Vivienne Westwood Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, the Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beansteak were Westwood’s inspiration for her Prince Charming (fall) collection. Her models wore large colorful crowns, hats and cloaks. Their lips were bright red, their eyes were dark and some models had small mustaches painted on their faces. Very fairy tale-like indeed.

Like children love fairy tales they would have loved this colorful collection. The brightest pieces (in purple, red, mustard yellow and blue) were combined together. Colored leggings, belts, enormous hats and big bags completed the looks. Every item seemed to add more fun to the collection. Yet, apart from a pair of printed black and gold leggings, we probably wouldn’t leave the house soon in any of the designs. The shapes just looked too crazy and many items didn’t look finished.

The emphasized shoulders and the voluminous dresses were two great aspects of the show. Towards the end a white dress with floral prints and a light-colored waist belt looked lovely. An orange/pink gown felt like French couture and would also look perfect on the Sleeping Beauty (plus sleeping is probably the best thing to do in a delicate dress like that).

As in this year’s menswear shows Vivienne Westwood paid some attention to climate change. According to her climate change is, at the moment, the context of everything she does. ‘Like everyone who has woken up to the fact that we are endangered species I try to do something about it. And I wish to understand the world’, she said. Still, apart from a water bottle with the message ‘Stop climate change’ on our seats the problem wasn’t visible during the show.

With this collection Westwood showed a good game of dressing up. But although we knew the inspiration (fairy tales) of the show we didn’t get the one model that seemed to be calling on her cell. We also didn’t understand the dress full of paper streamer. As far as we’re concerned that dress was never worn in any fairy tale. So when we heard ‘If you could read my mind love’ at the end of the show we actually wanted to read Vivienne’s. Caus some parts of the show we just didn’t get.

Manish Arora Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

I remember helping his models get dressed for a show he gave in the Netherlands. I was amazed by the colorful architectural designs he had created. I loved how his designs were embroidered with crystals and beads. It was all so different from everything I had seen before.

With his fall/winter collection Manish Arora proved he still had that ability to amaze people. We were wowed by an off white dress with eye-catching, padded shoulders and a strange print. A dress with a pink peacock pattern and a gray sequined top caught our attention as well.

Apart from the peacock influences and some floral details Arora used a lot of geometrical prints in every color of the rainbow (all made from beads and crystals). The emphasize of the clothes was clearly on the shoulders and upper arms. Rounded and pointy designs alternated each other.

As if there wasn’t enough color used in the clothes all model wore bright, short wigs and contrasting colorful eye make-up. The last three girls even had a luminous bundle of treads on both side of their heads.

Manish Arora’s show full was a lot of fun to watch. Not all designs will be very wearable, but when you show this much creativity in a collection wearability is not all that matters.

Rick Owens Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

With their hair combed backwards and their black (mean) eyes Rick Owens’ models looked like a tribe of wild, powerful women. Their asymmetrical clothes had the most unusual shapes. Some of the garments even seemed to exist of only a thick blanket in some way sewn to make it wearable.

The show felt dark in many ways. The runway was hardly lighted, the models wore dark make-up and, as always with Owens, the clothes had a very dark edge to them. Yet we must say it was pleasant to see some earthy shades of green, gray and brown, in stead of all the black we saw last season. Owens even used a splash of metallic in some of his designs.

His materials varied from fur to wool and leather. Most of the leather jackets had eye-catching standing collars, which made the models look even tougher.

A combination of a long waistcoat and a hoodie was repeated throughout the show several times. It came by in a gold/beige metallic version and in fur and leather. One of them had geometric patterns all over it. Those patterns and the zigzag leggings felt pretty renewing for Rick Owens.

Many of the clothes were decorated with small pointy pieces of (what looked like) plastic. The small hooks with which they were attached were clearly visible.

The models wore wedge boots and remarkable gloves with fur details. Their big leather belts made them look extra powerful.

So all though ladies will have to make their way to the Rick Owens store next season. Let’s see if they can make those tribal designs work without the crazy hair and make-up from the show.

Giorgio Armani Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2010

With his winter collection Giorgio Armani promoted ‘The new chic’. According to the show notes this meant the whole collection was ‘precisely stated in shape and color’.

The new chic surely wasn’t represented in the black ‘wigs’ the models wore on their heads. It seemed as if they’d just attached a mop to their hair that covered up a big part of their faces.

The new chic did have a lot to do with shape. A-line and asymmetrical shapes dominated the runway. Just like in Giorgio’s summer collection their were more than enough one-shouldered dresses. A lot of looks formed a mix of a skirt and a (black velvet) jacket. Armani in fact introduced ‘The new jacket’, fastened by the hooks at the side to create a ‘wave effect’.

Coral red, Tibetan orange and a hint of green were the new chic colors. They were combined with black and white and corresponded with the colors of the lights on the catwalk.

They even popped up in Giorgio’s sleek evening wear. The dresses had a lot of shiny details. Jewel embroideries – mostly floral shaped – were placed all over some pink and red designs. Large brooches were a nice and chic addition.

We loved the new chic idea, but though the collection was pretty chic it might have been a little more renewing.

Versace Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2010

Even though Versace gave two fashion shows, they both were way too crowded. Every possible position in the small show area was taken.

After a guy swept the runway it was showtime!

At the sound of a motorbike the models appeared in Donattela’s tough-looking designs. In the biker-inspired clothes full of zippers they looked feminine and powerful at the same time. Some shiny metallic looking skirts in blue and chartreuse green stood for the chrome work of a motorbike. A few patched leather pants were meant to wear while sitting on top of that bike.

Versace’s overcoats might have been a little masculine, they surely looked good. Their color combinations, leather details and large standing collars worked together just great.

The dresses showed some resemblance to those of the 2010 summer collection. Yet due to the use of a thicker fabric they formed the perfect winter variant.

For evening Donatella used the shiny, colored leather again. First on some short party dresses and later as a detail on a few plisse chiffon evening gowns. Those sexy gowns had high slits, cut-outs and trains.

The colors in this Versace collection were very strong and matched well with the biker theme. When all models posed in the middle of the runway at the end of the show, it even became clear how great those colors looked together.

Alberta Ferretti Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2010

Although Alberta Ferretti had to design a winter collection her dresses were just as airy as they were last summer. Alberta used a lot of see through material and shiny silk-chiffon. She introduced some pleated designs and brought back the nudes from her summer collection. Instead of the flowers from last season the dresses now got crystal embellishments, gracefully put around the neckline and on the shoulder.

We know the dresses looked wonderful, but there is no way women are going to wear these ‘summery’ dresses in their daily life next winter. For a special party or a chic event, on the other hand, the dresses and ankle boots will be perfect. Especially the evening dresses looked very delicate. Some of them had transparent sleeves, but you had to take a close look to even see the fabric.

Apart from the frilly dresses there were fur coats that actually seemed appropriate for winter. They came in cream, blue, gray and black. Their waistbands and pleating at the back made them look extra elegant.

Commercially this was a smart collection. The women buying the new Alberta Ferretti dresses will need to buy one of the designer’s fur coats as well to keep themselves warm throughout the winter. Still it seems like their legs will be cold next year.

Calvin Klein Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

For the Calvin Klein fashion show young and old models were united. Doutzen Kroes was in the audience and watched topmodels from the 80’s/90’s, Kirsten McMenamy (1966) and Stella Tennant (1970), strolling down the runway. They walked in the show right next to beginning models such as Karlie Kloss (1992) and Dutch model Gwen Loos (1993).

All girls had the androgynous look (which made McMenamy and Tennant so famous) going on: their hair was combed backwards and their clothes were kind of stiff.

It was clear Francisco Costa let his clothes speak for themselves. He didn’t send anything on the runway that could distract you from that. So, no accessories, no bags, no special make-up, no crazy poses, just Calvin Klein fashion like we know it.

The designer came up with a few non-waisted woollen coats. Their shoulders were rounded and the sleeves were wide. Those coats were shown in black, brown and white. And apart from a blue and a lilac colored dress all designs came in those neutral shades.

Costa’s streamlined shift dresses and coats all ended just above the knee. Besides, his clothes were all pretty loose fitting so the collection did lack some sex appeal. The designer did use some shiny black and white (almost silver) silk for his pants, blouses and dresses. He also added a few sparkles on the last designs of his collection but it didn’t make a lot of difference.

Two good things about the clothes are (1) in a room full of people they won’t attract all the attention towards you and (2) you are never showing too much skin when you’re wearing them. Yet you’d have to have a strong, expressive personality to make some of the looks work.

Oscar de la Renta Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

The first things that caught our attention at the Oscar de la Renta fashion show were Jessica Biel sitting front row and the hair and make-up of the models. All girls had a classic look going on: beautiful eyes and lips and flawless curls. Even the spiky hair of model Freja Beha Erichsen now looked amazing.

The clothes were pretty impressive as well. The striking colors alone would make you look twice on the street. A woollen coat in red had a purple fur collar. A silk dress came in shiny orange, followed by a cobalt blue one. We also saw outfits in emerald green, turquoise and pink.

A couple of designs had a busy indescribable print, others were embellished with sequins in different shapes and sizes.

All models were very well-dressed. The dresses all stopped at knee-length and had very decent collars and necklines. The collection was spiced up a bit by some transparent tops and a pair of trousers (one of the three trousers in the whole collection) with several cut-outs.

Oscar’s evening dresses seemed to belong to four different collections. Some were column shaped, other were voluptuous. A few had floral prints, others had small polka dots. Some had sequins, others were transparent. A few came in black and white, others were turquoise or fuchsia colored.

The final dress was our favourite one: long, silver colored and shiny. It had a gorgeous collar and was completed with the perfect belt, brooch and clutch.

Overall Oscar de la Renta showed an elegant, feminine collection, yet he should have made it a little bit more cohesive.

Carolina Herrera Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

Though Carolina Herrera recently stated she would watch her expenses, at her fashion show there was no sign of her cutting back. The sophisticated clothes were as luxurious as ever. Then again with a brand new boutique in Las Vegas, an extra children’s collection and sold out eight thousand dollar gowns, Herrera probably won’t be hindered by the economic crisis.

Her elegant clothes represented wealth and luxury. The fur details, the wide legged trousers and the chique dresses all looked very elegant. Not to mention the blouses with Herrera’s signature puff sleeves. They had the perfect size, shape, ruffles and pleating.

Caronlina Herrera used shades of deep red, silver, beige and grey. She added a few brush stroke prints and in two ochre colored dresses she even dared to show a tropical print.

Accessories like felt hats, leather waist belts and silver earrings completed the looks.

The finale was all about tight column dresses which accentuated the models’ silhouettes in the most perfect way. From the knee down those dresses flared up so the models – though carefully – were able to walk.

Carolina Herrera’s collection was pure, feminine, chique and everything it was supposed to be. Financial crisis or not, we’re sure there will be many wealthy ladies standing in line for this collection next fall.

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.

« Previous Page — Next Page »