling ball. The model had to put her fingers in it to carry it.

Eye-catching accessories were the Blumarine jewelry that looked like children’s jewelry, some magnificent hair accessories at Chanel, a belt-like bracelet at Blugirl, an ant-necklace at Dsquared, and some pearl bracelets and plastic flower corsages at Galliano.

Apart from these accessories most collections were very sober. The designers let their clothes speak for themselves, without all the fuss added.

Trends ss2010: sporty fashion

Hoodies, zippers, caps, sleeveless tops, short shiny jackets and net fabrics dominated the menswear collections for 2010. That can only mean one thing: sports influences.

There was the basketball look (Kris van Assche), the gymnastic look (Francisco van Benthum, Calvin Klein) and the football look (Bikkembergs). There were sailing types (Burberry), the boxer types (Ann DeMeulemeester), the diving types (Moncler Gamme Blue, Gucci) the golf player and the horse back rider (Frankie Morello).

Especially Gucci had a lot of shiny sports jackets, not referring to a specific sport.

Sportswear and casual wear really seemed to merge with each other on the catwalk. Of course menswear is always a little bit sporty, but this time sports were all over the place. However, whether a tanktop made  of a net fabric is very suitable for going to the office remains to be seen.

Trends ss2010: flower power

Since we feel the overall vibe of femininity  for next spring,  the floral prints we spotted fit perfectly in with that. The flowers were usually small ones, repeated hundreds of times on the fabric.

At the Jackson and Moschino fashion show it were Oxeye daisies. Yet other designers (Yves Saint Laurent, Luella Bartley, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana) used rose prints. Viktor & Rolf didn’t have floral prints in their clothes but they did use roses to decorate their pink boots.

Overall the flowers had a very classic feeling to it. The way they were painted and the colors that were used really felt like your grandmother’s wallpaper.

The prettiest floral prints were those of Dolce & Gabbana. Their perfect shapes and colors could be seen on r dresses, shorts, tops, jackets and lingerie. In one look a floral printed skirt was even mixed with a leopard printed top. Both with black lace on the edges.

The ss2010 collections lack lots of color, but the florals do add some brightness to next season.

Trends ss2010: lace details

Although lace is usually only seen in lingerie or underwear, we were now confronted with  lace in all kinds of daywear  in many shows. The largest  fashionbrands like Chanel, Dior, D&G, Oscar de la Renta, Cavalli, Valentino and Galliano introduced their clothing for the summer of 2010 with loads of lace.

The lace mostly came in neutral shades like black, white or beige. Yet in the Dior show we saw some black mixed with bright colors, like purple or pink. Erdem showed a combination of blue and black. At the fashion show of Antonio Marras  lace was mintgreen. And the models at Nina Ricci wore it in nudes and navy blue.

Jenny Packham designed some great feminine dresses in white lace. Paola Frani came up with a stunning jumpsuit in black lace. Barbara Bui made a few wonderful black lace jackets and Jasper Conran’s lace dresses felt a little bit like wedingdresses. At the Chanel fashion show the models wore many layers, topped with lace.

The most outstanding lace designs were a white mini dress with puffy shoulders from Jill Stuart and an elegant lace dress and jacket from Oscar de la Renta.

Introducing lace as a new trend for summer seems perfect. The fabric is airy and comfortable and makes women feel and look very ladylike.

« Previous Page — Next Page »