Milan Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Jil Sander

Raf Simons still tries to push the boundaries of traditional menswear at Jil Sander without being silly or looking forced. By using the best fabrics and skills of experienced tailors he manages to present a collection that’s far ahead of others and also very daring. I mean: who would put mobile pockets at jackets or lift the waistline? This was a tailored wardrobe injected with energy, with a concrete focus on shape and a forthlooking approach, using texture and construction to define a confident masculinity.

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.

backstage world ss2010: smile!

It’s a whole different world backstage at the fashionshows. A world of fun, excitement and creativity. Today: backstage at D&G, where models are telling jokes and making fun of each other.

groupielove, the end

In his time away in New York, Williamson learned something about putting on a show. Honed by exposure to that city’s demand for brevity in design, his show in London was a much more focused, slim-contoured collection consisting of leather-inserted polished-linen sheath dresses, super-skinny pants, and paper-bag-waisted shorts.

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!

Groupielove # 15

A piece of paper displaying eco-slogans greeted guests on their seats at Vivienne Westwood. The same messages (“Act fast, slow down, stop climate change”) appeared on the clothes, sometimes pinned to the models’ chests as if they were competitors in a running race.

This is nothing new for a Westwood show; Dame Viv has been spreading her anti-consumerism and pro-green beliefs via the runway for years. The collection trod mostly familiar ground as well. There were the clingy intarsia knits, the wrapped and draped dresses with odd volumes, the bustiers with the deflated bra cups.

The unfinished edges and hems on almost everything reminded you that Westwood did them, if not first, then decades before this season’s manifestations.

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.

Groupielove # 13

The Valentino-duo is now designing with a new Valentino generation in mind—one that likes its party dresses short and isn’t afraid of sheer. There wasn’t a (Valentino)red dress in sight. Instead, Piccioli and Chiuri romanced the soft tones of nude, rose, lavender, gold, and gray that have become the big color story of the season. Their methods included swirling organza around the body and tying it off with a flamboyant bow, embroidering tulle T-shirt dresses in antique laces and geometric metal paillettes, and printing chiffon with black orchids. A couple of fitted leather jackets and minis embellished with laser-cut rosettes provided a bit of edge. Glass slippers didn’t figure in this story, but the London-based milliner Philip Treacy did whip up some fanciful footwear with lace wings arcing upward from the heels.

In sum: This was a well-timed step forward for the new Valentino duo, one that put the brand at the center of some of Spring’s key trends and started to give it a new relevance.

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