Intermezzo: Klavers van Engelen Collection SS2011

In their ongoing quest to keep their design principles pure and their fashion elegant, Niels Klavers and Astrid van Engelen went back to their minimal approach. They wanted to create maximum effect with less and less interventions.

Square shaped panels turn into flowing, slightly complex yet easy fitting shapes once addressing the body. Seams, necklines and collars in draped silks (and fine blends) are glued instead of stitched, leather is left completely unfinished while other, more structured fabrics are finished with a tiny cover stitch only.  And for the first time Klavers van Engelen used prints. The color palette based on shadowy shades of black and sand perfectly balances out in an ocean of blue.

Again the designduo made a collection that looked simply beautiful from the outside, as if it was created accidentally. But take a closer look and you’ll see true designs that will keep surprising you by every movement and still make you feel elegant.

Hakaan Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2011

Hakaan Yildirim was this year’s winner of the french Andam-award and the designer – with roots in Turkey and based in London – presented a solid collection in head to toe cream or black for the first time in Paris. He must be a hot ticket, since he somehow managed to get supermodels like Daria Werbowy to walk the show. She opened the show in a slouchy jacket and tapering trousers.

His overall look was minimalist-sexy, with a long elongated silhouette and floorsweeping mermaid dresses. He also presented tunics and minidresses asymmetrical cut and with pleated inserts.

Rochas Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2011

For his Spring Summer 2011 Collection for Rochas Marco Zanini was inspired by a recent trip to his mother’s country of origin Sweden. In the small town of Fjakelmyra he met local artist Slotts Barbro who is well-known for her traditional canvas prints and asked her to create some exclusive prints for Rochas.

To these typical Swedish prints poetic phrases of French writer Françoise Sagan were added as: “Les merveuilleux nuages” or “Dans un mois, dans un an..” on head scarves, skirts, dresses, and knitted cardigans.

Another eminent pattern, besides the Swedish folkloric print, was a peonies floral print from the early 20th century Bucol archive. Long silk satin slip dresses were washed, hung to dry without ironing to give them a vintage boudoir feel.

The color palette ranged from Indigo blue, mud brow, chartreuse yellow to grass green.

Zanini played with all different kinds of silk: silk satin for dresses and blouses, taffeta for flower printed full skirts, hand-punched silk shantung to give texture to a white full dress, lightweight woven raw silk with topstitched silk lining for loose jackets. The overall mood of the collection was romantic and a bit folkloric.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2011

The oversized jacket at Dries van Noten set the tone of his spring summer collection. No firework of colors, no frills. It turned out to be a quiet, almost poetic collection with elements of workwear (jeans, heavy cotton), chinoiserie (the kimono-dresses, flowerprints, the silk) and menswear.

Colors were light, almost etheral – the lightest tints of gray, yellow, pink and blue – slightly turning into heavier shades, there was also a lot of white, denimblue, marine and black. The mix felt very contemporary and cosmopolitan, like the high-waisted pencilskirts with kimono-blouses or the couture-like tunic with wide pants.

Dries van Noten continues to mix streetinfluences in his collections, like he did this winter with the armywear. It gives his soft voiced style a modern toughness.

Bonjour Paris!

Bonjour Paris! Having breakfast at the courtyard of Hotel d’Albion, the temporary headquarters of Team Peter Stigter. Discusisng the schedule for today with runner Muriel Schouten, streetfashionphotographer Joris Bruring, chef de bureau Lisa Klappe, colleague Jonas Gustavsson and editor Jetty Ferwerda. Peter Stigter is there of course, he took the picture.

Check out the blog daily. Our plans for today: Rochas, Dries van Noten, Gareth Pugh and we take a look at the show of good old Pierre Cardin – see what he’s up to.

Giorgio Armani Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

Of course it was a madhouse outside the Armani Theatro in Milan before the second Giorgio Armani-show. The rumour was confirmed: George Clooney was coming. So paparazzi and fans gathered outside and fought for the best picture. Clooney smiled all the time.

Luckily the collection stood on his own and drew the attention away from the American moviestar. Indigo-blue was the only color Armani used for this Touareg- inspired collection. The models wore small turbans, their outfits were thin layers of different textures (glossy, matt, glittering, transparant) and items which created a compact silhouette. Short tunics mixed with loose pants and cropped jackets, long skirts with flat shoes, accessories like amulets.

It was a beautiful, restraint and elegant collection. Sensual and relaxed, it made me forget the lack of color. Blue can be so mysterious.

Roberto Cavalli Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

With his spring/summer collection for 2010 Roberto Cavalli celebrated 40 years in fashion. The man that brought us sexy, fluid dresses in all kinds of animal-prints,bohemian  rockstar-clothes in python or crocodile and the real Italian style did not opt for a retrospective show. He invited a lot of his favorite models though and some were even walking in the show, like Laetitia Casta and Natalia Vodianova.

The others, Nadege and Heid Klum, watched the show front row together with Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis and Elisabetta Canalis.  They saw a very condensed collection that consisted of four things Cavalli is known for: long fringes, long dresses, catsuits and python(prints). Hip-hugging bellbottoms and long webby skirts were worn with tops that left hips, back and bellies exposed. Underneath the models wore bikini-tops. They looked like tribal hippies with their flat ironed hair.

The collection had nothing to do with color or minimalism, as we’ve seen elsewhere in Milan this week. This was Roberto’s own trip and he used his signature elements well.

D Squared Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

It looked as if the twin-brothers Dean and Dan Caten had plucked all the fancy, chic citygirls from the street and put them on the stage tot show their spring-collection. The show was all about modern streetwear, the mix a young citygirl wears: something she found in her mothers closet, took from her boyfriend and bought herself at vintage store. She picked out oversized cardigans, tight bermudas, loose khaki’s, a suit and even mens-shoes plus old fashioned, printed scarves and golden necklaces.

It made a pretty collection of stuff you already know, it was nice to watch but the ideas were old. The late 60’s/early 70’s vibe (shiftdresses, long wide pants, shorts) gave it a more fashionable touch, since these periods popped up in other shows in Milan. There was hardly any color – beside the bags and some prints – the designers focused at khaki, black & white and blue.

Salvatore Ferragamo Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

On Sunday Massimiliano Giornetti showed his second women’s collection for Salvatore Ferragamo. He used the free-spirited, bohemian, gypsy feeling from the late sixties movie La Piscine for inspiration, which we think was a good choice.

His luxurious, yet relaxed collection started off with lots of nudes. Sexy swimwear, airy, floor-sweeping dresses, long coats and comfy (slightly flared) pants. Head scarves, simple necklaces, big bags and small belts gave all looks their finishing touch.

Halfway the show some pastels, olive green and dark slate grey gave a bit more color to the designs. Remarkable were the tummy revealing puffy tops shown through the whole collection, yet Giornetti made them in such a way they didn’t look cheap.

He ended the show with several sheer evening gowns which gracefully moved with every step the models took. A great ending of a chic collection with perfect designs to hit the beach in, yet also enough clothes for a day in the city.

Missoni Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

In a season where color sets the trend you expect a Missoni-collection to be a multicolored festival. In a certain way it was, regarding the hippie-like dresses with zig-zag, geometric patterns and colorful inserts. But on the other hand it looked a bit overdone too: and color, and the Missoni-signature patterns, and an African theme plus a Japanese/ Mexican vibe on top of that. The result was a more or less psychedelic collage of dresses.

Angela Missoni played with layering, pleating, fringing and embellishments like beads and sequins. She presented smocks, tunics, caftans and kimonos and mixed it all together. But the mood was energetic, hopefully Missoni is capable to transfer that to the customer and into the stores.

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