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The Valentino-duo is now designing with a new Valentino generation in mind—one that likes its party dresses short and isn’t afraid of sheer. There wasn’t a (Valentino)red dress in sight. Instead, Piccioli and Chiuri romanced the soft tones of nude, rose, lavender, gold, and gray that have become the big color story of the season. Their methods included swirling organza around the body and tying it off with a flamboyant bow, embroidering tulle T-shirt dresses in antique laces and geometric metal paillettes, and printing chiffon with black orchids. A couple of fitted leather jackets and minis embellished with laser-cut rosettes provided a bit of edge. Glass slippers didn’t figure in this story, but the London-based milliner Philip Treacy did whip up some fanciful footwear with lace wings arcing upward from the heels.

In sum: This was a well-timed step forward for the new Valentino duo, one that put the brand at the center of some of Spring’s key trends and started to give it a new relevance.

Trends ss2010: the men’s skirt

The men’s skirt has been all over the news lately. Maybe because fashion brand H&M recently introduced a men’s skirt for their spring/summer collection 2010. And usually when H&M comes up with a trend it is picked up by many followers.

Of course H&M is not the first brand to introduce the men’s skirt. We’ve seen this fashion item on the runway for years. One true lover and wearer of skirts is designer  Marc Jacobs, who takes his bows most of the time dressed in a kilt.

This year there were some skirts in the menswear collections as well. At Thom Browne we spotted an ultra short version, at the show of Jean Paul Gaultier (one of the first designers with skirts for men)  the skirts were much longer. Rick Owens’ models wore multiple layers, one of those layers being the skirt. Other brands which had skirts in their collection were John Galliano, Francisco van Benthum and Kris van Assche.

We’re very curious if the skirt will become the trend for men in 2010.

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Narciso Rodriguez embraced his softer side for spring summer 2010. And it made for a stronger collection. The vibe was still plenty sexy, like the killer sheath color-blocked from jute linen canvas and black silk jacquard.  A pair of shifts, one in white, the other pink, came with graphic cutouts on the upper back, while another dress was essentially a mesh tank with strategically placed ovals of printed fuchsia silk. All three were revealing without being vulgar, a balance other designers have had some difficulty achieving this season.

But Rodriguez also loosened up the silhouette dramatically, letting the air in, so to speak, on everything from a white silk, linen, and organza bubble dress to a silk mud-cloth coat. The show ended with a trio of short-in-front, long-in-back tent dresses that took this concept to the extreme. Chic, modern propositions for a black-tie evening, they billowed dramatically behind the models in the runway breeze.

Dutch Models: Bregje Heinen

One of the new faces we spotted at the catwalk was that of Dutch model Bregje Heinen. At the (young) age of sixteen she is already strutting the catwalks of many great fashion brands.

With her big eyes and lips looking as if she’s constantly pursing them, she has the perfect model-look.

We saw her in the fashion shows of Balenciaga, Fendi, Gucci, Lagerfeld, Donna Karan, Prada and Louis Vuitton. At the Stella McCartney show Bregje was even the only new model that was added to the model line-up.

Though people from abroad are struggling with the name Bregje (It’s pronounced brechk-ye) she’s bound to become a Dutch super model.

Trends ss2010: women’s accessories

Next summer large necklaces (and wearing multiple ones) seem to be the it-item for women. These necklaces could be seen at fashion shows of Vivienne Westwood, Bottega Veneta, Barbara Bui, Byblos, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Badgley Mischka and Moschino.

Another accessory that kept popping up was a handbag that the models literally wore in their hands. Sometimes it had a belt to carry the bag on their shoulders but they still kept them in their hands.

One special handbag at the Alexander McQueen fashion show resembled a bowling ball. The model had to put her fingers in it to carry it.

Eye-catching accessories were the Blumarine jewelry that looked like children’s jewelry, some magnificent hair accessories at Chanel, a belt-like bracelet at Blugirl, an ant-necklace at Dsquared, and some pearl bracelets and plastic flower corsages at Galliano.

Apart from these accessories most collections were very sober. The designers let their clothes speak for themselves, without all the fuss added.

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Making good on the promise of his sexy debut, Peter Dundas turned out a sizzling collection for Spring/Summer at Emilio Pucci. It is, of course, the season the house was made for, having been established on jet-set Capri in the 1960’s, but it also doesn’t hurt that Dundas is an avid scuba diver. The underwater universe produced some aqueous prints that also formed the basis of allover-sequined dresses. Neoprene diving suits informed a few long-sleeve minidresses with curve-enhancing mesh insets.

Some of the hottest swimwear of the season strutted down the narrow runway. One or two in snakeskin aren’t advisable for actually getting wet.  The season’s all-important jacket? He cuts a mean one: cropped, fitted, with lean arms and a flippy hem.

Trends ss2010: sporty fashion

Hoodies, zippers, caps, sleeveless tops, short shiny jackets and net fabrics dominated the menswear collections for 2010. That can only mean one thing: sports influences.

There was the basketball look (Kris van Assche), the gymnastic look (Francisco van Benthum, Calvin Klein) and the football look (Bikkembergs). There were sailing types (Burberry), the boxer types (Ann DeMeulemeester), the diving types (Moncler Gamme Blue, Gucci) the golf player and the horse back rider (Frankie Morello).

Especially Gucci had a lot of shiny sports jackets, not referring to a specific sport.

Sportswear and casual wear really seemed to merge with each other on the catwalk. Of course menswear is always a little bit sporty, but this time sports were all over the place. However, whether a tanktop made  of a net fabric is very suitable for going to the office remains to be seen.

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The foundation stone of Lagerfelds ss2010-collection was shorts. “Not Bermudas or hot pants,” the designer said backstage, but a contemporary variation that emphasized rounded hips. They looked almost like tap shorts, especially when they showed in white satin.
Lagerfeld pushed his idea with all-in-one playsuits—sometimes hanging off dungaree straps, sometimes with no straps at all—which dropped into deep-pleated shorts (it was particularly striking in red leather). This bizarre notion was so insistent throughout the presentation that it took on a persuasive life of its own. And, in its peculiar way, it fit with jackets whose hems were folded up to shoulders that buttoned down.

Trends ss2010: tight fitted

At the menswear fashion shows we spotted lots of suits. Complete suits in one color or just combinations of pants and jackets. The remarkable thing about those pants and jackets was that they were all pretty tight fitting. So the muscular bodies of the models were clearly accentuated.

Givenchy, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Lanvin, Moschino and Paul Smith showed some tight  looks. The jackets were often left unbuttoned.

Another trend we saw at the menswear collections were the tucked up sleeves. The boys at the fashion shows of Costume National, Vivienne Westwood, Etro, Raf Simons Lanvin and John Richmond  had it all. We spotted some short sleeves as well at the Neil Barrett and the Cerrutti show.

So  wear your suit a little tighter next season. Loose fitted is so 2009!

Dutch Models: Mirte Maas

A new face conquered the catwalk during the last fashion weeks. It was the face of the Dutch model Mirte Maas. She is just seventeen years old, yet she participated in countless fashion shows for ss2010.

Mirte is signed with Women Management in New York (Kate Moss and Natasha Poly were also signed there), butalso  has contracts with modelling agencies in Milan and Paris.

During the New York fashion week Mirte was the first girl in the Alexander Wang fashion show. Although many people talked about her frightened look during the opening of that show, it didn’t stop her.

Later on we spotted Mirte in Milan and Paris at almost every big show. Roberto Cavalli, Chanel, Chloé, Fendi, Givenchy, Hermes, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Lagerfeld, Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, Marni, Missoni, Moschino, Prada, Nina Ricci and Valentino, to name a few (few? That’s a full agenda! It’s a wonder she was still looking fresh)

Style.com named Mirte Maas as one of the Ten New Faces in fashion. We’ll be seeing a lot more from her.

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