Ralph Lauren Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

After a few strong seasons Ralph Lauren played it safe and also ‘on trend’ with a western inspired collection. I say safe, because this is the subject he’s good at and he did it before and it made him famous.

‘Little house on the prairie’-dresses were mixed with leather cowgirl pants, poet-blouses, leather jackets with fringes, jackets with lace inserts and Navajo-patterns for bags and vestst. Accessories were alike: belts with big buckles, silver chokers, hats and scarves.

Although The West is a theme during this New York Fashion Week (Rodarte, Donna Karan), the Ralph Lauren-collection didn’t add anything new or inspiring to what we already saw. But hey, it will sell anyway – especially if you’re not into minimalism or arty-farty-styles.

Phillip Lim Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

Maybe Phillip Lim likes to puzzle, regarding the puzzle-piece concept of his ss2011 collection: garments without a back, side or bottom all created one look. Sometimes a skirt looked like an apron, or a dress seemed a three piece item.

The overall impression of this collection was chic, modern and fresh with hints of clean sportswear. Chique layers, structured shapes, and a colormix of camel, baby-blue, taupe and beige. Lim also played with contrasting fabrics, sheer with opaque, lambskin with sequins. And we really liked the menswear tailoring.

Narciso Rodriguez Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

Narciso Rodriguez did minimalism way before the young American designers discovered it, the ones who showed their simple collections this week in New York. Rodriguez knows how to make a simple, pretty and easy dress – it made him famous.

The designer went back to his heydays in the nineties, looked at old pictures of celebs wearing his dresses and decided to leave out all the noise again and focus at strong tailoring and simple tea-dresses. Collarless coats were thrown over silk tank dresses, dresses were cut on the bias and colors were dark and blushy.

You see, minimalism can be very romantic and feminine too,

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.

Rodarte Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

The audience went bananas after the finale of the Rodarte ss2011-show. Again the sisters Mulleavy delivered a piece of artwork and handcrafted creations. Although this collection was inspired by nature too (wood, paper, reptile-skin, stone) it felt totally different than before, less magical. Maybe it were the stiff fabrics,or the  items that looked as if they were made of shifting plates ore maybe the dresses made of blue and white patterns that sometimes looked like china, delfware or wallpaper. Gone are the good witches, it’s hello to the goddesses.

It certainly was a step forward, since their signature handcrafted macrame-dresses were copied a lot lately. And the clear lines and layers definitely added a modern, contemporary touch to their style. Somehow the use of the colors – brown, copper, gold, gray, white and blue – and the wood-patterns made me think retro-American architecture and interiors. But the best part was the wearability, these are actually clothes women can wear. Well, some women.

Jason Wu Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

Jason Wu presented a strong collection focused at tailoring. He opened the show with a sleeveless top-with-bow and a pair of high-waisted pants. Smartly cut lean trousers appeared in several different colors and were paired with ladylike blouses or neat striped knits. Jackets, too, were elongated.  His evening-wear was colorful and had lots of sex-appeal. His lady like woman likes to play it loud in the evening!

Donna Karan Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

You can leave it to Donna Karan to make a theme like ‘Raw Romance’ into a beautiful, strong collection in just one color (sand) and a contrasting mix of crumpled jackets and sensual dresses and skirts.

This time, Karan left masculine influences behind and just focused at femininity. Even de crinkles looked sensual, and they sometimes reminded of old Issey Miyake-collections. The silhouette was long and lean. Filmy dresses and skirts cut on the bias added a delicate sensuality, fabrics were airy and seductive without being to obvious.

And in all its simplicity it was more personal and emotional than all the other minimalistic collections we saw in New York so far.

Malandrino Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

It rained before and after the presentation of catherine Malandrno’s collection, outside the Lincoln center. The models shivered on their platforms, but at least they were dry. Malandrino’s Spring collection was an exercise in handcrafts: leather macrame, patchwork, stitched beads and lots of drapery.

Diane von Fürstenberg Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

Frenchman Yvan Mispelaere is the new right hand of Diane von Fürstenberg. He brings along the experience he’s got working at Gucci, Chloe (when Phoebe Philo was in charge) and Louis Feraud. For his first DvF-collection he got inspiration from an Isadora Duncan retrospective  in Paris and he dubbed it Goddess.

But the collection was not about Grecian draping, the theme referred to empowered, intellectual beauty. The dominant look was clean, crispy sportswear in major graphic prints and bold, subtle colors (mint, melon, sky-blue, peach, purple)): light weight silk separates – fluidly tailored shorts, shirts and jackets – and the houses signature dresses. Hooded jumpsuits and flowing caftans added a hint of summer. And yes, there was some draping and even a golden Goddess-dress, but van Mispelaere knew were to stop.

Joline Jolink Catwalk Fashion Show ss2011

Joline Jolink is one of the few Dutch designers who is working silently and serious at her oeuvre. She’s still developing, but her style is already visible and consistent. She sells mainly in the Netherlands (12 shops and a webshop) and probably soon in Belgium. It’s been a while since Joline Jolink  showed a collection to an audience, but yesterday she presented her spring summer-2011 collection to buyers and a small selection of editors. It was a very grown up, elegant and sporty collection. For the first time Joline Jolink presented some leather accessories, two small bags worn at the hip and a big bag inspired by oldfashioned schoolbags.

The designer is fascinated by strong women, their lives, way of dressing, way of thinking. And it always makes an interesting collection. For next spring it was Katharine Hepburn that inspired Joline Jolink. Especially her sporty/elegant way of dressing and her preference for menswear tickled the designer.

The result is a well balanced collection full of renewed classics, like the men’s shirt, the pleated trousers, the suit and the shirtdress. Jolink choose basic colors, like beige, marine, black, white and mustard. The only print was a wrinkled navy/beige striped jersey. eyecatchers were a soft, halterneck suit, a big poncho and a beige-colored silk suit. The flowing silhouet, the modern classics with a clean, sporty twist and the eclectic mix made it to a strong collection.

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