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.

Zac Posen Catwalk Fashion Show New York fw2010

Describing Zac Posen’s collection in few sentences is simply not possible. There was a little bit of everything in his fall/winter collection, called ‘40s futurism’.

While young Israeli ‘hip hop’ violinist, Mira Ben Ari, set the mood right silk skirts, short dresses, ruffles, stripes, transparent fabrics, fur, high-waisted pants, asymmetry, colorful prints and velour dresses passed by.

Many of the outfits looked like patchworks of different fabrics. Zac Posen also brought several techniques together in one design. He, for example, made a combination of an asymmetric, draped red/brownish satin dress and a straight black cotton dress.

We did recognize one constant factor is Zac’s new collection: the silk kept coming back in the designer’s pants, tops, skirts, dresses, blouses and even as the lining of a velour skirt. Repeated accessories were a small hat with black netting and a flat stone brooch.

For his winter coats Zac used a lot of fur, he again combined it with other fabrics, like wool and leather. The coats were matched with fur boots, designed by Manolo Blahnik. In fact all shoes in this collection were created by Blahnik.

But  Zac didn’t only get help from Blahnik. For his bold multi-colored prints he (again) got a hand from young artist Rosson Crow, who also took care of the prints in Zac’s spring/summer collection of 2010.

Overall we can say Zac’s collection was daring. With three great collaborations (Mira Ben Ari, Manolo Blahnik, Rosson Crow) Zac proved himself as a great entrepreneur as well. That’s why we’re convinced he will become even more successful in the future.

Diane von Furstenberg Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

Borrowing from and interpreting menswear seems a theme in the fall-season in New York. But, as a trend watcher earlier this year told us, the men’s jacket is the new dress for the coming five years.

Diane von Furstenberg always wanted to live a man’s life in a woman’s body, at least that’s what she confessed in her show-notes. So it was no surprise men’s suits played a main part in the collection. She cropped the pants, mixed the gray felted wool with chiffon rosettes and a corduroy jacket with a ruffled minidress.

It was the old game of playing soft against hard. Luckily there were also a lot of dresses to choose from, from simple lbd’s to tunic dresses.

Philosophy Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

The Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti-show had the familiar boy-girl thing, but looked also very romantic and almost Victorian with the long dresses, high collars and black lace over white. Fragile dresses with high, white collars were mixed with polished, tailored officer’s coats in wools and thick leathers

Luckily it became a little bit edgy with black lace-up knee boots. It just needed that.

DKNY Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

For her winter collection Donna Karan dressed her models like college girls. Not your average ones, but well-dressed college girls from the sixties, complete with side-swept ponytail and mini skirts.

The great thing about the collection was the cohesiveness of it. Color-blocked outfits and autumn hues could be seen throughout the whole show. And Donna Karan had picked all the right colors to combine together.

Looking at the clothes we could only imagine how nice it would be to wear them. The woollen sweaters looked ultra-soft, the woollen coats seemed nice and warm and the pleated trousers appeared super comfy. Besides none of the clothes were too tight or revealed to much skin.

The layering looked just lovely and some sequins added a hint of glamor to a few outfits.

So, we fully embrace Donna Karan’s new collection, yet we have three remarks to make:

1. All models should have worn leggings or panties underneath their mini-skirts
2. The boyfriend blazer from the first look wasn’t very flattering
3. Those woollen hats…..

Tony Cohen Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

At the Salon in New York Dutch designer Tony Cohen showed he’s a true artist when it comes to making women look beautiful. He also proved he belongs at the New York Fashion Week as one of the few foreign fashion labels.

The models he sent out on the runway all looked very sophisticated and mysterious at the same time. Their hair and make-up and the dark shades (black, grey and Burdury red) they wore created that look. The use of luxurious silk, cashmere and wool added to that feeling.

Cohen’s well-known signature aspects – draping and asymmetry – again were the highlight of the collection. Yet Tony Cohen also introduced a third success item: hand crafted embroideries. He designed embroidered gloves, belts, shoulders and tops decorated with sequins. They made the models look even more elegant and will probably be the aspect of this show we remember the best.

A look from this collection we won’t soon forget either was a short black dress with extremely wide transparent draped sleeves. It really stood out and looked astonishing beautiful. Plus: many women would be able to wear it. And this brings us to the success aspect of the collection: every piece of it was wearable. And since many brands are experimenting with crazy shapes and fabrics we were happy to see some well-made, wearable fashion.

Y-3 by Yamamoto Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

On the most romantic day of the year, Valentine’s day, Yohji Yamamoto showed us a very dark side of love.

It all began so well with models handing out red roses to all people sitting front row. Yet after that it turned dark as the Prisoner of Love theme took over.

On his designs Yamamoto had written text like ’23 Years in prison – 20 = Y3′ and ‘Marriage – Love = Run’. Combined with Paul Simon’s track ’50 ways to leave your lover’ it all made up for a dejected vision of love.

Still, the dark side of love seemed to work for Yamamoto. His unexpected proportions, layering and mix and matching never looked this good. We liked his long coats, loose pants, asymmetric skirts and loose woolly capes. And through his use of black and gray the designer managed to add some refreshing bright red, orange, yellow and blue.

Lots of black and white stripes represented the Prisoner of Love theme and on some shoes, bags, hoodies and belts they stood for Adidas.

It appeared that after a miserable year in which Yamamoto almost went bankrupt the designer was able to show more of himself in the Y-3 collection for Adidas.

The collection appealed to us. Though it didn’t necessarily need the masks, bandit scarfs and the fight at the end in which Yamamoto punched a male model down and got punched by a female model himself.

Streetfashion FW2010 New York Day 1

What are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Your Burberry-boots, your latest D&G-vest or that vintage YSL? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashionweeks we refresh our streetwear posts regularly. We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy fashion and your own personal style. Next stop: New York.

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.

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