Viktor & Rolf Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2011

It seemed the Viktor & Rolf Monsieur winter collection 2011 was sampled as if it was a normal dayroutine starting with  a man in his homewear, a gray combination of a sweater and a slim jersey sportspants/longjohn, followed by a man in white undies and a shirt and ending by a man dressed in a bomber-jacket covering his smoking. In between the designers presented everything a men’s wardrobe should contain during the day and eveninghours: a comfy cardigan, a lammy jacket, a trenchcoat, a good knit and a few nice looking suits in black, gray or even red. Having those basics a man can vary as much as he can. He can even wear his longjohn with a dressy jacket or let his shirt peep out.  It gave the rather serious and formal looking clothes a more informal character.

John Varvatos Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011h

John Varvatos’ models seemed to be travelers. A railroad track was staged on the catwalk and a big clock was the backdrop of the show. According to John his men started their journey in London and ended up in Milan. They wore lots of layers in shades of gray, Merlot, claret and brown.

Their looks were somewhat slouchy cool. Their suits were crumpled, their knitwear was rough and we saw many coats with raw edges. Combined with the scruffy hats and round (and colored) sunglasses it gave the models some kind of rocker status too.

A great aspect of the show was the mutability of the designs. Most items could be worn in more than one way and because of the layering every outfit became multi-functional. So if you’re planning on traveling a lot next fall John Varvatos is your man!

Roberto Cavalli Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011

For fall/winter Roberto Cavalli presented his new collection, called Groovy Mood. It sure was groovy and had the seventies (a popular inspiration in womenswear at the moment too) written all over it. Male models wore tight jackets combined with slightly flared pants in shades like rust, red, camel and brown. They had small scarves tied around their neck and their boots were kinda pointy.

Besides the suits Cavalli also introduced some shearling, suede, fur (which looked a little too pimpy) and oversized knitted ponchos, which not every men will be able to pull of. Therefore we doubt if the collection is going to be a huge success. Yet is sure was fun to watch!

Emporio Armani Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011

The collection Emporio Armani sent out this morning had an industrial theme, with lots of long coats, black and greys and a mix of fabrics and textures.

Jil Sander Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011

Raf Simons keeps on pushing the color-theme at Jil Sander. After two strong, minimalistic springcollections for him and her where he surprised the in all black dressed fashioncrowd with vivid colors and white T-shirts, his winter 2011 collection seems more in balance. He started with a dark suit, which actually was a mix of purple and black, combined with a shirt and sweater. But soon the colors changed into yellow, white, pink, orange and electric blue for total outfits and subtler mixes.

Simons replaced the mens shirt by T-shirts in shiny, bubbly fabrics and presented them in layers which added more volume and a fresh, modern touch to the minimal style.

Dolce & Gabbana Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011

After a few strong menswear-seasons with the focus at Italian sartorial craftmanschip, Dolce & Gabbana moved on. They looked at Britain and 80’s style-icon Bryan Ferry, who’s slick style of shiny suits inspired a whole generation of young men back then. I guess Bryan Ferry was happy he grew out of that 80’s style of short, slightly squared jackets, wide lapels and tapered pants while watching the show in a slim suit and accompanied by two of his sons (who looked very smart too). It’s a big step from the handsome and streamlined Italian style we’re used to see at Dolce & Gabbana.

But maybe it’s just a matter of time. The look must seem bright new to a younger generation fed up with skinny pants and jackets. The new silhouette is more square and non fitted, jackets are much shorter and pants got low crotches. For the streetwise styling the designduo looked at British ska’s, with their hats, black and white, suspenders, short pants and shoes. The formal suit was mixed, a jacket with jeans, the pants with striped sweater, velvet with denim, faux fur with wool, pinstripes with pied de poule. There was even a hint of color next to the black and grey, red and bordeaux played a major role. The collection deserved the name Eccentric Tailoring –  only for those who dare.

Ermenegildo Zegna Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011

In a watery cold Milan the menswear fashionweek(end) took off with two classics: Corneliani and Ermenegildo Zegna. The design-team at Zegna seemed captured by China and mixed oriental themes with a more classic tailoring. Business suits had a sporty attitude thanks to the use of tweed-effects and utility touches. The silhouette was defined by straight shouldered three-button suits and jackets, as well as streamlined high-cuff trousers. The touch of China was visible in high collared Mao-jackets, bamboo-green, reds and shiny silk fabrics with a vintage patina. There was a slightly military touch to it thanks to army-belts, little leather pockets, combat-type boots and big shearling coats.

Item of the season will be the iPad-cases, as a sleeve or a shoulderbag. Almost every label is presenting one or more models in their collection.

It was a Live D fashion show, created in collaboration with director James Lima – who was a visual consultant on the film Avatar. Backstage models were filmed in the ‘Green Room’ using cutting edge filmtechnology. Front of house the images were projected on a giant screen in real time against a filmed backround, coinciding with the models arriving on the runway. The show unfolded both live and on screen  – as if the models were walking off the screen into the real dimension.

ELLE Style Awards 2011 – Arrivals

The dresscode of this year’s ELLE Style Awards was Rock ‘n Royalty. And since the best dressed person of the evening could win an award everyone really put an effort into looking exquisite. As you would expect we saw many leather pants and leggings, a lot of tiara’s and crowns, many sequined looks and of course some lace.

If you were there Thursday night, check out our gallery and see if your picture is in it! If you didn’t attend the party, just check out how great everyone else looked!

Chanel ‘s spring/summer 2011 collection

Bonne Reijn wins ELLE H&M Stylist Award 2011

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