Sonia Rykiel Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Enough of the frizzy red wigs at Sonia Rykiel! This time the models had cute pony tails and large pom-pom headbands. The models were happy about it. At least, they all put on a smile at the catwalk.

Sonia Rykiel herself proved she’s not involved too much anymore by sitting front row, next to Beth Ditto. Her daughter Nathalie had to do it all on her own. And she did a very good job.

She let Dutch model Mirte Maas (we say: excellent choice!) open the show. Mirte wore an XXX-oversized woolen suit and was able to make it work. The cozy knitwear that followed, had soft colors like beige, off-white and different hues of light brown. (What a relief after all the bright Sonia Rykiel for H&M colors we had to look at for months.)

There were dresses with knitted sleeves and woolen cardigans, worn with big belts. A long bright red coat with a huge safety pin looked very comfy. We saw pant suits, fur coats and military jackets. On a lot of the pants a diagonal shoulder strap was attached. It didn’t really hold up the pants, it was just a nice detail. In some designs the shape of the breasts was accentuated by the fabric. Yet it made the models’ tiny breasts look even smaller, but maybe that was the intention.

Halfway the show a pair of cycling pants, left behind from the summer collection, was shown. It was worn over a pair of white tights. Soon after that some colors were introduced. Three outfits had collared stripes all over them and a few other designs came in kobalt blue matched with black. Luckily the collection then turned back to neutral shades. Skirts, dresses and jumpsuits came by in satin, chiffon and a transparent sort of knitwear.

So according to Sonia Rykiel the trends for next winter are: natural colors, oversized suits, suitpants, large woolen dresses or cardigans and ladylike details. We can hardly wait!

The finale was, as always with Sonie Rykiel, a big party. All models came up in light-shaded marabou coats and dresses. They were smiling, clapping and dancing and seemed to have the time of their lives. And Nathalie Rykiel…, she just partied along.

Catwalktrends ss2010: Headbands

Although many designers gave their models a natural look and let their hair hang loose, some of them experimented with the model’s hairdo’s. We saw braids, we saw curls and we saw headbands!

Stefano Pilati created the most outstanding headband-look for Yves Saint Laurent. His girls wore the zig zag headbands you may remember wearing when you were a kid. Yet his models didn’t just wear one of them; it must have been at least ten headbands per model.

Then we had the Hermes models who wore wide headbands, some with a snake print. In the Bottega Veneta show all girls wore the same white ones. At Lacoste the models got a braided white version or a colorful striped one. And Michael Kors’s models showed some transparent plastic ones that matched with his bracelets.

Marc Jacobs of course used his headbands with bow and Sonia Rykiel had the black flat circular ‘hats’ attached to hers. Sienna Miller gave her girls a turban-looking headband for her Twenty8Twelve show.

Trends ss2010: fantastic plastic

How can you protect yourself from the rain and still look sexy?

Zac Posen, Sonia Rykiel, Frankie Morello, D Squared and others gave us the answer: you just wear a transparent plastic raincoat. In this way you’re still showing the great outfit you’re wearing underneath and your silhouette stays visible too.

For next spring transparent plastic was used by several different designers. Isn’t it typical that at least four designers came up with a see-through raincoat, independently of each other? At all four shows these raincoats also popped up out of nowhere and didn’t really connect to the rest of the clothes in the collections.
But the raincoat wasn’t the only transparent plastic item; there were bags and shoes as well, for example at Prada. D Squared and Charles Anastase both had transparent bags too.

Michael Kors used the plastic for his bathing suits and bracelets. Out of everything we saw the most fantastic plastic was made by Frankie Morello. He came up with a chique Chanel-looking plastic jacket, which had collar and cuffs made out of fabric.

Tess van Daelen

Trends ss2010: fashionably exposed

Together with the nudes there’s a a lot of semi-nudity for next summer-season too.

Many designers worked with sheer and airy fabrics. Through these light fabrics the models’ skins were visible most of the time. At Giambattista Valli, YSL, Michael Kors, Sonia Rykiel and House of Holland the models’ breasts could clearly be seen through their designs.

Almost every piece of clothing came by in a transparent version. Roberto Cavalli even designed a few see-through pants. Valentino’s shiny, ruffled and transparent materials were made into super sexy party dresses. And Donnatella Versace created a few sheer evening gowns in pastel shades.

The sheer fabrics were often layered or draped. Viktor & Rolf used multiple transparent layers, becoming non-transparent by this application. Riccardo Tisci beautifully draped his sheer fabrics for Givenchy.

Apart from the delicate ultra-thin fabrics we could see some body-exposing nettings (Jil Sander, Sonia Rykiel, Just Cavalli) as well.

So, for next season don’t be afraid to show some skin. And if you are, just follow the example of Viktor & Rolf and wear lots of layers.

Tess van Daelen

Trends ss2010: goddess glamour

Next season shoulders are getting some extra attention in several different ways. We’ve seen shoulderpads, shoulder cut-outs,  adorned shoulders and one-shoulder dresses.

Many designers gave their own interpretation to the one-shoulder dress. Most often they put all their creativity in the dress’s one shoulder. They gave that one shoulder lots of layers, ruffles and draping so it really stood out and made up for the missing one.

During the Iceberg fashion-show shoulders were emphasized in many ways. The colorful one-shoulder dresses seemed to be the highlight of the show. At Lanvin the shoulders got a mix of ruffles and layers.

Sonia Rykiel showed a one-shoulder dress with bows all the way to the top.The shoulder on one of Viktor & Rolf’s designs (made out of hundreds of layers of tulle) reached as high as the model’s head.

Most one-shoulder designs looked sexy, summery and a bit Roman/Greek.

Tess van Daelen

Sonia Rykiel Catwalk Fashion Show ss2010

For Sonia Rykiel’s fashion show last year’s Park of Saint-Cloud was exchanged for Sonia Rykiel’s own shop on Boulevard Saint-Germain. The flowers on the runway had turned into shiny silver confetti. And the fashion show was just one big party, especially for the models since they could act as joyful as possible. It even made model Sasha Pivovarova’s face look cheerful. The girls gracefully walked down the runway. Once with three at a time in matching striped sweaters. Rykiel showed a lot of colorful long (sometimes knitted) cardigans with shoulder pads. See-through big buckled belts were worn with them. Most items of one outfit were in the same shade, decorated with stars, flowers or bows. Models showed lined body warmers, skirts and strapless tops with visible square seams. A great blue silky trouser suit with white palm leaves really stood out. Rykiel’s SS2010 collection is great fun to watch and to wear. (Tess van Daelen)

Sonia Rykiel Catwalk Fashion Show FW09

Sonia Rykiel Catwalk Fashion Show SS09