Michael Kors Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

For spring 2011 Michael Kors decided to design happy, colorful clothes. Backstage he was telling how he tried to incorporate all things in life that make him smile into his collection. He got inspired by his large terrace and the great beach life he lives.

The inspiration was visible through the colors in the show: beige, camel, green and pink. ‘In fact all colors I used, are colors you can find in the garden or on the beach’, Michael said.

The backdrop of the show was a green grass turf and even the models had a very natural look going on. Their hair was in a messy ponytail and they got red cheeks, which represented small sun burns.

The clothes were all very relaxed; long, over the knee skirts and jackets and loose fitting tops and dresses.  The designs looked effortless, without being boring. And according to Michael Kors that’s where fashion is going. ‘Clothes are going to be much more relaxed; longer lengths and more comfortable shoes’, he said. A minute later he added: ‘Clothes have to be cosy enough for at home, yet luxurious enough to wear in the city.’

Michael stressed the nature aspect of his collection by sending out some surprising looks which seemed to be made of turf. He showed some stunning bathing suits and combined a grey jersey sweater with a beige-shaded pair of glitter pants together in one contrastive look. The stuffy granny’s hats were not quite our taste, yet overall Michael showed enough great designs to choose from.

And the fact that he was proud of it, was proved by his whole victory lap at the end of the show. Bravo!

G-star Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

Held at the Pier 94 exhibition space in Manhattan the G-star fashion show, attended by celebs like Kelly Rowland, Kelly Osbourne, Natasha Beddingfield, Jay Manual en Miss Jay Alexander (ANTM), started off with some very clean looks. The first twelve looks where a mix of light denim and white. The clothes felt modern due to the color, the many zippers and pockets and the 3D shapes.

The extra functional details on most of the coats (zippers, hoodies, pockets) were inspired by the desert denim theme of the show. G-star made the high collars and head scarves worn with caps on top (meant to keep the desert sand out) look tough and streetwise.

Halfway the show some sand-colored items were introduced; cargo pants, jackets and a long, sleeves, flared coat. They looked stunning with the light blue colored denim items and were roughened up by lots of belts.

One thing’s for sure: the G-star girls are going to look very tough next spring. Their denim trousers were often even wider than the ones the male models wore. Not a skinny in sight. Especially the dark denim pants shown towards the end of the show looked gigantic. Yet combined with a sleeveless top those pants still felt feminine.

We can’t wait to see the faces of G-star, Liv Tyler and chess champion Magnus Carlsen (who were in the audience), in some of these brand new designs.

Marc Jacobs Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

Marc Jacobs’ fashion shows have changed a lot in the last few years. They used to start 3 hours late and Monday night it appeared Marc and his crew was too early. Half an hour before the show his team Tweeted ‘Marc’s ready now. Were waiting for editors.’ Eventually the show started exactly one time, which led to Courtney Love watching only the tail end of the show.

With Vivaldi’s ‘Summer’ coming from the speakers Marc’s first models entered the catwalk. After only one look we could tell what Marc’s inspiration was. His seventies-theme was visible in every little detail.

There were easy breezy dresses, blouses and jumpsuits all, of course, in the right seventies shades (burgundy, amber, coral pink, Byzantine, bright maroon). The busy prints from that era were present too, as well as the flared pants, which we saw on a jumpsuit and a metallic pair of pants. The shorts were tiny and the slits were high. Lots of fabrics were sheer ones and the pants were high waisted.

The make-up was perfect for the show. The models had bleached eyebrows, shiny eyelids (from lots of Vaseline) and matte, stained lips. Their hair was all frizzy and often decorated by an enormous flower.

Those flowers (which were actually lily’s) popped up everywhere in the show. Around the models’ necks and waists and on the collars of their clothes. Large hats, round sunglasses en small bags and clutches completed the looks.

Marc Jacobs brought back the seventies! And he did so in a very cool and modern way. So just like the curvy collection he designed for Louis Vuitton last season this one is bound the set the trend for a whole new fashion season. (And we’re so excited!)

Ps. It was rumoured that the show area is also the backdrop of the spring/summer campaign. Marc Jacobs might have show the campaign in tandem with the show.

Tommy Hilfiger Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

On Sunday evening Tommy Hilfiger celebrated the 25^th anniversay of his fashion house. First there was the fashion show and afterwards there was a big party at the Metropolitan Opera.

The fashion show was attended by a very famous crowd. Lenny Kravitz, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker among others were there to celebrate 25 years of Tommy Hilfiger.

The new spring/summer collection was very American and very Tommy Hilfiger. The models all worked the preppy TH-look in bright-colored blue, red, white and yellow.

Boys and girls walked the runway in neat, safe outfits, which stayed very true to the Hilfiger brand.

The ladies wore shirt dresses, Bermuda shorts, checked pants, tennis sweaters, short jackets and cable knit waistcoats. All completed by TH hats, bags, waist-belts shoes and sunglasses.

The fellows promoted double breasted jackets, eye-catching ties, colorful socks and loafers. They wore checked pants too, which were actually the most outspoken pieces of the show.

The show was ended by several sophisticated looks; a navy gown with cut-outs around the waists and a white tuxedo with black details. The perfect looks for heading straight to Hilfiger’s afterparty at which 25 years of an all American brand were celebrated till midnight.

DKNY Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

The DKNY collection had the perfect summer feeling to it. The fresh-faced models walking the show looked happy, playful and very girly, all aspects you’re looking for in summer.

Donna Karan obviously went for a commercial collection this time. All of her design, in shades of turquoise, beige and pink, seemed wearable and will be easy to mix and match into any woman’s wardrobe.

The short ruffled skirts, the boyfriend jackets with the tucked up sleeves, the easy going pants, the bathing suits and the floral printed dresses were items almost any young woman would love to wear.

Then again the items were not very renewing or distinctive. They could just as well be hanging in a ZARA store.

Yet Donna Karan gave the items her own twist by adding bright red heels, black bows (around the models’ waists) and small scarves (around their necks). In combination with the red lips and tidy buns all models looked incredibly sexy. So distinctive or not, these clothes will surely sell fast next year.

Pictures of this show will follow soon.

Roparosa Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Today Project Catwalk (RTL5) winner Roos van der Kamp showed her third collection Come out and play. The designing of streetstyle clothes she became so good at during the television show was visible again as she presented a mix of comfortable and sporty clothes.

The independent, confident woman Roos designs for definitely was ready to go ‘out and play’. She wore modern, trendy clothes with loose silhouettes, strong geometrical shapes and soft fabrics.

Her pants were wide and had obvious elastic bands. Her tops had accentuated, well-made shoulders, yet Roos already made a lot of those during Project Catwalk.

Two ‘jackets’ (in red and green) had very pointy shoulders and resembled big envelopes. Several jumpsuits and sportive shorts looked very cool.

The leggings and the bathing suit full of cutouts were not really our taste, but hey, there always needs to be room for improvement.

About Roos van der Kamp
Roos (1984) graduated in 2005 at the HKU. She founded her own company Roparosa in 2007. In 2010 she won television program Project Catwalk. This Fashion Week she presented her third collection Come out and play, being able to show her line was one of the prices of the television show.

Backstage Hunkemoller Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Isn’t the backstage of a lingerie show the place everyone wants to take a look? We were there and spotted all the Hunkemoller models in their sexy pieces just minutes before the show.

Graduation Shows: Artez – Arnhem

As the last fashion academy Artez held it’s graduation show last Friday. And the saying last but not least does apply here, cause we saw a lotttt of talent.

It was probably the hottest day of the year. Yet the 38 degrees didn’t stop the students, the models and everyone else involved from delivering a great show.

Kris Berden
Kris Berden was one of the students who proved to understand fashion. Her collection was fully built around pleats in al kinds of shapes and size. They were there on a skirt, a top and a dress, which were all in black. The pleats came back in Berden’s grey coats. One ultra-thin and slightly transparent, the other somewhat thicker. All outfits looked great, but maybe the jute top and the black transparent ‘cape’ could have had some pleat-details as well. That way the collection would have been slightly more cohesive.

Britt Tan & Fred Farrow
Two students really dared to experiment with their graduation collections. Britt Tan and Fred Farrow both used a great variaty of colors, materials, shapes and techniques. Britt Tan showed us a bright yellow jumpsuit, a loose knitted orange dress, a skirt made out of all kinds of different pieces of fabric with frayed ends. Her models all wore head scarves. Fred Farrow came up with a few light-colored coats. He used some trenchcoat-inspiration and showed one example with fur and checks. He mixed his coats with printed, colored skirts and tights. On all looks loose pieces of fabric were hanging.
We appreciate the fact that Tan & Farrow both showed some gut with their experimental collections. Yet we feel there collections could have been more cohesive and better tailored. Cause both collections came across as a little messy.

Lotte van Schijndel
Before Lotte van Schijndel’s the models started walking they all stood still on stage in a certain pose. We then could already see some great designs. Lotte van Schijndel made a collection with a classic feeling. Loose clothes, long silhouettes and plain fabrics. The blouses and coats were all without buttons. A few waistcoats gave the models some shape. There was no fuss; Van Schijndel didn’t add anything unnecessary. And that’s a good thing cause minimalism is hot in fashion these days!

Piotrek Panszezyk
Piotrek Panszezyk took the hottest fashion item of the moment, the jumpsuit, and gave it a whole new classy image. He gave all (of his many) designs a feminine, classic twist by adding some sort of airy trail to them. He showed one in black, one with lace on the sides, one white, one red, one purple. All looks varied slightly from each other, yet were still an obvious collection. The only misplaced item was an animal printed fur design. It didn’t look feminine or classy and had no connection to the rest of the collection. One other thing we didn’t understand were the loose ends on – for example – the olive green short and the collar of the purple outfit. But altogether Panszezyk’s collection was pretty impressive.

Melissa Siegrist
One last great collection we want to highlight was that of Melissa Siegrist. She designed womenswear with a very masculine touch. She mostly used grey and showed some perfectly-tailored shorts and blouses. She gave her collection a sporty vibe by adding polo’s and shorts made of jersey fabric. And her transparent pair of navy-colored pants just fit in perfectly.

The Best Of.. Resort Collections 2011

There’s no doubt you won’t be able to relax in the clothes from this year’s resort collections. All designers came up with comfy clothes which can easily be mixed and matched. It was all about airy fabrics, floor-sweeping designs and lots of accessories to finish the looks. And though showing your tummy is never very classy, this summer walking around in a hight waisted pair of pants and a bandeau top is the style.

Chanel
In May Karl Lagerfeld was the first to show his resort collection for Chanel. He turned the presentation into a big fashion event held in Saint-Tropez. All of his supermodels were there, including Georgia May Jagger en Crystal Renn. They wore flirty designs with colorful stripes (some red, pink, yellow and blue), ruffles, lace and embellishments. With knee boots, hats, large sunglasses and waistbelts Chanel provided everything for the jet-set life.

Diane von Furstenberg
With DVF’s new resort collection you could hit the beach some thirty days in a row and look splendid every time. There were so many good outfits to chill in; no wonder the models couldn’t keep their eyes off themselves in the mirror. DVF’s look were flirty and feminine and were 90 percent printed. Most lovely were her rompers and high-waisted shorts combined with blouses and jackets.

Lanvin
Elbaz’ clothes for Lanvin existed of much more fabric than those of the previous two brands. His models were fully dressed up in their trench coats, skirt suits and column gowns. We felt they could better be having tea with their friends on a nice terrace, instead of strolling around the beach in those luxurious looks. Still, the bathing suits, small sunglasses and swimming caps were supposed to give us a beach-feeling. The Lanvin resort girls looked nice, but the presentation didn’t breathe the relax feeling we love so much about resort collections.

Louis Vuitton
The LV resort collection was no surprise. Like in his Ready to Wear show Marc Jacobs worked the curvy fifties/sixties look. The floral prints, though, were a bit more colorful and seemed more appropriate for summer. Oversize chain necklaces, leather driving gloves, and bold, floppy hats— completed the LV summer feeling.

Marc Jacobs
Jacobs own line was all about (Chanel-like) tweed jackets and pastel colors. Some outfits had lots of fuss like embroideries and flowers, while others were more minimalistic and streamlined.

Michael Kors
His own travelling places were the inspiration of Kors’ resort collection. Therefore not all looks felt like summer. Instead, thick grey capes, long knitted sweaters and fur hats seemed more appropriate for a trip to Russia than a holiday on some tropical resort. Yet there were a few summer dresses and bathing suits too. There must be; Kors was on at least 35 business trips last year. His main resort colors were grey with a splash of peach.

Oscar de la Renta
Beautiful summer dresses and long evening gowns, that was what de la Renta’s resort collection was all about. There was no sign of the present minimalistic trend here. Oscar heavily embellished his designs with beads, ruffles, bows, layers and pleats. His floor sweeping evening gowns are maybe not so handy to pack, but they sure were perfection.

Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney didn’t give a one-way presentation. She let the models and the audience interact and in that way let her collection come to live. She gave us lace shorts, A-line dresses and tulip-shaped skirts and thus it was a all about showing the legs at McCartney.

Yves Saint Laurent
Stefano Pilati gave us some seventies for YSL. High-waisted trousers and sophisticated dresses. He used some black and white and a bit of pink and lilac. His long pants with bandeau top looked very elegant and the models’ classy headbands perfectly matched with that.

Graduation Shows: HKU – Utrecht

Yesterday 25 students of the HKU (Hogeschool voor de kunsten Utrecht) presented their graduation collections. In a beautiful location, called Winkel van Sinkel, they all gave their own little fashion show. The event was named ‘Platform’, yet each student could give his/her collection it’s own name. But apart from the name, they also had to come up with a theme, a collection (of course), the styling, the make-up, the choreography and the music. So you’ll guess they’d been working on this for months.

All the hard work was definitely visible; we saw some great collections.

Let’s start with Mariko Ferrier. Her theme was ‘The beauty of the ugly truth’. Her models first walked on stage very slowly, but started to walk faster towards the end. Her clothes were a mix of beautiful and ugly details. She, for example used light transparent fabrics combined with heavy, thick woollen parts. Her pants, her jackets and her tops all had wholes in them. They were hanging together by thick threads of wool. We loved the dip-dying she used, yet the music was awful.

Then we had Barbara Langendijk. She called her collection ‘Me versus My identity’ and was inspired by the search of her own identity. Her models stepped on the runway in towering high shoes and wore eye-catching glasses. Barbara had used her own shadow in her designs, which therefore had very high shoulders. She came up with strange combinations of fabrics like velvet and very thin transparent ones. An item we very much liked, was her beige cape.

The presentation of Mark Stadman, a fashion communication student, really stood out. Mark, who named his collection ?Mark, took his inspiration from the boy-bands in the nineties. He came up with five totally different outfits to stress the individual characters of ‘his boy-band’. His models had studied strange movements and wore crazy wigs. Mark didn’t design a collection, yet he managed to portray a very clear fashion message.

Esther Vijftigschild used the life’s tale of her Grandmother’s skin as a starting point for her collection ‘The metaphor of skin’. Like your skin can tell the story of your life, Esther did that with her clothes. Her designs were a mix of light and heavy fabrics. They had accentuated shoulders and volume in strange places. The ends of the fabric were decorated with thick wool. The silhouette was long.

Roos Woudenberg designed a good collection of men’s clothes. Not only did the designs look very wearable, they were all made out of sustainable materials too. Shades like brown/deep red were combined with dark blue. Especially the coats looked strong. Hats off for Roos for this sustainable and fashionable collection.

Jan Boelo Drenth’s collection was (like his music) very Gothic. He designed everything in black from capes to trails and cowls. It felt dark and mysterious, like he intended it. Jan used many different fabrics and created lots of volume. His great passion for couture was visible is lots of small accents he’d put on his garments. The good thing about this collection was that it was cohesive and became more dramatic with each outfit appearing on the runway. The skirts and the trails became bigger with each look. That’s how a good collection works. Well done.

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