Derek Lam Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2012

Derek Lam’s spring 2012 fashion show looked modern, streamlined and fresh. With a focus at print and cut. You could trace his Californian backround to the clean, architectural lines of the skirts, the sunny desert colors and a modern riff on the retro men’s wear look of a color-blocked shirt and cuffed straight-leg jeans. But the show was more about snappy sportswear with crisp, minimalist polish and a distinctly American look. Tunics and sweaters were belted over A-line skirts; there were utility and tank dresses.

 

 

Streetfashion New York Womenswear ss2012 Day 2

What are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Your Prada-boots, your latest Celine-dress or that vintage Chanel? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashionweeks 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.

Helmut Lang Catwalk Fashion Show New York ss2012

The label Helmut Lang is back. Brought back to life by Nicole Colovos and her husband Michael. Richard Serra was the inspiration for their ss2012 collection, with lots of black, white and bright yellow, draping, layering and angular hemlines.

The couple worked five years at Helmut Lang and this is their first catwalkshow. In the meantime they’ve built a real business on the consistency of their clothes’ cool, urban vibe: lots of black, lots of leather, a sharply cut blazer  and slouchy T-shirts.

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York ss2012

You can leave it to Alexander Wang to translate streetwear to high end fashion. No one does it better than he, it’s original, fresh, dirty, gritty and yet still feminine.
Wang has worked with athletic references before (athletic chic seems one of the early trends at New York fashion Week so far), and for his ss2012 Wang used motocross and BMX racing as his references. He opened with laser-cut mesh bombers, mini skirts and shorts, all black with a tight, neon polo peaking out.

The models marched out with hands through the sheer pockets for a sporty Surrealist effect. Then came ombré floral prints, blue and gray with a Hawaiian flavor, on utility gear (a dress with oversize zip pockets; cargo pants worn with a mesh bustier).  Leggings and track jackets looked like full racing suits with striped paneling and contrast color insets and they fitted like second skin.
As for accessories, there were pointy pumps made from the exotic skins of tropical fish, floral bike helmets and cross-body bags that looked like golf club bags and weren’t much smaller.

Prabal Gurung Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2012

For his sumer collection Prabal Gurung brought sweetness and bondage together. Inspired by Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki he came up with a gorgeous sensual flower print that he used in most of his designs. It was there on his dresses, shorts, skirts and pants finished off by dark lines and edges.

Apart from the vivid print there was a lot of sheerness too. Dresses had cut-outs in all imaginable places and transparent fabrics were used to cover up arms and legs. Gurung used sequins, lace, latex in shades like turquoise, purple, white and black.

His models looked confident, sexy and tough, just like he intended to. Yet it felt like there was a little too much going on at once. He might have pushed the boundaries a little too far with the dark edges, the sheer fabric ánd the cutouts.

But that surely won’t stop front row Nicki Minaj from wearing his designs; she is all about taking her outfits to the next level and not giving a damn.

 

Lacoste Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2012

With all the rumors going on about Marc Jacobs and Dior we might just forget there’s been another big shift at Lacoste. On the second day of the New York Fashion Week Felipe Oliveira Baptista, the new designer at Lacoste, had his debut (former Lacoste designer Christope Lemaire now works for Hermes).

Baptista didn’t go for any drastic changes. He just kept true to the brand’s identity and created a collection of sporty, preppy, fun clothes.

The bold horizontal stripes on several polo shirts felt a little boring. Yet those were easily forgotten after the jersey/beige sweater + blue belt came by. An aqua-colored blouse with graphic prints had the same wow-effect.

The classic sportswear color palette was updated here and there by strong shades like turquoise, orange and yellow. Leather details, fun pockets and cool accessories made the collection feel new.

Bapstista kept it simple, but changed just enough to make Lacoste customers running to the stores to get their hands on this funky fresh summer collection.

 

Streetfashion New York Womenswear SS2012 Day 1

What are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Your Prada-boots, your latest Celine-dress or that vintage Chanel? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashionweeks 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.

Jason Wu Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2012

He is known for his glamorous red carpet looks, but for summer 2012 Jason Wu gave his collection some extra street credibility. He combined fully buttoned shirts with sexy high waisted shorts, airy skirts (short in the front, long in the back) and ultra-thin parka’s.

The designs looked young, but still very sophisticated. Attention was paid to details and every look was right from head to toe. Wu used some black, white, grey, blue, pink and yellow and managed to get the most stunning color combinations out of those shades. He came up with a print too; a flower-petal print (for which he collaborated with artist KAWS) which could be seen throughout the whole show.

The shirts had all kinds of different beaded collars, which added an extra touch of luxury and are of course very on trend. Small belts, long earrings, colorful satchel bags, bold sandals, red lips and nails completed the picture.

On our NYFW wishlist so far:
one lightweight parka (grey)
one transparent shirt with beaded collar
Thank you.

 

 

First day of New York Fashion Shows SS2012

New York City is all mixed up these days. Not only because of the start of a new fashion season, the weather, the politics but first of all because of 9/11. You’d almost forget there are shows to attend. The first day were for Richard Chai, BCBG, Cushnie & Ochs and Tadashi. No big names, they will appear later this week. But still worth mentioning. And according to these first shows color, movement and dresses are leading. Let’s see what the others have in mind…

The best of Klavers Van Engelen

The fashion world has become a tough world, where most of the times figures and money count above design and craftsmanship. Klavers van Engelen were not able to survive in this world, despite their work for theater-companies like Mug met de Gouden Tand and concert pianist Tomoko Mukaiyama.

The label was founded in 1998 by Niels Klavers, who studied at the Rietveld-academy of arts in Amsterdam. Astrid van Engelen was his right hand from the beginning. The first years were relatively succesful, because Dutch conceptual fashion suddely became en vogue. Those days Niels Klavers and Astrid van Engelen presented their work in Paris together with Saskia van Drimmelen and Viktor & Rolf.

After 9/11 they decided for the first time to withdraw themselves temporarely from the fashionstage, also because one of their important buyers went bankrupt. The duo made their come-back in 2007 during the finale of the Dutch Fashion Awards. Their first collection after six years seemed less experimental and more wearable/commercial. They even got more buyers, important ones, like Luisa via Roma and Margreeth Olsthoorn. Still, it was difficult to survive and earn money with their work. It’s what happens to a lot of designers right now, worldwide. Without support they are lost and it ruins the landscape of fashion.

Hereby a selection of collections of past seasons from Klavers van Engelen:

 

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