Alexis Mabille Men's F/W 10.11 Paris

From Alexis Mabille - fall 2010

A good place to start would be the fact that Alexis Mabille’s Fall 2010 show was titled ‘Urban Grays’ and so every possible hue in the gray spectrum was seen on the runway with a select few ensembles showcasing delicate blues and even metallic accents.

While Mabille stuck to his signature tight fits he did also opt for relaxed looks as clearly seen in the cut of the shorts and wide legged trousers. There was quite an interesting mix of fabrics and embellishment, be it the intricately crafted belts, the large safety pins keeping the torso hugging cardigans together or the stand out piece of the collection; a cardigan adorned with button closures; surely the focus was on all the details this season.

This collection also served as a platform for Mabille to showcase his first underwear collection which on the whole had clean lines and simple structuring while being presented in an ever so subdued fetishistic manner.

for the complete collection click album link

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Alexander McQueen F/W 10.11 Paris

From Alexander McQueen F/W 10.11 Paris

Alexander McQueen's death is a great loss to fashion at large; his final parting gift to the world of fashion was an epic collection filled with what he did best… the clothes were magnificent, intricate and haunting.
Drawing inspiration from the Dark Ages, McQueen was able to translate icons form those times like the stained glass windows and angles of Gothic churches to the Bosch demons into the most beautiful short dresses and draped gowns. His attention to detail, clearly seen in the intricate gilded embroidery, the pleating on the skirts and the bejeweled necklines and shoes are breathtaking.
Gowns of royal reds and satiny blacks were all embellished with ornate gold flourishes while draped gowns of smokey white stood out in contrast still managing to showcase McQueen’s ingenuity and brilliance.

What a great loss indeed.

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HSY @ Dubai Fashion Week 2010

From HSY @ DFW 2010

Dubai Fashion Week (DFW) commenced its 6th edition this week and it will showcase 33 designers from the region as well as designers from India, Pakistan and from all over the Middle East!

One such Designer is Hassan Sheheryar Yasin a Pakistani designer who began his career in fashion by choreographing shows in Pakistan.

Hassan’s critically acclaimed line HSY as stirred major interest in the Middle East, South Asia, and more recently, in the US and Europe.

His latest line showcased beautifully embroidered ensembles in rich browns dipped in gold mirroring an era gone by. Hassan’s mix of traditional artistry and modern cuts gave rise to a collection that’s wearable while being deliciously regal.

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Louis Vuitton F/W 09.10 Paris

From Louis Vuitton F/W 09.10 Paris

PARIS, March 12, 2009
By Sarah Mower

Marc Jacobs ended the season at Louis Vuitton in Paris as he began it with his own show in New York: with the eighties. Different city, different accent, though, and this slice of the late eighties—ruffled, ruched, and poufed as it was—looked as if Jacobs had pulled out his 1987 magazines and worked up a playful homage to Christian Lacroix. He didn't quite put it that way backstage, however. Jacobs said that, partly in preparation for the Model as Muse exhibition at the Met and his role as honorary chair of the opening gala, he was thinking of "all those great French muses of the late eighties." Specifically, he cited Marie Seznec (who modeled for Lacroix), Victoire de Castellane (who worked for Chanel), and Inès de la Fressange (who was virtually French fashion mascot in chief at the time).

Looking back on those days of chichi fashion extremes brought out a lot of jeune Parisienne frivolity in the clothes, if not the staging, which was done, pseudo-salon style, without a runway (albeit in a large transparent tent parked, as usual, in a courtyard of the Louvre). The chance of a close inspection revealed lots of puffy peplum jackets, tons of shirring and ruching (in print or leather), bubble skirts, bejeweled satin leggings, and a mini lace Marie Antoinette pannier dress with a saucy sheer balconette. Jacobs' take on big shoulders ran from grosgrain bow-smothered balloon puffs to the widest short coats (in camel or red) on any runway—almost as broad as they were long.

It was also a rich accessory fest for the leather goods company. Leather necklaces and belts came fashioned like paper chains, and thigh boots were topped with ruffles and balanced on pearl and glitter-covered heels. The all-important bags had also acquired eighties pie-crust frills and gilded monograms. If it wasn't quite the fashion tour de force of Vuitton's Spring collection, this penultimate show of an often dour and cautious season read as a welcome interlude of cheerful, flirty confidence in a post-crash depression.

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John Galliano F/W 09.10 Paris

From John Galliano F/W 09.10 Paris

John Galliano Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear
By Sarah Mower

John Galliano struck out on his own into the frozen wastes of Russian-Balkan folklore for Fall. A micro-bubble snowstorm was falling on the runway, and a trick of laser lighting created a magical illusion that the models were walking in some fairy-tale tunnel far, far removed from the brutish realities of humankind's current worries. It was theater, escapism—the creation of a parallel fantasy world upon which the concerns of "fashion" barely impinged.

Oodles of embroidery and workmanship, and a ton of research into folk costume had been lavished on the details of the pannier-hipped, full-skirted coats; balloon-sleeved peasant blouses; bodices; headdresses; and pompom-trimmed cross-laced boots. Toward the end, the show moved into more traditional Galliano territory with a sequence of spun-silver bias-cut dresses that had all the delicate romance his fans adore.

Technically, it was faultlessly accomplished and—for anyone put off by the blanket of black that has fallen over many of the collections—offered some of the season's few opportunities to pick up color. But it remains to be seen whether those will be strong enough attractions to outweigh the fact that this show had very little to do with anything else that's going on.


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Valentino F/W 09.10 Paris

From Valentino FW 09.10 Paris

PARIS, March 10, 2009
By Nicole Phelps

The fanfare of their first haute couture outing behind them, the new Valentino designers, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, presented their ready-to-wear collection today, and while the label's retired founder wasn't visibly cheering from the sidelines as he was in January, his spirit was certainly present. As former accessories designers under Mr. Valentino, the incumbent duo are keenly aware of the house codes, and today they adhered rather dutifully to the ladylike sensibility for which these clothes have always been known.

Elaborating on several of the ideas they presented in their sixties-inflected couture collection, Chiuri and Piccioli showed sleeveless sheaths and coats with fan pleating below the ribs, some accented with a jeweled brooch. There were evening coats with gradated crystal beading, deep fox-fur cuffs and hems replacing couture's feathers. Cocktail dresses and gowns, meanwhile, featured draped and shirred bodices, but despite bold colors like emerald, golden yellow, and turquoise, they erred on the staid side. The same goes for those camel and bordeaux cape-backed lunch suits. A long leopard-spot cape with a wide band of fur at the hem had a younger feel.

Overall, capturing the youth vote with this collection will prove a challenge. Mr. Valentino, of course, was popular with ladies of a certain age, but he always was—and continues to be—quite tapped in with the fabulous crowd. In order to move the label forward as the new designers' mandate requires, a little less reverence for the past and a little more attention to what the palazzo set is wearing now will be in order.

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Chanel F/W 09.10 Paris

From Chanel F/W 09.10 Paris

PARIS, March 10, 2009
By Sarah Mower

In a season when coat-dresses and skirtsuits have risen to somewhere near the top of the item charts, Chanel presented a series of fashion's most poised and charming versions. That formula transmitted some of the loveliness of Karl Lagerfeld's sublime origami-paper Spring Couture collection into super-feminine white collar and cuff treatments—frothy plissé ruffs, chiffon camellias, and French maid frills encircled the neck or sleeves on soft, fitted black silhouettes. Cleverly, today's outing also achieved a rare balance between being grown-up and youthful—a note set by the casting of Karen Elson to open the show. Here was a fabulous-looking 30-year-old woman, rather than some anonymous waif.

Lagerfeld tagged the collection "Belle Brummell," a gender-reassigned quip referring to the British Regency dandy who dictated men's fashion by tying his cravats in ever more elaborate configurations. The pun also gave full permission to bring the classic Chanel white georgette blouse into play, a perfect device for subtracting the austerity from black in a distinctly Rue Cambon manner. Lagerfeld worked it every which way, in bouclé, lace, knit, satin, and paillettes, while also making a witty swerve in the direction of the season's motorcycle leathers (interpreted here in slim drop-waist dresses) and puffer jackets.

What color there was turned up in brief passages of pale green or baby pink. Admittedly, that green wasn't the most felicitous shade in the palette for clothing, but it was really there to underline the presence of the jade Deco-style pendants and neckpieces—a further echo of which could be found in the jade rings implanted in several pairs of heels. All in all, though, this wasn't one of Chanel's more playful simultaneous broadcasts to the world—more a serious reinforcement of the brand's eternal attractions.

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Alexander McQueen F/W 09.10 Paris

From Alexander McQueen F/W 09.10 Paris

PARIS, March 10, 2009
By Sarah Mower

Alexander McQueen may be the last designer standing who is brave or foolhardy enough to present a collection that is an unadulterated piece of hard and ballsy showmanship. The heated arguments that broke out afterward were testament to that. There were those who found his picture of women with sex-doll lips and sometimes painfully theatrical costumes ugly and misogynistic. Others—mainly young spectators who haven't been thrilled by the season's many sensible pitches to middle-aged working women—were energized by the sheer spectacle, as well as the couture-level drama in the execution of the clothes.

It was certainly meant as a last-stand fin de siècle blast against the predicament in which fashion, and possibly consumerism as a whole, finds itself. The set was a scrap heap of debris from the stages of McQueen's own past shows, surrounded by a shattered glass runway. The clothes were, for the most part, high-drama satires of twentieth-century landmark fashion: parodies of Christian Dior houndstooth New Look and Chanel tweed suits, moving through harsh orange and black harlequinade looks to revisited showstoppers from McQueen's own archive.

The romantic side of McQueen's character, which rises intermittently in deliriously beautiful shows like his recent tribute to the Victorian empire, was emphatically in abeyance. This is a designer who has drawn so much poetry out of the past, yet this time his backward look appeared to be in something like anger, defiance, or possibly gallows humor. Some of the pieces, like a couple of swag-sided coats, seemed to be made of trash bags, accessorized with aluminum cans wrapped in plastic as headgear.

Nevertheless, however frustrated McQueen may be by the state of commercial fashion, he was not really in absurdist rip-it-up mode. Whatever else is gnawing him, this is a man who will never compromise on construction and craftsmanship. This season, he'd noticeably forgone his typical carapace corsetry, making for slightly easier shapes, like boxy jackets, airy gazar dresses, and a fringed dogtooth sheath. For McQueen's faithful, there were also fiercely tailored coats, nipped in the waist and picking up on biker quilted leather and big-shouldered silhouettes. Evening-wise—sans the drag-queen makeup—there was a slim, black paillette homage-to-YSL wrapover dress with a red-lined hood that would stand up as elegant in any company.

Ultimately, for all the feathered and sculpted showpieces that must have taken hundreds of seamstress-hours to perfect, this was a McQueen collection that didn't push fashion anywhere new. Yet that seemed to be exactly one of the things he was pointing to: the state of a collapsed economy that doesn't know how to move forward.

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Christian Dior F/W 09.10 Paris

From Christian Dior F/W 09.10 Paris

PARIS, March 6, 2009
By Sarah Mower

Squaring circles is the name of the game for every established house this season. In a nutshell: How do you keep customers (i.e., freaked-out department stores and skeptical, reality-seeking shoppers) onside, while also keeping up the dialogue with fashion? At Dior, John Galliano found an easy compromise with a collection lightly based on the orientalism of Paul Poiret, an artistic Parisian craze dating back almost a century. No need for frantic reference-Googling here: The main point of Galliano's device is that it gave access to the areas of harem pants, rich gilded brocades, and Asian influences in general. Christian Dior never went East himself, certainly, but the notion wove ikat patterns, cheongsam fastenings, paisley prints, and those newly fashionable trousers into the house codes in a way that came out making sense for the many markets Galliano has to juggle.

Happily, there was no sense of straining for a recession solution about it. After treating Dior's standard suitings to a light, shortened adaptation of Poiret's hobble skirt, Galliano moved on to paisley-print day dresses and thence to the drapey harems (best in cream satin with a pale beige astrakhan gilet). That opened a neat portal through which Galliano's romantic, silver filigree Indian-embroidered chiffon cocktail and evening dresses could pass, looking effortlessly pretty. The result: grown-up fare for regular women, editorial-grade styling to appeal to the fashion press, and, in total, a clever feat of simultaneous translation from a well-traveled designer who knows how to reach his global markets.

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Versace F/W 09.10 Milan

From Versace F/W 09.10 Milan

MILAN, March 2, 2009
By Sarah Mower

If one person in Milan could have gone back to the eighties with full credentials—massive shoulders, Day-Glo, disco-mania, and all—it would have been Donatella Versace. Full marks to her, then, for refusing. Her collection, like the woman herself, has long moved on. These days, she still drapes a slinky, liquid dress with much of the mastery Gianni achieved in his time, but any real compulsion to look back at the good old days has evaporated. There was, it's true, a quick flash of neon somewhere in there, but mostly Versace concentrated on working around metallics—silver, gunmetal, dark gray, and midnight blue—and palest neutrals. Decorated trenches, super-skinny cargo pants, and the odd biker jacket appeared for day, the only embroidery subtly streaked onto the hemline of a coat. No bling, no gold, no logos in sight.

Restrained wasn't quite the word for it, though. Daywear out of the way, Versace dealt out dress after dress, long and goddess-y or short and covered in plastic paillettes. Best in class were the one red dress and a nude, bugle-beaded gown, fit for a thirties movie siren. It all went on a bit too long, but funnily enough that gave time for the eye to observe some changing aesthetics. Noticeably, it was the girls who could fill out the dresses who looked best in these clothes—and knew it. To see Carmen Kass, Coco Rocha, Isabeli Fontana, and the newly (slightly more) curvy Lily Donaldson work these dresses with visible confidence was an encouraging reminder that, yes, some things can get better with age.

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Prada F/W 09.10 Milan

From Prada F/W 09.10 Milan

MILAN, March 1, 2009
By Sarah Mower

One thing's for certain: Miuccia Prada is not going to the eighties disco for Fall. Instead, her collection seemed to be a call for austerity measures, if that's what you can read into boiled wool forties-style coats and suits, clothes that might have been appropriated from domestic upholstery fabric, and (possibly for women going back to the land for survival) kinky fishing waders. It was a bizarre take on utility even Prada found hard to explain. "I didn't want to do anything about the city," she said, "more something about sport and the outdoors in general—freedom and nature. But in the end, I realized I liked coats and suits. It was serious, in a way. It was about a need for feminine empowerment." Prada's women, with their violently frizzed-up hair, certainly had a disconcerting look about them as they advanced, with red-rimmed glitter-ringed eyes catching the light with a nearly malevolent glint. What they were wearing was constructed from substantial tweed and stiff leather, slit to reveal sexually incendiary flashes of naked leg and red knit underwear.

As is entirely normal in the Miuccia Prada universe, any easy reading of narrative or reference was thrown off at every turn. Some of the strangeness was in the search for new volumes, swinging heavily from the shoulder in triangular, sometimes fur-laden shapes, or pinched into peplums by narrow, mannish leather belts. The footwear—wide-topped leather boots or velvet heels with Mohawk patent fringing at the heel—only added to the oddness of it all. In the end, however, it was not so disorientating and experimental that Prada codes weren't also fully exercised. The tweedy tailoring, fur, paillette embroidery, and, of course, the bags (now in plain businesslike leather or, for evening, an update of last winter's novelty sequin) have been staples for years. Even though Miuccia Prada might be considered one of fashion's out-there thinkers, this is still clearly a time to keep the brand fires burning.

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D&G F/W 09.10 Milan

From D&G F/W 09.10 Milan

MILAN, February 27, 2009
By Nicole Phelps

In 1954, Maria Callas recorded a memorable version of Bellini's Norma at the Cinema Metropol, the theater where today Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana stage their fashion shows. With the legendary soprano for inspiration, their D&G collection was unapologetically operatic. Bustier dresses with lampshade miniskirts came in brocade, jewel-studded velvet, or tapestry-print chiffon, while a bustier top was paired with high-waisted jeans encrusted with big, colorful crystals. And because every diva needs a cape (a strong theme here in Milan), there was a version in ocelot-print ponyskin and another in gray fur with a collar that looked like chinchilla. The colors—ocher, burgundy, cadet blue, and black—were as lush and rich as the collection's furniture fabrics, but point d'esprit and tulle tutus in pastels worn with T-shirts printed with Callas' image lightened the mix.

As a foil to the sweetness, the designers threw in some tailcoats with trompe l'oeil frogging and gaiter pants. The models marched down the red-carpeted runway in sky-high platforms with curtain swags in their hair. You could picture some of these clothes finding their way onto the narrow shoulders of young starlets on the premiere circuit. Dolce and Gabbana's message was loud and clear: "The show must go on."

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Christian LaCroix Haute Couture S/S 09 Paris

From Christian LaCroix Haute Couture S/S 09 Paris

As Christian Lacroix made his customary run down the catwalk, being pelted with carnations (one always thoughtfully left on each seat, just for this very purpose), there was a huge smile on his face.

“More clients;” he beamed backstage, “I’ve just met another new one.”

It is easy to understand why women, of any age, want to buy into the Lacroix look, if they can afford it. His designs are never radical or extraordinarily referenced or require a manual in order to understand how to wear them. His collections are always beautiful, mixing deliciously feminine and romantic looks, with the nonchalant chic of masculine tailoring.

He opened with a short-sleeved, navy, military jacket, gilt-buttoned and braided, worn with loose, navy gaberdine trousers; then a black, cardigan-style corset, with little bloomers, overlaid with embroidered tulle. A navy crepe skirt suit featured a dandified, black, embroidered bow at the neck and was finished with a ruffled, beige blouse. A series of softly-tailored bright red suits were encrusted with black embroidery, matador-style; a classic Little Black Dress worn with an intricate cream lace bolero. More short, sharp military ‘spencers’, detailed with embroidery and gilt buttons, were paired with frou-frou skirts in black and white stripes, generally with a hint of lace petticoat – a favourite Lacroix combination.

The contrast between borrow-from-the-boys and unashamedly girlish was echoed in the red carpet designs. A navy and white, crisp, tailored shirt, for example, was knotted at the waist with a red rose and then paired with an extravagant, long, crinoline skirt in emerald green and navy.

Evening always opens the doors to a blaze of rich colour and ornamentation at Lacroix. A rainbow-striped, organza and chiffon gown featured sleeves worked in a magic carpet pattern, another rainbow-hued design, underscored the one-shoulder trend, as did a gold lame sheath, which featured a giant bow on the left shoulder, and was then draped and curved around the body to finish in a fishtail hem.

A short ball-dress showed Lacroix’s love of the colours of Watteau and Fragonard, featuring a one-shouldered bustier, embellished with silk roses, elaborately embroidered in gold and pastels, and allied to the designer’s invention, a doll-like puffball skirt in rose-pink taffeta.

-Hilary Alexander

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Stephane Rolland Haute Couture S/S 09 Paris

From Stephane Rolland Haute Couture S/S 09 Paris

French designer Stephane Rolland made his debut Monday as a full member of the elite club of grands couturiers, sending out an imaginative collection of cocktail dresses and evening gowns that played on bold beadwork and unexpected elements like bustles and capes.

Rolland cited Constantin Brancusi as an inspiration for the collection shown on the opening day of Paris haute couture week, and the influence of the Romanian-born sculptor was clear in the show's big, bold volumes and harmonious lines.

A stiff cone-shape panel emerged from the bust of a strapless shift dress and, curling ingeniously around itself, attached to the hemline.

Another shift dress in fire engine red had a bustle-like drapery that emerged from the shoulders and attached to the hemline, creating a sort of chic superhero cape. One show-stopping look improbably melded a one-shoulder evening gown with a pantsuit.

Lozenge-shaped leather discs covered a sleeveless organza evening gown in an intricate scale pattern.

Artful mosaic beadwork also adorned the hemline of many of the other floor-length dresses, making tinkling sounds as the models strutted their stuff. At the end, the catwalk was littered with sparkling beads and rhinestones that had popped off during the show.

The collection, which opened with 10 little back dresses, was heavier on daywear than most haute couture shows, in what was perhaps a concession to the current hard economic times.

But don't tell that to Rolland. The designer bristled at talk of the economy, saying he was "sick and tired of hearing the word 'crisis.'"

- the AP

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Christian Dior Haute Couture S/S 09 Paris

From Christian Dior Haute Couture S/S 09 Paris

When people are confronting recession, counting their pennies and designing their wardrobes on the save-not-splurge formula, what is the role of French haute couture where a single dress can cost the price of a modest British home?
John Galliano, the couturier at Christian Dior, offered a master class in the art of the couture atelier by way of explanation, in his collection, on the opening day of the spring/summer 2009 season in Paris yesterday.
Galliano literally turned gowns inside out to show the extraordinary construction, hand-finished seams, painstaking cross-stitching and velvet ribbon bindings which go into the making of an haute couture creation.
As many as 80 craftsmen and women in the Dior couture ateliers worked for between 300 and 400 hours to create each of the six corseted, crinoline, ballgowns for the show's finale. Then, each gown was sent to Paris's surviving artisan studios which employ the specialist hand-beaders and embroiderers.
"I spent hours in the archives, examining the inside of Dior's designs, subjecting them to an almost forensic examination. It was like discovering a long-lost love letter which declared a passion for clothes which are beautifully and elegantly made. It is an art, which the craftsmen and women perform with love and pride," Galliano said.
His sentiments were echoed by the president and chief executive of Dior, Mr Sidney Toledano, who, in referring to an escape route from the global financial meltdown, said: "Politicians can provide the leadership, but artists such as John (Galliano) have a role to play, as well."
The Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard, Mischa Barton, the R&B singer Kanye West, and the burlesque star Dita Von Teese, who opens a new season at Paris's Crazy Horse at the weekend, were among the front-row celebrities, together with a solid turnout of "real money" clients.
The French First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who is one of Dior's most high-profile fans, was not present but was there in spirit as tracks from her latest CD, "Comme Si de Rien N'Etait", featured on the soundtrack.
The collection, inspired by Flemish Old Masters,Van Dyck and Vermeer, paraded against a stained glass-inspired backdrop which echoed the colours of their paintings and was, in turn, reflected in the rich gold, chrome yellow, ivory and Delft blue colours of the clothes.
Pearl necklaces, referencing Vermeer's 'Girl with Pearl Earring', embellished the necklines of Guipure lace, shawl-collared suits. Pencil skirts featured pannier-style "wings" at the side or were draped into soft pleats and bows at the back. Matching shoes were balanced on scroll-design pedestal heels.
The Dutch tulip was a recurring motif, hand-painted, beaded and embroidered on the underside of rise-and-fall hems.

-Hilary Alexander

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Paris: John Galliano - fall 2009

From Men's John Galliano - fall 2009

Though there were several thousand votives burning and Slumdog Millionaire was playing on the soundtrack, it was freezing in John Galliano's show venue. And the wintry chill penetrated his collection. From Scott Barnhill's entrance in a tricorn, with powdered wig and bruised eyes, the scene was set for the usual pell-mell historicism. But it didn't quite engage, possibly because Galliano's cast of characters was a little frosty. Dead-eyed highwaymen in their britches and buccaneer boots were followed by a crew of piratical zombies who also looked to have shuffled off this mortal coil. Next came a posse of Pans, their satyrdom curtailed by the subzero temps, and a coven of black-clad Pilgrim Fathers—not a fun bunch at the best of times, even if this lot were wearing shirts as sheer as lingerie.

There was still enjoyment to be had, particularly when—during the underwear promo that has become the wingiest part of a Galliano show—the designer paraded a high-court judge in wig, undies, shoes, socks, and garters. But maybe it was color that was missing from the show, and that may very well have been Galliano's comment on a world gone wrong.

— Tim Blanks

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Lanvin Pre-Fall 2009

From Lanvin Pre-Fall 2009

In these uncertain times, Alber Elbaz still believes in dreams and the power of glamour and beauty. For Lanvin, he took paillettes and lamé to a new level and introduced luxe evening fabrics for day. He offered up brocade blouson jackets, ruffled lace cocktail dresses, beaded skirts with elastic waists and cozy knits and furs — all perfectly draped to a woman’s frame. Although he recycled elements from past collections, Elbaz updated some pieces by reducing volume for “real life,” as he put it, and added self-attached waist-cinching belts and ribbons to emphasize shape.

-WWD

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Christian Dior Pre-Fall 2009

From Christian Dior Pre-Fall 2009

John Galliano’s pre-fall collection for Christian Dior took inspiration from two distinct aesthetics: Alfred Hitchcock’s icy heroines and Helmut Newton’s tough-chic glamazons. It added up to a strong and graphic, yet feminine, collection with long dresses and coats, double-faced wool suits and luxurious furs and evening dresses. The colors ranged from the classic gray of flannel to strong, vivid shades reminiscent of René Gruau’s drawings for Dior in the Fifties.

-WWD

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Milan: Men’s Fashion Week (fall 09): trend report

There were clear trends in color for this season; the most startling shade we saw again and again was camel. The summery shade made its debut in the fall collections of many designers, some even dedicating half their line to the color. Don’t just thing trenches, get camels in the form of ankle showing cuffed pants, or warm turtle necks, even go in for a hardy camel leather coat instead of a predictable black one.

Its all about the gloom and blue this season; John Varvatos sent the message out quite clearly with his whole collection dipped in the darkest navy. Blue can be fun, choose blues with a bit of quirk like baby blue tinted leather jackets, or allow cartoon figures to make a statement like seen on the Iceberg runway.

At the opposite end of the spectrum; reds popped up practically everywhere, some done subtly like a red crisp shirt under a slick dark suit others creating bold statements with reds being used for coats and dinner jackets, if you don’t want to see red this season choose the subtle highlights like a red scarf, or a brilliant red skinny tie.

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Milan: Versace - fall 2009

From Versace - fall 2009

It was a wintry affair at Versace’s Fall 2009 show, with a barrage of white commencing the show, cool shades of every kind of blue and dark tones set a somber tone but with flashes of reds and camel, Dontella Versace managed to bring in some color to a rather blue palette. Fur played an important role trimming the edges of parkas and even took the form of stoles that added drama to the necks of many models. Versace showcased many coats, glossy trenches, coats resembling bathrobes, great knitwear, and clean lined pea-coats. The leather pieces and kits were the obvious highlight of the show and Versace may have opted for the gloom but there was no lack of glamour.

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