Hyun Yeu (womenswear) Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

July 17, 2010 by  
Filed under Amsterdam, Fashion, Featured Items

On Friday Hyun Yeu presented his womenswear collection just one day after his menswear show. There were ten looks ranging from a long peach-colored gala gown to a black lace party dress.

The blouses looked very good, especially a transparent black one. They had special shoulders and sleeves. A strong jacket with cut sleeves looked very good.

Like in Hyun Yeu’s menswear collections the womenswear pants looked great. The lace and sequined dresses would be great for a night out, yet they were not very outspoken and could have had more of a Hyun Yeu touch.

Such a pity there were only ten looks, we would have loved to see more…

John Galliano Catwalk Fashion Show FW2010

March 8, 2010 by  
Filed under Fashion, Paris, womenswear

The models at John Galliano’s fashion show represented a tribe of adventuring nomads. They wore large coats with fur accents. Some of them wore enormous hats, others had their hair folded into some strange architectural shape.

Like Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano used different cultural influences in his show as well. Galliano’s nomads were in fact crossing imaginary borders in search of new land.

The show was a true spectacle. Silver glitter fell from the sky and even fireworks were used. We really had to focus not to let that distract us from seriously looking at the collection.

Galliano designed a lot of coats. They first came by in gray, but later on  we could also see some green, yellow, gold and printed pink. As always with Galliano many details and accessories were added to the looks, which all deserved some attention. Tight necklaces, waistbelts, fur cuffs, floral printed trousers, feather jewelry, striped leggings and colored shoes. Not to forget the crazy hats, wigs and bronze make-up. The models looked larger than life in their voluminous designs and oversized hats.

Towards the end the fabrics became thinner and more skin was shown. Light-colored and transparent fabrics were used for more feminine designs. The show ended with a few long, gold and silver-embroidered gowns. Although we think transparencies and fur are not the best fabrics to combine in an evening gown, it sure was fun to look at.

Vivienne Westwood Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

March 5, 2010 by  
Filed under Fashion, Featured Items, Paris, womenswear

Fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, the Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beansteak were Westwood’s inspiration for her Prince Charming (fall) collection. Her models wore large colorful crowns, hats and cloaks. Their lips were bright red, their eyes were dark and some models had small mustaches painted on their faces. Very fairy tale-like indeed.

Like children love fairy tales they would have loved this colorful collection. The brightest pieces (in purple, red, mustard yellow and blue) were combined together. Colored leggings, belts, enormous hats and big bags completed the looks. Every item seemed to add more fun to the collection. Yet, apart from a pair of printed black and gold leggings, we probably wouldn’t leave the house soon in any of the designs. The shapes just looked too crazy and many items didn’t look finished.

The emphasized shoulders and the voluminous dresses were two great aspects of the show. Towards the end a white dress with floral prints and a light-colored waist belt looked lovely. An orange/pink gown felt like French couture and would also look perfect on the Sleeping Beauty (plus sleeping is probably the best thing to do in a delicate dress like that).

As in this year’s menswear shows Vivienne Westwood paid some attention to climate change. According to her climate change is, at the moment, the context of everything she does. ‘Like everyone who has woken up to the fact that we are endangered species I try to do something about it. And I wish to understand the world’, she said. Still, apart from a water bottle with the message ‘Stop climate change’ on our seats the problem wasn’t visible during the show.

With this collection Westwood showed a good game of dressing up. But although we knew the inspiration (fairy tales) of the show we didn’t get the one model that seemed to be calling on her cell. We also didn’t understand the dress full of paper streamer. As far as we’re concerned that dress was never worn in any fairy tale. So when we heard ‘If you could read my mind love’ at the end of the show we actually wanted to read Vivienne’s. Caus some parts of the show we just didn’t get.

Anna Sui Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

February 18, 2010 by  
Filed under Fashion, New York, womenswear

The first word that came to our minds when watching Anna Sui’s fashion show? Folklore.

With a stained-glass rendering of a Woodstock landscape in the background the models presented the most colorful outfits, the busiest prints and the most unexpected combinations of fashion items.

Every piece of clothing the hippie-chic girls had put on, was screaming for attention. Even Anna Sui’s tights were out of the ordinary. Yet the American designer mixed and matched all clothes and accessories in such a way that it looked all right. In fact, we’d almost belief wearing an embroidered suede dress with a jacquard blouse, printed tights and a big necklace was the only right way to wear it.

The prints had floral, graphic and animal details. And the colors we saw, varied from grey to army green, pink, red, brown, beige and purple. The final looks of the collection all came in white. The dresses in shades of brown, red and beige were our favorites, since they looked so perfect for autumn.

Apart from the colors and prints Anna’s collection was also a great gathering of textures. Suede, silk, crochet, lace and transparent dresses effortlessly alternated each other on the runway. In between those dresses woollen skirts, fur stoles, chunky cardigans and a quilted coat grabbed our attention.

Apart from the tights from her own leg wear line, the accessories in this collection were not made by Anna Sui herself. Jamie Coviello made the knit hats, Adrienne Landau took care of the fur stoles and the necklaces and brooches came from a century old Pottery in Detroit, Sui’s home town.

With this show Anna Sui gave numerous examples of how to mix and match her most colorful pieces. But will others be just as good at the styling job? We’re curious what combinations people will come up with and we doubt they will look as good as Anna’s.

Oscar de la Renta Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

February 18, 2010 by  
Filed under Fashion, Featured Items, New York, womenswear

The first things that caught our attention at the Oscar de la Renta fashion show were Jessica Biel sitting front row and the hair and make-up of the models. All girls had a classic look going on: beautiful eyes and lips and flawless curls. Even the spiky hair of model Freja Beha Erichsen now looked amazing.

The clothes were pretty impressive as well. The striking colors alone would make you look twice on the street. A woollen coat in red had a purple fur collar. A silk dress came in shiny orange, followed by a cobalt blue one. We also saw outfits in emerald green, turquoise and pink.

A couple of designs had a busy indescribable print, others were embellished with sequins in different shapes and sizes.

All models were very well-dressed. The dresses all stopped at knee-length and had very decent collars and necklines. The collection was spiced up a bit by some transparent tops and a pair of trousers (one of the three trousers in the whole collection) with several cut-outs.

Oscar’s evening dresses seemed to belong to four different collections. Some were column shaped, other were voluptuous. A few had floral prints, others had small polka dots. Some had sequins, others were transparent. A few came in black and white, others were turquoise or fuchsia colored.

The final dress was our favourite one: long, silver colored and shiny. It had a gorgeous collar and was completed with the perfect belt, brooch and clutch.

Overall Oscar de la Renta showed an elegant, feminine collection, yet he should have made it a little bit more cohesive.

Trends ss2010: lace details

December 14, 2009 by  
Filed under Fashion, General, Milan, New York, womenswear

Although lace is usually only seen in lingerie or underwear, we were now confronted with  lace in all kinds of daywear  in many shows. The largest  fashionbrands like Chanel, Dior, D&G, Oscar de la Renta, Cavalli, Valentino and Galliano introduced their clothing for the summer of 2010 with loads of lace.

The lace mostly came in neutral shades like black, white or beige. Yet in the Dior show we saw some black mixed with bright colors, like purple or pink. Erdem showed a combination of blue and black. At the fashion show of Antonio Marras  lace was mintgreen. And the models at Nina Ricci wore it in nudes and navy blue.

Jenny Packham designed some great feminine dresses in white lace. Paola Frani came up with a stunning jumpsuit in black lace. Barbara Bui made a few wonderful black lace jackets and Jasper Conran’s lace dresses felt a little bit like wedingdresses. At the Chanel fashion show the models wore many layers, topped with lace.

The most outstanding lace designs were a white mini dress with puffy shoulders from Jill Stuart and an elegant lace dress and jacket from Oscar de la Renta.

Introducing lace as a new trend for summer seems perfect. The fabric is airy and comfortable and makes women feel and look very ladylike.