LET’S RECAP: THIS WAS 2015

 

As 2015 is coming to an end, we can’t help but feel a little reminiscent. A year that seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. Yet so many grand fashion moments have taken place. To conclude a wonderful year in style we thought we’d look back on some of this year’s high (and a few low) lights. Fashion collections that had us all going nuts (Balmanation and Yeezy), trends that got us all hyped up (seventies vibes and cropped tops), designer musical chairs (the XL edition), some dirty, naughty designs (by Christoper Kane and Rick Owens), eccentric beauty trends (pierced brows and colored hair everwhere), this year’s fresh (Dutch) faces and a selection of catwalk cases that caused quite a stir. Moments that made 2015 memorable, remarkable, interesting, concerning even and sometimes just hilariously funny. Now let’s recap, twice a day, so we can start a fresh new fashion chapter once 2016 comes knocking. Let the countdown begin.

25. The cropped top
Boy oh boy did we wear out the cropped top trend. Together with the health hype (sixpack on display) the crop top experienced some major fashion moments the last few seasons. But all good things come to an end, so this might just be the one of the last few bare bellies (spotted in Milan) you’ll see. Or will the crop top stay around just a little longer?

24. The Gucci kangaroo-fur loafer
The most talked shoe of the year isn’t a perfectly shaped high heel. Neither so the white sneaker (although best hyped, yes). It’s this half leather, half kangaroo fur loafer. It got many of us fashion addicts in shoe heaven, and others (Animal Rights and anti-fur activists) infuriated. The struggle to find consensus on the fur-fashion debate is still there people.

 

23. Color me blind
Some trends hang around for ages. Like the colored hair trend, which kicked off about six years ago and is still here. In fact it is getting bigger each season. Understandable, we’re with so many in this fashion game it’s hard to stand out. A green, purple, orange coupe will help people remember you more easily or will just have your streetstyle picture taken more ofter 😉

22. Baby one more time
Women like Madonna and Victoria Beckham showed that baby’s are the ‘perfect’ on-the-arm-accessory. But they also do quite well on the runway. The Italian fashion brand celebrated motherhood with their collection ‘Viva la mamma’, sending (pregnant) models down the runway carrying babies and toddlers, and even a little girl walked down the catwalk like it was nothing.

21. Van Bergen Bankruptcy
Sadly Mattijs van Bergen announced his bankruptcy in the beginning of this year. But luckily we don’t have to completely miss out on his designing skills. The exposition Photo in Fashion in September displayed his latest all black collection. A collaboration with the brand new W hotel in Amsterdam has Mattijs designing the clothing for all the hotel’s staff.

20. The short brown suede skirt
Along with the all over seventies vibe the brown suede skirt seemed to be the it-item within that trend. Preferably high waisted, blouse tucked in, worn with a big belt and solid boots, a little floral scarf around the neck, round shaped sunglasses and good old seventies hair. Cute seventies style dressed girls, you know who you are!

 

 

19. Maxaccessorize
It’s gone with the normcore, the sobriety and the minimalistic looks, towards the end of 2015 maximalism is slowly getting it’s grip back. And we can’t wait to rock what designers like Gucci, Marni, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Emilio Pucci have in stores for us. Prints, colors, accessories, all at once please!

18. Dressed to the nine(tie)s
The nineties are in full swing again in fashion land. And with that come the nineties logo sweaters. Preferably by CK Jeans, Adidas, Nike or Tommy Hilfiger. Logo’s larger than life, casual cool.

17. Balmaination
Could it be H&M’s designer collaborations are getting us more hyped every year? For months this year’s #balmaination was all we could talk about. Kendall and Gigi rocking those Balmain chic pieces in the campaign images, then the show, the celebrities who got to wear it first, the actual sale and then there was the aftertalk. So.. what did you get?

16. Fresh faced Dutchies
Hooray for a new heave of fresh face super models in the making. Dutch models that is. Imaan Hammam, Roos Abels and Julia Bergshoeff took the fashion world by storm this year. Roos as Prada’s latest muse, Imaan as Vogue cover model and Julia who walked so many runway shows.

15. Goodbye
Sadly 2015 was a year of farewell too. The (fashion) world lost two so very talented designers; international fashion creative Oscar de la Renta and Dutch designer Frans Molenaar. We think of them as we approach the end of this year and hope their legacy will stay around much longer and will continue on inspiring fashion lovers all around the world.

14. King Kanye
So yes, we lost our mind a bit when it comes to the whole Kardashian-madness (emoji’s for real?!). But besides all the selfie-and baby news, let’s not forget all the Kanye- fashion madness that was going on. His Adidas collaboration sold out within only 12 minutes in the United States after going on sale June 27. And if you wanted to play the game full on, you had to have the Yeezy Boosts 350s.

13. Turtle your way up 
It’s impossible to go through this list of 2015 highlights without bringing up turtlenecks. It was by far the most dominating item on the catwalk this fall and easily and without any hesitation made its way into our everyday wardrobe. Time to give this high-neck the credits it deserves. Who would have thought this warm and comfy compagnon could actually look elegant on us?

12. The Gucci Geek
Say hello to Alessandro Michele. The new man at the helm of the Italian brand took a new course and sent an army of nerdy models down his spring 2016 runway. Were we a bit in shock? Yes. Do we bother? This way, absolutely not. Oversized glasses en buttoned-up blouses are the new sexy. So let’s give it up for the underdogs, the misfits, the super geeks. We feel you Allessandro. We feel you.

11. Lily-Rose Depp for Chanel
Your mom is one of the most elegant supermodels and singers in French history. Your dad is one of the greatest and hottest actors of all time. And the in-between perfection is daughter Lily- Rose. No wonder she’s the new face of Chanel and walked in the couture show (just like her mom did in the 90’s) and played some poker in Le Grand Palais (here in the back).

10. The penis dress
Although everyone was busy making rumours about her huge engagement ring from lover Robert Pattinson (who spotted it?!), British popstar FKA Twigs still got people talking big time about her Christoper Kane ‘penis dress’ a.k.a. ‘lovers lace’. It even made it –very surprisingly- to the list of most unusual dresses.

9. Denim on denim on denim
And not in the Britney Spears Justin Timberlake kind of way. Thank god, no. We play that denim on denim way better now. Clean and sophisticated. 2015 was all about the shape (flared, super tight, wide, cropped or boyish) and details (contrasting hems, super clean blue washes, rough edges or patchwork). The only consistency factor is denim will never go out of fashion. Going to New York City soon? The Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) has an exhibition running called ‘Denim:Fashion’s Frontier’ until May 7.

8. Gigi & Kendall take over
Move over Cara. This year fresh faced it-models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner completely took over. Not a big hit – hyped up show, magazine cover, campaign or after party they missed, turning them into the ultimate fashion duo. #balmaination was all about the two youngsters as was the Victoria’s Secret lingerie show. Much criticized for their immediate rise to fame, their lack of modeling background and famous boyfriends (Gigi has her ways), there’s no stopping these babes.

PHOTO © 2015 TEAM PETER STIGTER – FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY – WITH CREDITS

7. Designer musical chairs
It was a big game of musical chairs again in fashion land. So here’s a little summery.. Hello & Goodbye.
– Hello
Alessandro Michele becomes creative director at Gucci
Peter Dundas becomes creative director at Cavalli
Guillaume Henry becomes creative director at Nina Ricci
Alexis Martial & Adrien Caillaudaud become creative directors at Carven
John Galliano becomes creative director Maison Margiela
Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne become creative directors at DKNY
– Goodbye
Frida Gianini leaves Gucci
Peter Dundas leaves Pucci
Alexander Wang leaves Balenciaga
Alber Elbaz leaves Lanvin
Raf Simons leaves Dior
Guillaume Henry leaves Carven
The end of Marc by Marc Jacobs
The end of Jonathan Saunders
Donna Karan leaves her label but the brand will continue to exist

6. The white sneaker
Once solely destined to the tennis and basket ball court, the white sneaker has moved it was up to.. well.. to become the ultimate no brainer when it comes to footwear. Who knew in 2015 we would be wearing white sneakers with lace pencil skirts, cocktail dresses and pleated pants? Nike, Adidas, Superga or Chanel; this past year you could do no wrong wearing a pair of white sneakers. One of the biggest, long lasting trends in a while and a completely unisex trend too. Super-easy. Although, keeping ‘em clean is a whole different ball game.

5. Extraordinary beauty
Red lips. Cat-eyes. Blushed cheeks. Kim K’s face shaping. No surprise there, we’ve all been there. But this year threw us some surprises in the form of pretty daring and everything but ordinary looks and ways to patch up your face. Like Rodarte’s pierced eyebrows, Rick Owens’ golden face masks, black bejeweled masks at Givenchy and Pat McGraths’ golden lips. Although we like to see some bold and experimental  make-up looks, in the end it’s all about the do-try-this-at-home factor. And in that case, ask us again in a few hours or after midnight (and a few drinks).

4. Rick Ooooh-wens
Aaaand the nominees for most shocking and talked about fashion show of the year is… Rick Owens. Let’s face it, we all know he won’t back down for some on-the-runway theatrics. And theatrical it was this year. He still knows how to surprise us. First of all his peek-a-boo fall menswear collection, that put a man’s best assets on full display. Excuse me, but did I just spotted a penis?! And when you thought you had seen it all, he showed us his upside-down female models for spring 2016. Women bearing women, as ‘human backpacks’. It caused a big social media explosion (it was even more ‘alive’ on Facebook and Twitter than on the catwalk itself, so it seemed). We already wonder what he’ll come up with next year, and that’s one of his biggest strengths for now.

3. Was it a movie or fashion show?
If the names Derek Zoolander and Hansel sightings still do not ring a bell with you, where have you been? March 2015: Actors (or do we have to say models) Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson owned the fashion pages and the Valentino runway for a walk-off, wearing custom pieces by the Italian house, that took the fashion world by storm. Besides  that it was hilarious, it was also the perfect warm-up for ‘Zoolander 2’ that will open in theaters nationwide on February 12.

2. Colour me big
The future in front of us looks bright, but a 2015 retrospect makes us almost colourblind. It couldn’t have been any more fun for all the hair-painting professionals. This year had plenty of room for bold tones such as pink, blue, purple and even greens. But it was also about rich, impactful and natural tones, with a long-term spot in the limelight for all the pretty gingers (even the fake ones) that set our planet on fire. It got pretty hot in here.

1. Athleisure
If you haven’t put this word in your fashion vocabulary, you probably missed one of the biggest trends of the year. The word may sound slightly confusing, but it’s actually to make you feel even more easy and comfortable WHILE still feeling female-ish. Function and form equals sexyness. All you have to do is wear your gym-to-street clothing and pretend it’s the most normal thing in the world to wear your yoga pants and sport bra all day long. Or take it even up a notch and play it just as cool as Alexander Wang, king of the casual-luxe style.

What was your fashion highlight of the year? Let us know on Facebook!

Trend Report FW2016: Disco a Go Go

The eighties are reviving and so is the disco dress code that flourished at that time. Which basically means we can all get a little crazy and make our outfit a new wave party in itself. Cause with disco glam there is no such thing as too many sequins. The sparklier your dress, the better (same counts for short and tight). Take note from Peter Dundas’ Pucci designs or Hedi Slimane’s creations. Follow the sparkly lead of Blumarine and Loewe. Or go bold with colorful metallics as seen at Versace, Rodarte and Balmain. Statement waist belts and accentuated shoulders, chokers and XL earrings (or just 1 in 1 ear) add to the eighties retro feeling as hair, make-up are your tools to keep things fresh and modern underneath that disco ball. Most important: don’t hold back. “Eat glitter for breakfast and shine all day”

Individuals by AMFI 2015 Catwalk Fashion Show

Please enjoy the pictures for now, our review will follow shortly.

Fashionclash Festival 2015, this was Day 1

Fashionclash Festival 2015 in Maastricht has kicked off last night. The theme is Gender, and guest speaker Aynouk Tan transalted the theme in an interesting conversation. The first night was about the Clash Project premiere, Verweven a performance by Nina Willems and a preview of the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts. Other participants: Lotte Milder, Simeon Morris, Yojiro Kake, Ines Duvale, Linda Friesen, Judith van Vliet & Chris van den Elzen, Barbora Procházková.

Trend Report SS2015: Connect the Dots

It seems not so long ago that the likes of Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney set a major trend with their black and white polka dot collections. Still, after a few seasons, the print is being re-introduced by the same Mr. Jacobs and some of his most talented colleagues. XL 3D polka dots at Junya Watanabe, detailed dots at Chanel and flamenco versions at Dolce & Gabbana. As Moschino, Westwood and House of Holland got extra playful. Marc by Marc Jacobs introduced his pastel shaded polka printed bra tops worn over blouses and T-shirts. Yet in classic black and white this print is at it’s best! Are we ready for a new fashion round of polka dot power?

Graduation-show ARTEZ 2015

It’s time for Graduation-shows again. The fashion department of Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem (ArtEZ) kicked off with a big show, followed later this week by Rietveld Academy. This year 21 students graduated at the Academy in Arnhem, and they presented their collection in the Cityhall of Arnhem. Among them are five graduates which are nominated for the Frans Molenaarprijs 2015: Lilian Admiraal, Josephine Goverts, Max Zara Sterck, Tung Trinh en Maartje Janse. Two other students will represent ArtEZ during Lichting 2015 supported by V&D, Isabelle Tellié and Yvette Peek.

All graduates will show their collections in an exhibition about ArtEZ Finals 2015 in Arnhem from july 1st until 5th. The address: the former bankbuilding of ABN Amro at Gele Rijdersplein in Arnhem.

Here are the highlights of the show and the collections.

 

 

 

 

 

Trend Report SS2015: Mismatch

No rhyme or reason at the runways of Dsquared, Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood. So it seems.. Their S/S outfits formed an polychrome mix of materials, colors and silhouettes. Fashion pieces purposely mismatched creating head turning ensembles. Perhaps a new way for designers like Rodarte, Marc Jacobs and Marni to achieve originality in a fashion world which repeats itself so often. Or an answer, possibly, to the sobriety and minimalism we’ve seen around for so long. Whatever the reason, streetstyle influencers are making it rhyme. Rocking busy printed shirts and eclectic skirts with outstanding sneakers, jaw dropping handbags and eye catching sunnies. No color too bright, no texture too structured, no silhouette too bold. More is more in this mismatch mania.

Trend Report SS2015: Red Hot

‘Valentino red’ is bound to be the color on everyone’s mind this summer. En masse designers let the color of passion tell their SS2015-story. Not that they only spoke of love… No, those bright red looks talked about coolness (Acne), sensuality (Balmain), art (Comme des Garcons) and youth (Louis Vuitton) as well. The passionate little red riding hoods on the streets were all about femininity though, just as DKNY and Dolce & Gabbana. Red sunglasses, red bag, red shoes and red lips to top it all off. Red hot just got even hotter.

Trend Report SS2015: Glitz & Glam

Rocking some shiny, sparkling clothes during daytime, like we’ve done the last couple of years, can be the coolest thing, nothing new about that. Yet designers are taking the disco theme up a notch, presenting the shiniest, sexiest pieces to rock the dance floor (sip some cocktails and lounge about) till early morning. Daring (Tom Ford), revealing (Roberto Cavalli), powerful (Tommy Hilfiger), edgy (Saint Laurent) or elegant (Dries ven Noten), but most of all show stealing and jaw dropping. Making a grande club-entrance won’t be too difficult in these metallic designs, now let’s see about those dance moves…

Trend Report SS2015: Patch(work) it up

Denim might never ever get out of style. Yet if it’s up to the big fashion houses we need to patch(work) it up a bit. Originality is key and with just some ripped jeans you’re not making the cut. Mixing everyday denim with more outspoken materials like patent leather (Burberry) or giving it a full on embroidery treatment (Dolce & Gabbana) will get you noticed. While a patchwork of different denim shades adds to that unique yet casual effect. On the streets the reworked denim look might have been even more alive than on the catwalk. Proof of the fabric’s versatility and the fact that we all have some (denim) blue blood.

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