Trend Report FW2016: Shine your way into the new year

Fall season represents the end of bikini’s and other sexy summer wear, but it has its charme on its own. And that brings a noticeable -and likeable- shift in the amount of clothes and fabrics we wear. Of course, we need to get more warm and comfy, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still be alluring. For the women who love anything shiny, the designers haven’t let you down. On the contrary, the catwalks were dripping in shiny fabrics. Some went for full-on, dazzling (Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton and Cavalli) others more demure and sophisticated (Margiela, Philipp Plein and Liselore Frowijn). Translated through metallics, satin, brocade, soft silks, sequins and sparkly embellishment. But the main thing to remember for this trend: it’s highly wearable. You don’t have to be a model to pull this one off. You don’t have to pretend like you’re walking on a catwalk or you’re about to attend The Grand Ball. Any of that, most of these looks are suitable on a daily basis (okay, the dresses might be quite challenging at the office) and especially this december month. So don’t be afraid to throw on a shiny bomber jacket as seen at Alex Wang or a toned-down shiny wintercoat spotted at Valentino. So chop chop, get on it and make some space in your wardrobe for this holiday-ready fashion statement.

Jan Taminiau Haute Couture Fashion Show FW2015 Amsterdam

While the fashion-circus moved from Milan to Paris last monday, Jan Taminiau decided to present his new haute couturecollection in Amsterdam in an intimate setting. Artist Trudy Derksen opened her atelier to guests and clients and it proved to be a great setting for Taminiau’s dresses and pantsuits. It was all elegant and feminine and made for those women of the world, who divide their time between work and social events. Especially the evening-dresses were impressive, esspecially the ones with embroideries and handpainted flowers.

Fendi Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2015

The Fendi-collection was all about geometry, experimental volumes and a little fun. Inspiration for stage and invitation was the work by Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp. But while they referenced her circular work, much of what was on the runway was angular — coats, dresses, even pants were made from pieced-together panels.

This collection was a fusion of faux-utilitarian pragmatism and flamboyance. There was a bit of the Alpine worker to the pinafores and chaps-like leather additions attached at the hips to skirts. Bibs and aprons in paneled constructions were fastened by giant buttons. Continuing with the add-a-flower motif started two seasons back with orchid corsages, here, birds of paradise popped out of color-blocked fur and shearling bags.

The fabric splicing intrigued — the simplicity of the two-tone white coat that opened the show to graphically collaged coats and a witty felt gilet over corduroy pants wrapped in tubes of shearling from the knees down. The diversity continued through to silhouettes; looks came long and lean, long and swingy, short and crisp, and big, bigger, biggest, with the mega-statement coming on the big side. Lagerfeld and Fendi did outrageous takes on the puffer, including out-to-there short jackets over slim skirts and some strapless dresses.

Streetfashion Womenswear New York FW2015, Day 2

What are you wearing during the fashion weeks? Your Burberry-boots, that vintage Dior or your latest Celine coat? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashion weeks we refresh our streetwear posts regularly. We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy fashion and your own personal style. Next stop: New York Fashion Week fall/winter 2015.

Tommy Hilfiger Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2015

Tommy Hilfiger started his company in 1985. And in three decades he has established a serious company with all the Americana people love. In the past 30 years, Hilfiger has ridden the wave of designer stardom, always with a certain admirable confidence. Maybe that’s because he has been unfailing in his love of Americana in its many, many guises. To kick off his 30th anniversary celebration, he created a Fall collection inspired equally by American football and Love Story.
He staged the show at the Park Avenue Armory, which was transformed into a football stadium, with a Jumbotron capturing the fashion plays as models walked the runway in Ali MacGraw-inspired ’70s-prep silhouettes. They were wearing faux-fur stadium jackets with red-stitched toggles, wool cashmere ponchos, and several looks in bouclé plaid. The jacket of a shorts suit, for instance, was decorated with a knitted striped collar. Those athletic stripes added a sporty detail to just about every item, many of which were decorated with little pins and stars reminiscent of 1940s football paraphernalia.

For Hilfiger, this was just the beginning of a year of celebration.

Donna Karan Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2015

Donna Karan’s whole career has been inspired by New York City. For Fall she used the nighttime skyline as a backdrop for the runway, and made the blacks and grays of the buildings and the glinting golds of their lights her show’s central colors. Perched on platform sandals or boots, the collection’s long, lean silhouette owed something to the city’s new class of super-scrapers. New York is tall and getting taller. It’s a melting pot, too. Obi-like belts and origami folds on the one hand and opulent, burnished brocades on the other conveyed something of its multicultural glamour.

Depending on the season, Karan shifts between tailoring and dresses. This collection was mostly built on the former. All manner of jackets, from blazers to a leather bomber, were belted at the midriff above tapering trousers or narrow skirts. Her evening dresses had a modern spirit.

MBFWA, This was day 3

Day 3 of MBFWA is a fact. We look back to some great shows like Maison the Faux, SchuellerdeWaal and Sis by Spijkers & Spijkers.

Versace Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Menswear FW2015

No decoration, no color, no print. Just the soul of Versace: silhouette and cut. That was the message of Donatella Versace for her FW 2015 menswear collection. She envisaged the collection as a kind of ground zero, leveling the playing field for the future. It was certainly a step away from excess and ambiguity and gladiatorial camp as we have seen many times.

The color palette was a banquet of soothing neutrals. For all the designer’s insistence on cut, it was softness that dominated. A hooded mink coat and a Mongolian lamb backpack were its most extreme manifestations. Otherwise, jacquard-ed blousons and parkas had the comfy look and feel of blankets. The body-conscious cashmere knitwear in long cabled cardigans and even longer rib-knit tops, layered over leggings was lean and athletic. It took on an impressive masculine heft with oversized outerwear.

Dolce & Gabbana Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Menswear FW2015

The message of love that drove the latest collection of Dolce & Gabbana couldn’t have been timelier. Love, family, community—the eternal verities that offer security when the foundations are kicked out from under us.

The curtains opened on eight real families in a tableau vivant, friends and colleagues of the designers’, from grandmothers to babies, adding a new spin to the idea of DNA. The images on the clothing featured other families, from Renaissance renditions of the Nativity to naive cartoons of the classic nuclear mum, dad, and two kids. The model casting was cross-generational as well. Regarding the fashion, there was the reassurance of the familiar: a three-piece suit in black brocade, some artfully distressed denim, an embroidered sweatshirt, a graphic tee. There was comfort, too, in tweeds, jersey pants, pajamas, lounge suits, rubber Wellington boots, and shoes that looked like a sophisticated take on pony-skin clogs. And everywhere there were the appliqués: “Amore,” “Famiglia,” “Love Forever.”

DSquared catwalk Fashion Show Milan Menswear FW2015

When two designers like Dean and Dan Caten mark their 20th anniversary, one can expect an over the top celebration. The duo did not disappoint — at least on the frolic front — with a great venue and live entertainment.

Heavy rain did not withhold guests from flocking to the Hangar Bicocca in Milan on Friday night, where Anselm Kiefer’s installation “The Seven Heavenly Palaces” served as backdrop for a fashion show. There was one recurring look — skinny denim pants with cowboy boots, plus outerwear options ranging from common puffers to lumberjack jackets inspired by the duo’s home and native land. This looked best when the Canadian mountaineer took on a rock ’n’ roll guise in parkas generously lined with fur and styled with matching trapper hats.

The highlight was a surprise performance by Mary J. Blige, who walked out for the finale dressed in an embroidered burgundy tuxedo, followed by the twins lip-singing to her rendition of U2’s “One.” It was her birthday, too.

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