Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Dolce & Gabbana

Ennio  Morricone’s music added that special drama to the Dolce & Gabbana-show, which was a tribute to Giuseppe Tornatore’s new movie Baaria – nominated for this years Oscars. The collection seemed also a tribute to the label itself, which celebrates it’s 20-th anniversary this year. And that means heritage Sicilian workwear in black and white, lot’s of grey, dirty jeans and shoes, destroyed knits, tight T-shirts and old fashioned underwear. The longjohn is definitively back as a fashion-item. As is the laced up armyboot.

Elle Style Awards turn multi-colored folklore

Friday evening, the 15th of  January, the sixth edition of the Elle Style Awards took place in Amsterdam. The Dutch fashion scene gathered at the Hermitage to see which stylist, celebrity and guest of the evening had the best style.

The dresscode, as well as the whole theme for the evening, was folklore. This lead to a mixed, colorful and multi-colored scene. There were feathers, crazy prints and sequins. Of course we spotted lots of red, fur and eyecatching accessories. We could just sit and stare at all those people for a whole evening. How amazing!

Yet there was more to see at the Hermitage. Three young stylists gave their own fashion show. They each created seven folklore-inspired looks. For these looks they had to use some items from the latest H&M collection and mix and match these items with real designer pieces.

All three stylists had a very strong own style and gave a fantastic show. Lisa Anne Stuyfzand won the award of Elle Stylist Award. During her show the audience already went crazy and applauded several times. Lisa Anne used feather and lace and her models showed a lot of leg. The fun part of her show was the fact that her models carried copper cauldrons as handbags.

Besides the Stylist Award there was the Elle Personal Style Award, which was presented to a Dutch celebrity. Singer Giovanca received this award for her great streetchic/etnic style. The third award of the evening, the Elle Most Sensuous Woman Award, went to the best dressed woman of the evening: model Sylvia van der Klooster in a stunning Fong Leng-creation. Her outfit really stood out and perfectly matched the folklore dresscode.

After the awards were presented it was time for the real party to get started. Together with all guests Elle celebrated another great year of style and fashion.

Catwalktrends ss2010: showstopping shoes

The designers gave the models a hard time walking the runway to show the spring/summer collections. The shoes they had to wear often had eye-catching shapes and heights.

The shoes in the Jil Sander show had iron pins for heels. Donatella Versace used platform shoes. John Galliano’s shoes were extremely high and his stiletto heels seemed to be made of colored pearls. Chanel introduced a few clogs.

Some models in the Dsquared show had spikes all over their shoes. Viktor & Rolf embellished theirs with pink flowers, Vivienne Westwood decorated hers with wings. Matthew Williamson’s shoes had bows.

Next to the ultra high shoes we saw ultra-flat sandals (Issey Miyake, Anna Sui, Valentino, Lacoste, Etro, Armani, Chloe). Those sandals, snake leather and wearing socks in open shoes seem to become the trends for this spring.

Of course the Alexander McQueen shoes were real showstoppers. His shoes were high, had crazy alienated shapes and had reptile prints all over them. Gaga oehlala…

Catwalktrends ss2010: really tiny bags

Tiny bags definitely seem to be a trend on the runway. Yet they are very unpractical, because there aren’t many items that will fit in these bags.

But can we still call it a bag? Most versions we saw on the runway looked more like extraordinarily shaped purses, if you ask us.

The bags may be unpractical, yet they created some funny looks on the catwalk. Extremely tiny were the bags in the Anteprima, Blugirl, Bottega Veneta, Etro, DSquared, Fendi and Moschino fashion show. .

Most original were the Fendi bag with spikes, the pink bag form Gianfranco Ferré, the wooden ‘bag frame’ from Stella McCartney and the silk heart shaped bag from Moschino.

Unfortunately you’d have to keep most of these tiny bags in your hand all evening, but do they look cute!

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.

Beautytrends ss2010: frizzy hair

While we’re spending millions on hair straighteners and anti-frizz products the frizzy hair look is promoted big time on the catwalks.

In many shows the models’ hair was messed up and looked frizzy. At the Etro, Westwood and the Sonia Rykiel show the hair looked extraordinary. And what about the big Afro-wigs at Vuitton!

Of course the frizzy hair had to be the look of Sonia Rykiel’s models. That hairstyle has become the brand’s trademark. Other fashion brands must have chosen the look because they wanted to show something else, not because it looks so good.

The frizzy hair trend could be catastrophic for the economy. Yet it would be a solution for all women who’ve died, bleached, curled and straightened their hair so much that it has become frizzy itself.

Trends ss2010: the men’s skirt

The men’s skirt has been all over the news lately. Maybe because fashion brand H&M recently introduced a men’s skirt for their spring/summer collection 2010. And usually when H&M comes up with a trend it is picked up by many followers.

Of course H&M is not the first brand to introduce the men’s skirt. We’ve seen this fashion item on the runway for years. One true lover and wearer of skirts is designer  Marc Jacobs, who takes his bows most of the time dressed in a kilt.

This year there were some skirts in the menswear collections as well. At Thom Browne we spotted an ultra short version, at the show of Jean Paul Gaultier (one of the first designers with skirts for men)  the skirts were much longer. Rick Owens’ models wore multiple layers, one of those layers being the skirt. Other brands which had skirts in their collection were John Galliano, Francisco van Benthum and Kris van Assche.

We’re very curious if the skirt will become the trend for men in 2010.

Dutch Models: Bregje Heinen

One of the new faces we spotted at the catwalk was that of Dutch model Bregje Heinen. At the (young) age of sixteen she is already strutting the catwalks of many great fashion brands.

With her big eyes and lips looking as if she’s constantly pursing them, she has the perfect model-look.

We saw her in the fashion shows of Balenciaga, Fendi, Gucci, Lagerfeld, Donna Karan, Prada and Louis Vuitton. At the Stella McCartney show Bregje was even the only new model that was added to the model line-up.

Though people from abroad are struggling with the name Bregje (It’s pronounced brechk-ye) she’s bound to become a Dutch super model.

Trends ss2010: women’s accessories

Next summer large necklaces (and wearing multiple ones) seem to be the it-item for women. These necklaces could be seen at fashion shows of Vivienne Westwood, Bottega Veneta, Barbara Bui, Byblos, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Donna Karan, Badgley Mischka and Moschino.

Another accessory that kept popping up was a handbag that the models literally wore in their hands. Sometimes it had a belt to carry the bag on their shoulders but they still kept them in their hands.

One special handbag at the Alexander McQueen fashion show resembled a bowling ball. The model had to put her fingers in it to carry it.

Eye-catching accessories were the Blumarine jewelry that looked like children’s jewelry, some magnificent hair accessories at Chanel, a belt-like bracelet at Blugirl, an ant-necklace at Dsquared, and some pearl bracelets and plastic flower corsages at Galliano.

Apart from these accessories most collections were very sober. The designers let their clothes speak for themselves, without all the fuss added.

Trends ss2010: sporty fashion

Hoodies, zippers, caps, sleeveless tops, short shiny jackets and net fabrics dominated the menswear collections for 2010. That can only mean one thing: sports influences.

There was the basketball look (Kris van Assche), the gymnastic look (Francisco van Benthum, Calvin Klein) and the football look (Bikkembergs). There were sailing types (Burberry), the boxer types (Ann DeMeulemeester), the diving types (Moncler Gamme Blue, Gucci) the golf player and the horse back rider (Frankie Morello).

Especially Gucci had a lot of shiny sports jackets, not referring to a specific sport.

Sportswear and casual wear really seemed to merge with each other on the catwalk. Of course menswear is always a little bit sporty, but this time sports were all over the place. However, whether a tanktop made  of a net fabric is very suitable for going to the office remains to be seen.

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