Trends ss2010: flower power

Since we feel the overall vibe of femininity  for next spring,  the floral prints we spotted fit perfectly in with that. The flowers were usually small ones, repeated hundreds of times on the fabric.

At the Jackson and Moschino fashion show it were Oxeye daisies. Yet other designers (Yves Saint Laurent, Luella Bartley, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana) used rose prints. Viktor & Rolf didn’t have floral prints in their clothes but they did use roses to decorate their pink boots.

Overall the flowers had a very classic feeling to it. The way they were painted and the colors that were used really felt like your grandmother’s wallpaper.

The prettiest floral prints were those of Dolce & Gabbana. Their perfect shapes and colors could be seen on r dresses, shorts, tops, jackets and lingerie. In one look a floral printed skirt was even mixed with a leopard printed top. Both with black lace on the edges.

The ss2010 collections lack lots of color, but the florals do add some brightness to next season.

Trends ss2010: tight fitted

At the menswear fashion shows we spotted lots of suits. Complete suits in one color or just combinations of pants and jackets. The remarkable thing about those pants and jackets was that they were all pretty tight fitting. So the muscular bodies of the models were clearly accentuated.

Givenchy, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Lanvin, Moschino and Paul Smith showed some tight  looks. The jackets were often left unbuttoned.

Another trend we saw at the menswear collections were the tucked up sleeves. The boys at the fashion shows of Costume National, Vivienne Westwood, Etro, Raf Simons Lanvin and John Richmond  had it all. We spotted some short sleeves as well at the Neil Barrett and the Cerrutti show.

So  wear your suit a little tighter next season. Loose fitted is so 2009!

Dutch Models: Mirte Maas

A new face conquered the catwalk during the last fashion weeks. It was the face of the Dutch model Mirte Maas. She is just seventeen years old, yet she participated in countless fashion shows for ss2010.

Mirte is signed with Women Management in New York (Kate Moss and Natasha Poly were also signed there), butalso  has contracts with modelling agencies in Milan and Paris.

During the New York fashion week Mirte was the first girl in the Alexander Wang fashion show. Although many people talked about her frightened look during the opening of that show, it didn’t stop her.

Later on we spotted Mirte in Milan and Paris at almost every big show. Roberto Cavalli, Chanel, Chloé, Fendi, Givenchy, Hermes, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Lagerfeld, Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, Marni, Missoni, Moschino, Prada, Nina Ricci and Valentino, to name a few (few? That’s a full agenda! It’s a wonder she was still looking fresh)

Style.com named Mirte Maas as one of the Ten New Faces in fashion. We’ll be seeing a lot more from her.

Trends ss2010: sunglasses

When it comes to sunglasses every possible shape, size and color was presented on the runway.

We saw a crazy pair at the Ungaro fashion show which had diamonds all over the glasses. At Alexander Wang they were very pointy. At Hussein Chalayan they were pentagonal. In the Moschino show a few pairs had the shape of a flower.

Karl Lagerfeld put guitars on the side of his glasses. At Jenden they had all kinds of sparkling colorful rocks on the frame. And Louis Vuitton made them look like diving-glasses.
If there was a trend to be recognized among all those sunglasses it might be the one of the small circular Beatle glasses. They were there at the fashion shows of Erdem, Carolina Herrera, House of Holland, Iceberg and Schwab.

Another variant that stood out were the sunglasses with the pointy Fifties-inspired sides, which give someone the angry schoolteacher’s look. Jenny Packham, Rochas, Sonia Rykiel, Alexander Wang and Giles had them in their fashion show.

So, no specific look stood out for SS2010. Yet it might be time for the Beatle-glasses to return.

Trends ss2010: men in red

When we look at the menswear collections for spring/summer 2010 one thing immediately catches our attention:  together with black, white and beige we see lots of bright colors.

Blue, red and purple dominated the new collections, especially the ones by Bottega Veneta, CP Company, Dirk Bikkembergs, Armani and Ferragamo. At Ungaro the models wore lots of pink.

Since we saw mostly red in the spring/summer collection, let’s focus at that. It came by in dozens of different shades. At Armani, Ferragamo and Gaultier the red tended towards orange. At Lanvin and Emporio Armani a deep red prevailed. One of Paul Smith’s models was totally covered in red, including his shoes.

Many red coats passed by. A few in leather (Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Ferragamo, Iceberg), some trenchcoats (Paul Smith, Trussardi) and several jackets (Gucci, Bikkembergs, Bottega Veneta).

With so many shades of red there will surely be one that matches your skin tone. So no one has an excuse not to follow this red color trend next season.

Dutch models: Lara Stone

One of the Dutch Models that is internationally moving towards the top is Lara Stone. The daughter of a Dutch mother and a British father is doing well in the modelling industry. Ever since she signed with modelling agency IMG in 2006 she’s really breaking through.

For spring/summer 2010 we saw her in shows of Givenchy, Chanel, Miu Miu, Hermes and Prada. Yet she’s also doing well in photo shoots. The French Vogue payed a tribute to the Dutch model in their February issue of this year and The British Vogue recently named her Girl Of The Year. Stone appears in big photo shoots in major international fashion magazines, as if she was born for the modelling business.

Every big fashion brand wants her in their show or campaign. And although Lara Stone didn’t walk in the Louis Vuitton fashion show, she will feature in the SS2010 ad campaign of the brand. In this position she will follow up Madonna, who was the LV face for 2009.

It seems Stone will be one of the future super models. Will she be the next Kate Moss or Claudia Schiffer? Anyway, we’re very proud she is Dutch. 😀

Make-up trends ss2010: bright eyes

No smokey eyes next season, but bright colorful ones that really stand out and give you that summer-feeling.

The models’ eyes were painted in every color of the rainbow. At Dior they were purple, blue and green. At Fahri they came in a pastel green and purple combination. Galliano’s girls had pink eyes. Luella Bartley gave her models a thick layer of blue eye shadow, which even crossed their eyebrows.

At Issa the eyes were metallic green and at the Derek Lam fashion show they looked like little rainbows in orange, purple and green. Viktor & Rolf gave their models a mix of pastel-colored eye shadow as well; we saw pink, blue, purple and green. Those colors matched with the outfits from their SS2010 collection.

The combinations of many bright colors looked great on each of the models. So for next summer I think we can spice up our make up and try to create the same pastel-colored eye shadow look for ourselves. If you dare, use green and purple; they seem to be the main colors for 2010.

Trends ss2010: lace details

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.

Trends ss2010: skinny pants

Although the first celebs are already wearing wide-legged jeans, the skinny trend continues. For spring/summer 2010 the long and skinny model legs were still accentuated by tight leggings or ulta skinny pants. Not in denim, but different kind of materials.

Often it was hard to distinguish a pant from a legging, as they were equally tight. The skinny pants were often combined with loosely-fitting long tops, blouses or jackets.

At the Balmain fashion show there were skinnies in black and (glittery) camouflage. Barbara Bui designed hers with fish scales. Balenciaga’s pants had leather details. The Burberry and the Ungaro pants were pleated from bottom to top. At the Chanel Fashion show the boys wore the same black/green skinny pants as the girls. Roberto and Eva Cavalli designed a pair of light and shiny trousers with horizontal tears. The skinny pants from Matthew Williamson, Tony Cohen, Givenchy and Versace had all kinds of  patterns.

Since the skinny pants and the loose-fitting tops make such a great outfit together, it’s not time yet for the wide pants to return.

Christopher Bailey: Designer of the Year at BFA

Christopher Bailey, the creative whirlwind who has helped turn the heritage brand, Burberry, into a global luxury label, was wednesdaynight named ‘Designer of the Year’ 2009, at the British Fashion Awards. It is the second win for Bailey who previously was awarded the title in 2005.

Last night’s fashion “oscar” capped a remarkable year for Bailey, the 38-year-old Yorkshireman, who received the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours earlier this year, and whose spring/summer 2010 Burberry Prorsum collection was the highlight of London Fashion Week, in September.

In addition, Burberry took home the Designer Brand award. In his acceptance speech, Bailey, who is chief creative officer, announced that Burberry Prorsum would continue to show at London Fashion Week in February.

You want to know why we like Christopher?

Bailey knows how to mix classic and modern and his particular skill is to cleverly update the brand stalwarts, like the trench, with enough fashion flair to make them seem fresh and wantable, season after season. The figures speak for themselves: while other brands languish in the recession, Burberry saw its revenue rise by 21% in the last financial year.  That translates into a lot of product sold — and Bailey is in control of it all. Everything you see ath Burberry’s headquarters has been passed by Bailey, not just the building, but the website and the furniture, right down to the bottles of water. He micromanages some areas, such as a new store concept, and macromanages the rest.

So is Bailey a scary control freak, unable to let go of even the smallest detail? “I’m so lucky,” he told Colin McDowell at The Sunday Times. “My role is challenging. It is so multifaceted, but that enables me to absorb many things that really interest me: the music for the shows, the website, the ad campaigns, the fragrances — and the clothes, of course.”

Bailey was brought up in Yorkshire; his father was a carpenter and his mother worked as a window-dresser for Marks & Spencer. Direct, natural and always articulate, he is a true Yorkshireman and no pushover. He trained in a tough school, working with Donna Karan, then as chief womenswear designer for Tom Ford at Gucci, before being chosen by Rose Marie Bravo, the chief executive at the time, to design for Burberry.

Despite all appearances — he is always in jeans and a T-shirt, but rarely without a jacket — Bailey is a fashion businessman as well as a designer. “The power that my job gives me is huge,” he says. “It would be so easy to be overwhelmed by the pressure. The deadlines, the budgets, the fact that my life at Burberry is so scheduled, and my days are full from 8.30am until late, usually well after 8pm. And the meetings. I’m always conscious that Burberry is much bigger than I am. It’s 153 years old. My life here hasn’t even reached 10 years yet, but I have been here long enough to say that Burberry flows in my veins. I love its values. I respond to its strong foundations and, of course, its history is a constant inspiration.”

According to Bailey, there is a knack to being a fashion polymath. “I can compartmentalise different aspects of my life in my head, so that, on one side, I have work and all the different projects we are involved in at any one moment, and on the other, my personal life. Keeping them in separate boxes contains them so they can both be made manageable. At work, I need order: cool, clean spaces that really help me to think clearly. But at home, I want that order to be scrambled.”

He has learnt how to go into performance mode in public, but he likes his private life to be private. “You know, I often think I could easily become a hermit,” he says. “I certainly know I can live by myself, although I would always choose to live in a loving relationship.” He is in one now, having recovered from an earlier relationship that ended in tragedy when his lover died. Maybe that’s why he claims: “The most wonderful thing is being happy with someone. Someone who can give you mental stimulation as well as emotional support.”

And he is very loyal. “My best friend is Rebecca. She was my best friend at school and she is still the person I ring more often than anybody, apart from my family. I go to Yorkshire whenever I can, have Sunday dinner with my parents, talk to Mum in the kitchen while she’s making the gravy. That’s when I feel totally happy and content.” He has a house not far from his parents; it’s an old farm, and he loves driving up there from his flat in Chelsea in what he claims is “a really clapped-out old Mini”.

Once he’s there, he has his way of unwinding. “I put on my wellies — I love my wellies — get the wheelbarrow out of the shed and bring in the logs and the coals. My great luxury is that I have a fire in the bedroom. Then I go to see the cows. I usually have friends to stay. We often end up at the local in the evening, having a few drinks.” It’s the same with holidays. “Nothing glamorous,” he says. “I just don’t need it.”

“It’s not looks, it’s character that counts with me. And really, I suppose, I like people in the same way that I like houses: a bit rambly and slouchy. People I can put my feet up with.”

See, that’s why we like him.

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