Michael Kors Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

Michael Kors’ fashion show started about twenty minutes late, which in the world of fashion is almost too early. For celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe it actually was. She came in late and had to watch the show from the standing room. And although she and mister Kors seemed such good friends on the Rachel Zoe Project the designer didn’t think she was worth waiting for. We wonder if she still was still mumbling her famous ‘I die’ sentence from the standing room…

Luckily other important guests like Donald Trump and Michael Douglas found their front row seats in time to watch the full show.

For next winter Michael Kors didn’t show any of his typical, sleeveless, Michelle Obama-appropriate dresses. Yet the first lady might have approved some of the caramel skirts he designed.

Most clothes, such as cashmere sweaters, woollen pants, thick collars and some -larger than life – fur coats, looked very winter proof. Yet those cosy winter clothes did contrast a bit with items like a see-through turtle neck and some sweaters with an extremely low V-neck. But hey, we’ll just wear an extra basic underneath these items and they’ll be just as wearable as the rest of this fall/winter collection.

The male models resembled the ideal boyfriends in their matching shades of grey, camel and beige. Their V-necks were just as low and their collars were just as big as those of the girls. Yet for his menswear Michael Kors was a little more subtle with the fur.

Our favourite items of the show were some sweaters with the large woollen collars and a few loose fitting pants. We also loved how the leather belts and boots perfectly finished off every look. The long evening gowns were very pretty as well. Although we’re not sure if the shiny gold one will look good on a lot of people.

G-Star Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

Since Liv Tyler is the face of G-star’s new campaign she, of course, had to attend the label’s fashion show. But she wasn’t the only celeb that turned up. Kelly Osbourne, Natasha Bedingfield and Peaches Geldof were there too to watch the most colorful G-star collection ever.

Though we normally see several different shades of denim, this time there were lots of colors. The bright yellow, green and blue surely made the collection look like fun.

A male model in a thick yellow coat and a matching yellow hat looked like a fireman who just stepped out of a cartoon. And on all of the jackets cheerful bright-colored contours of pockets were clearly visible.

With items like overalls, colored hats and gloves and checked pants it was clear the Dutch denim label didn’t take itself too seriously this time.

Naturally all crazy and oversized items were combined with some good denim designs. Pants, shirts, overalls and shorts were presented in different hues of blue.

And although G-star is known as a denim label, denim didn’t seem the most important aspect of the collection as it was overshadowed by all the color-blocking outfits.

Y-3 by Yamamoto Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

On the most romantic day of the year, Valentine’s day, Yohji Yamamoto showed us a very dark side of love.

It all began so well with models handing out red roses to all people sitting front row. Yet after that it turned dark as the Prisoner of Love theme took over.

On his designs Yamamoto had written text like ‘23 Years in prison – 20 = Y3′ and ‘Marriage – Love = Run’. Combined with Paul Simon’s track ‘50 ways to leave your lover’ it all made up for a dejected vision of love.

Still, the dark side of love seemed to work for Yamamoto. His unexpected proportions, layering and mix and matching never looked this good. We liked his long coats, loose pants, asymmetric skirts and loose woolly capes. And through his use of black and gray the designer managed to add some refreshing bright red, orange, yellow and blue.

Lots of black and white stripes represented the Prisoner of Love theme and on some shoes, bags, hoodies and belts they stood for Adidas.

It appeared that after a miserable year in which Yamamoto almost went bankrupt the designer was able to show more of himself in the Y-3 collection for Adidas.

The collection appealed to us. Though it didn’t necessarily need the masks, bandit scarfs and the fight at the end in which Yamamoto punched a male model down and got punched by a female model himself.

Replay Amsterdam Fashion Week fw2010

We really liked the Replay fashion show and not only because top model Anna Beatriz Barros walked in it. Replay showed a lot of colorful and comfortable clothes. And while a lot of styles and colors were mixed ‘n matched it felt a bit folklore-ish.

The denim was as well slim as baggy and had a lot of funny details like chains, studs and labels. It was mainly dark with new innovative washes.

Checked and floral prints could be seen in some blouses and tunics. The thick woolen sweaters with crazy prints looked very cool and oh so winter proof.

The women wore small leather jackets, the man wore knitted cardigans.

Towards the end the models came by in some cute party dresses. Those dresses, in gray and black, were small and decorated with all kinds of gold and silver studs.

What we loved about the collection was the fact that there was a significant parallelism between the male and female clothes. It showed that the influences Replay used, can look good on both men and women.

Ado Les Scents by Hyun Yeu Amsterdan Fashion Week fw2010

Fashion designer Hyun Yeu presented his second menswear collection for fw2010. He named it Rain, while the clothes in this collection were meant to be worn (with a smile) on a rainy day.

The main character in the collection was a coat. We saw a fur coat, trench coats and some shiny silver and blue coats. A cashmere pea coat was so popular that couturier Frans Molenaar already bought it right after the show.

Hyun Yeu also showed some suits in orange black and some long woolly sweaters. We spotted them already the menswear collections in Milan and Paris, but Hyun Yeu presented some old fashion long Johns as well. They were worn with short tight jackets (with only one button) and blouses.

When we asked Hyun Yeu which item was his favorite he said: ‘All the outfits are my babies. I cannot pick one favorite, that’s like choosing between your children. I love them all.’

Besides the trench coat, we loved the pleated silk wool pants in his collection. They fit perfectly and were very well executed.
Actually they look too good to wear on a rainy day, if you ask us.

Camilla Norrback Amsterdam Fashion Week fw2010

During the Swedish Evening at the Amsterdam Fashion Week Swedish fashion designer Camilla Norrback showed her new collection. Male and female models both walked the runway.

The womenswear looked feminine, classic and very wearable. We saw pinafore dresses with cute collars that appeared to be inspired by Veruca from Charlie and the Chocolate factory.

Other eye-catching details were puffy sleeves and accentuated shoulders. The designs had floral prints, stripes and bows. And the girls all walked on boots with wedge heels.

The male models wore long cardigans and their high waisted pants had rolled up legs.

The total collection was inspired by the thirties. The colors in Camilla’s fall/winter collection were navy blue, orange, beige and brown.

Camilla Norrback started her fashion label in 2002. Her clothes are called eco-luxe, while Camilla uses ecological and natural materials. Camilla Norrback is available in Amstedam and Antwerp. The English fashion label Topshop recently named Camilla Norrback one of the twelve emerging names in fashion.

Quoc Thang Amsterdam Fashion Week fw2010

Malasian Quoc Thang today showed at the Amsterdam Fashion Week for the first time. He presented a small and sober menswear collection inspired by skippers-work-clothes, introduced by the sound of waves.

The skipper aspect was visible through some tunic t-shirts and overcoats. Quoc Thang also presented many woolly items like long cardigans and heavy woolly pants. We mostly saw shades of gray, beige and black. One outfit looked more like a skipper’s sleep-clothes, while it resembled a pajama. A strange-looking gray design with long braids attached, raised some questions.

For this show Quoc Thang cooperated with Timberland. The brand delivered all shoes and Quoc Thang designed one pair himself.

Quoc Thang (1979) was born in Malaysia and was educated at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. After his graduation he worked on several fashion projects in Paris and Berlin. In 2009 he started his own brand and named it Quoc Thang.

Streetfashion Paris fw2010

What are you wearing during the Menswear Fashionweek? Your Burberry-boots, your latest D&G-vest or that vintage YSL? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashion-weeks we refresh our streetwear-category regularly. We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy fashion and your own personal style. Next stop: Paris.

Pictures: Muriel Schouten

Backstage at Lanvin Menswear fw2010

Peter Stigter went backstage at Lanvin this morning to capture the vibe. He spotted Lucas Ossendrijver – the designer of Lanvin menswear – and Alber Elbaz – creative director of Lanvin – backstage styling the models and giving interviews to journalists like Suzy Menkes (who was lyric about the collection: “Loving Lanvin has become the leitmotif of the 21st century. But there was a good reason why the menswear show Sunday was cheered so fervently. This is a rare historic house where the clothes seem to live in the moment, yet embrace a traditional masculine  only culture.”)

Take a close look at the accessories – those rings and snakeskin bags ! – and the clothes. This is menswear from today – never aggressive or conservative, but self-assured and loving.  And, most important: it brings back the fun in men’s fashion.

Paris Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Paul Smith

Looking at the diverse types of models that walked in Paul Smith’s fashion show, you’d think he must have wanted to reach a large audience. The models were as different as they could be:  young, old, pale, bold, long, bearded, red-haired etc.

The clothes were just as diverse. Shirts with floral prints, checked jackets, colorful trousers and bowler hats were easily combined in one look. And while some clothes were appropriate for punky students other seemed perfect for late night dinners.

In this collection Paul Smith mixed natural colors like brown, gray and beige with bright ones like pink, blue, red and purple.

A few jackets had decorated safety pins attached and we saw sunglasses in some of the breast pockets.

Items that really caught our eye were a black poncho, a long cobalt blue overcoat and a turquoise colored suit. The show ended with some slick black dinner jackets.

Then Paul Smith and all his models came on to the runway in a chaotic manner that matched the fashion show’s overall vibe.

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