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!

Groupielove # 8

Vivid pastels, geometric prints, baroque curlicues, short-short skirts, and slinky, sexy chain mail: Where else could this be but Versace? For Spring, Donatella Versace was telling everyone who went backstage that she’d been inspired by Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (which comes out next March). “I loved the idea of that fantasyland,” she said. Really, though, you didn’t need to know that to appreciate the fact that this was Versace redux—the Gianni heyday of the early nineties retooled in a gloriously confident way.

Groupielove #4

Karl Lagerfeld is still going strong and he can’t get enough of fashion yet. “I like imagination — and the way I think things could be, had been, or should be — better than reality”, is one of hist latest oneliners at Twitter. Well, hios collection for Fendi was better than reality: wispy fabric, ivory and ecru, off-pastels, and fraying edges with a little touch of Parisian lingerie. It looked as if Karl Lagerfeld had drawn from his French vocabulary to make a cream silk high-necked playsuit (part classic blouse, part romper) and a dotted tulle shirt with a frilled triangle bra beneath. Thankfully, it didn’t slip completely into the clichés of boudoir (hypersexy is not the mood). That’s because of the more rough-hewn elements—say, a pale blue linen sarong, wrapped like a simple piece of raw-edged fabric around the body—and the incredibly luxurious Fendi craftsmanship.

Dutch models: Patricia van der Vliet

Dutch models were well-represented at the catwalk this year. One of the ‘new faces’ we saw in many big shows was  Patricia van der Vliet. The blond girl popped up in shows from Prada, Balenciaga, Nina Ricci and Yves Saint Laurent. She even had the honor to open the Louis Vuitton show (the only time we saw her with black (afro) hair).

Patricia once participated in the Dutch tv-show Holland’s Next Top Model. Although she did not win, she ultimately made her way into the modelling business.

Her diverse appearances in shows of the largest brands in the world showed us how versatile Patricia is as a model. In some shows she was hardly recognizable.

Style.com already discussed Patricia as one of the ten new faces on the catwalk. Hopefully we will be seing a lot more of this girl. If you ask us, we already consider her as a Top Model.

Tess van Daelen

Groupielove # 2

In a serene and beautifully judged collection done almost entirely in shades of cream, Tomas Maier put the individualistic way we use clothes at the center of his thought process. “I think of it as a collaboration with women,” he said to style.com. “The clothes are meant to be a backdrop, a blank canvas, so the wearer can play with color and accessories to change the look and make it her own.” The concept of the neutral background came when he saw a group of children being dropped off at a karate class in Florida, where he lives: “I liked the look of the canvas, and that became my color card—white, cream, straw. And the idea of the soft belt.” Et voila, another beautiful collection was born.

Trends ss2010: pastel perfection

When it comes to color,  next season will be very tame. There’s the nude trend and there will be lots of black & white. Yet there’s a third trend that we need to discuss colorwise: pastels.

The trend fits perfectly with the overall vibe we’re getting for spring/summer, in which everything seems very romantic and feminine. Yellow, purple, blue, pink, green, orange: all these colors came in a pastel version in any kind of material.

When comparing all collections we can consider Donatella Versace as the queen of the pastels. Her Barbiedoll models wore tight sexy pastel outfits. She even had a few printed pastels. The color in this case added to the Barbie doll feeling.

Michael Kors used some elegant blue, purple and green pastels for his feminine outfits. Other brands that made the pastel look work are Burberry, Matthew Williamson, Tommy Hilfiger, Mila Schon, Blumarine and of course our very own Viktor & Rolf. V&R’s multiple layered designs mainly were a combination of black and pastels.

If you want to go for that summery, romantic and feminine touch, add a little pastel.

Tess van Daelen

Trends ss2010: fantastic plastic

How can you protect yourself from the rain and still look sexy?

Zac Posen, Sonia Rykiel, Frankie Morello, D Squared and others gave us the answer: you just wear a transparent plastic raincoat. In this way you’re still showing the great outfit you’re wearing underneath and your silhouette stays visible too.

For next spring transparent plastic was used by several different designers. Isn’t it typical that at least four designers came up with a see-through raincoat, independently of each other? At all four shows these raincoats also popped up out of nowhere and didn’t really connect to the rest of the clothes in the collections.
But the raincoat wasn’t the only transparent plastic item; there were bags and shoes as well, for example at Prada. D Squared and Charles Anastase both had transparent bags too.

Michael Kors used the plastic for his bathing suits and bracelets. Out of everything we saw the most fantastic plastic was made by Frankie Morello. He came up with a chique Chanel-looking plastic jacket, which had collar and cuffs made out of fabric.

Tess van Daelen

Trends ss2010: black & white

Although you might expect bright colors for the summer-season, many designers chose black and white as their main colors. There were lots of outfits in full black or white, but also good combinations as well.

Rick Owens, Ann Demeulemeester and the two Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto and Junya Watanabe didn’t use any color in their shows at all. Their designs were all in black, white and some hues of grey. Rick Owens’ designs stood out because they were very pointy. Watanabe’s clothes had black and white checks that matched with the checked shoes.

Givenchy showed some black and white in his renewing geometricaly shaped outfits. Jill Stuart made a few pairs of extraordinary black and white leggings. At the Moschino fashion show modern white blouses were mixed with black bows.

(Tess van Daelen)

Trends ss2010: step by step

For some models walking the runway was a tough job in the past fashion weeks. Of course the shoes were to blame. Not only were they high as ever, they also had the craziest shapes. They seemd somewhat inspired by clogs and that made them look rather clumsy. The most outstanding examples of this ‘clog-shoe’ were those of Alexander McQueen. He showed some great fashion forward ones, which were no less than twelve inches high. With reptile prints they looked futuristic and animalistic at the same time. Passing by to the beat of Lady Gaga’s new song they indeed looked rather Gaga to us. Yet they might become a huge hit. At least McQueen wasn’t the only designer with clog-shoes in his show. Celine, Dior, DSquared, Givenchy, Bottega Veneta and Ferré showed some clog-variations as well. And not to forget Louis Vuitton and Chanel. Their Swedish clog-like shoes will probably become the most copied of all next spring. (Tess van Daelen)

Trends ss2010: shoulders up!

A few seasons on the runway shoulderpads now definitely hit the stores. While the crowd is taking over this trend, great designers are exaggerating their focus on shoulders and having fun with it. Their pointy or extremely round shoulders are lifted, thickened, adorned and made visible through transparent fabrics. At Balmain’s show the shoulders were still the main aspect of the collection. For 2010 Christophe Decarnin added some fringes on his military jackets for Balmain. The shoulders at the Comme des Garcons show were purposely put in all the wrong places (at the models’ breasts or backs). The brand thus made fun of the whole shoulderpad-trend. The actual shoulderpads were visible through the sheer designs of Jean Paul Gaultier, Viktor & Rolf and Sonia Rykiel. What type of shoulder will they come up with next season? (Tess van Daelen)

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