Bottega Veneta Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011

The collection of Bottega Veneta was about color, textures, proportions and a very feminine, grown up image of women. The program-notes said the collection was something  “between restraint and exuberance.”
But this collection was more about fabric development, this fall with a deliberately weighty, homespun feel for daywear, often in bold colorslike dark pink, mustard, pale yellow, orange and deep red. It looked inviting in thick tweed wools but a bit itchy on mohairs. The look became ladylike thanks to Sixties retro hairdo’s. The coats were minimalist and skirts were above the knee, with off-white stockings and high heels. Some of the other looks included jersey tunics and blousons — like sweatshirts – and very simple dresses in black-tinted white silk overlaid with black lace.

Versace Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011

The Versace-show gave a slightly baroque feeling due to the enlarged motifs at dresses. Lots of white, black and dark-blue, and a little red and green. Donatella Versace kicked things off with military precision — a black admiral’s coat with bold, gold buttons that was as chic as it was streamlined. Then came the LBDs, sharp and angular in silhouette, and more jackets and coats in the season’s soldierly vibe. To both, the designer added a pretty baroque motif of large-scale swirling floral scrolls in bright purples and yellows.

The pleated skirts and jackets, cut from hard, thick leather, worked the pretty side of tough chic while  a long white coat sported patchworked fur sleeves. And if Versace showed fewer eveningwear contenders than usual, no matter. The sexy goddess gowns she did send out, with bondage-y busts and gentle feathered trains, were striking.

MaxMara Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2011/2012

We started our second day of Milan Fashion Week with the MaxMara show, as did actress Katie Holmes. The wife of Tom Cruise was chosen by the label as it’s new Face of the Future (an award for talent, style and contribution to the community at large). The brand, which celebrates it’s sixtieth anniversary this year showed a solid, slightly minimalistic collection.

Clean belted coats appeared in shades of white, nude, beige and grey. Leather skirts were combined with shorter jackets, blouses and sweaters. The dresses were simple yet sophisticated. Some pants were small like leggings, others were ultra-wide and even look like skirts.

Several evening gowns were made out of checked blankets (with sequins that added extra glamour) with kilt buckles at the side. Though they looked super soft and comfy, the models could hardly walk in them.

Besides the sequined checks and buffalo prints all looks were very basic, quite the opposite of all the colorblocking we’ve seen so far.

It was a classic collection, on which many modern women will want to get their hands on.

Calvin Klein Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2011

Izaac Mizrahi Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2011

Is there a real difference between a fashionshow and a dogshow? Not much really,  a group of poodles parading around before an audience that keeps on commenting on everything they see. Isaac Mizrahi mixed these two shows and put poodles alongside his models on Thursday in a show he called “Cake.”

There were several varieties — French, standard, miniature, pink and blue, most of them matching the outfit of the model. According to the designer the dogs were borrowed from friends or were rescue animals. The models had big black poodle poufs attached to their head. The collection was about voluminous coats made of padded foam with big bows, in the pastel green and pink colors that matched the dogs that guided the models.

Anna Sui Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2011/2012

Proenza Schouler Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2011

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez  of Proenza Schouler took their inspiration from a trip out West, to Santa Fe actually. Earthy desert colors, like orange, golden yellow and brown, dominated, and were worked into a graphic pattern. That pattern was created by the computer using Native American blankets. McCollough and Hernandez manipulated them into a strong urban-chic look.

The designers played their signatures with rich, highly engineered fabrics. The kaleidoscopic results looked unmistakably theirs. The slouchy cut of their pants, the undone way the back hem of a black suede camp shirt was shown untucked over a slim pencil skirt, or how a party dress with an asymmetric neckline was layered over a black tee.  The fabric innovation made things look quite new. Two great patent shearlings, pressed flat and cut with clean, sharp lines, required a double take. Chunky, viscose and leather knits worked a cozy street effect.  What was most impressive about this collection was that Hernandez and McCollough’s took traditionally homespun themes and made them look sophisticated and even edgy. When did crafted clothes looked so cool?

Jeremy Scott Catwalk fashion Show New York FW2011

Jeremy Scotts fall winter collection sure will result in some rip offs in cheap fashion-chains. A parody on American symbols and cartoons is always a nice subject on T-shirts. The collection looked campy, sexy and was as light as Barbie and bubblegum. But that’s just Scotts message: Fashion should be about having fun. There was a bombast of Nineties-inspired clothes: furry neon dresses in angora, plastic jackets, and pigtails. Bold colors like red, yellow and blue, shiny fabrics and provoking slogans like Enjoy God? and Milk Kills.But in these times those slogans look funny and a bit childish instead of shocking.

Michael Kors Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2011

It was a great Michael Kors Greatest Hits-show, with lots of topmodels wearing wonderful clothes with that typical Michael Kors casual accent.

You don’t have to tell Kors anything about a good fashionshow and -collection, especially after a remarkable 30 years in fashion.  Kors’ grit, grounded ethos and overarching optimism have been tested and retested, and have endured with great style. He has always gave women what they wanted. His anniversary provided an obvious occasion for reflection. Kors wanted to incorporate elements of each decade in his anniversary-collection:the sporty decadence from the Seventies, the athleticism of the Eighties, restraint from the Nineties and from the Aughties, a little exuberance. But above all he wanted this collection to show his core belief: making people look longer, leaner, leggy; showing off skin; comfort.

Even by Kors standards, this was the purest of collections, worked almost exclusively in a palette of neutrals and, tone-on-tone neutrals.  The prevailing line was lean and structured (a tricot tunic and trousers), languid (a jersey dress and pyjamas) and  racy (stretch jersey jumpsuits). For every clean charcoal flannel jacket and straight-leg trouser, there was a clingy cocktail dress or gown. He loves a tunic for Fall, but they shared the runway with bodysuits. The magic word here was sleek. Nearly every look in the show was monochrome, the better to create that long, uninterrupted line Kors favors. Eveningwear was sparkling and glamorous.

Narciso Rodriguez Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2011

The collection of Narciso Rodriguez was pure Rodriguez: smart, chic and architectural.
The lineup was rather refreshing. His focus was tight on all things geometric, structured and clean, and his clothes offered a great alternative to all the reworked and revamped sportswear seen thus far. Rodriguez’s show opener was a long black vest — a wide stripe of gray down the front, followed by a canvas dress, very graphic in its simple big block patterns. And so it went — almost every garment, whether coats, dresses or  pants, was precisely patchworked with bold squares, rectangles and trapezoids.
Rodriguez let loose with breezy silk dresses that added some edge to the collection. As for the palette, he kept things fairly minimal: neutrals, blacks and silvers, with the occasional shot of deep red and coral.

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