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.

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.

Groupielove #10

The foundation stone of Lagerfelds ss2010-collection was shorts. “Not Bermudas or hot pants,” the designer said backstage, but a contemporary variation that emphasized rounded hips. They looked almost like tap shorts, especially when they showed in white satin.
Lagerfeld pushed his idea with all-in-one playsuits—sometimes hanging off dungaree straps, sometimes with no straps at all—which dropped into deep-pleated shorts (it was particularly striking in red leather). This bizarre notion was so insistent throughout the presentation that it took on a persuasive life of its own. And, in its peculiar way, it fit with jackets whose hems were folded up to shoulders that buttoned down.

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 #6

Trey Speegle’s giant paint-by-number canvas spelling out the word YES at the back of Stella McCartney’s runway summed up the mood of her collection quite succinctly. These were uncomplicated, upbeat, and above all colorful clothes for women who prefer not to think too hard about getting dressed but still want to look young, sexy, and chic. It’s a sentiment that McCartney, a mother of three young children and the head of a growing fashion empire, understands intimately—as do her loyal customers, including front-row pal Gwyneth Paltrow.

Groupielove #5

After a couple of seasons of citified dressing, collectors of Dries may well be pining for his more eclectic, decorative pieces. If so, they’ll find plenty of them: coats, soft boxy jackets, wrapped dresses, and sarong skirts in a plethora of fabrics and embroideries that looked as if they’d been sourced from a trip around the markets of China and Southeast Asia.

In among them, there were items—like the silver lamé tank with a sheer back, the khaki shorts, and the sparkly jackets—that will also allow fans to dip into trend without going overboard. The incredible necklaces—rich-looking pearl chokers dangling geometric pendants set with large semiprecious stones and crystal—made gorgeous viewing.

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

Au revoir Christian !

This week, a French court approved a restructuring plan for bankrupt label Christian Lacroix that will reduce the house to a licensing operation. Only about a dozen of the roughly 100 employees will keep their jobs. The label’s problems culminated with the parties that expressed interest in buying the label but failed to produce financial guarantees in time to rescue it.

Experts say Lacroix focused too much on haute couture collections. Successful labels use couture nowadays as marketing efforts. No label sells enough couture clothes to justify it. Lacroix was notoriously insistent on maintaining its high-end approach to clothing. Under LVMH’s ownership, Lacroix made lower-priced Canal and Jeans lines. When the Falic group bought the label in 2005, they were quick to do away with those. Lacroix was happy because he didn’t want to be bothered with the more affordable things. But still, where were the Lacroix sunglasses? Perfumes? “It” bags? Sales of items like those account for the bulk of profits for luxury labels. Lacroix’s C’est La Vie fragrance never even took off. Fragrances are powerful profit drivers, but we shouldn’t forget fashion’s other highly potent force: divas. Look at Lady Gaga. She’s in Vogue, she was the first non-model to wear Alexander McQueen’s spring 2010 Alien shoes, and she was the highlight of New York Fashion Week and plenty of other things.
There should have been a diva out there for Lacroix to dress.

For me Lacroix was the beginning of my career as a journalist in fashion. I still remember my first fashionshow ever, Christian Haute Couture spring 1989 in hotel Intercontinental in Paris. It was breathtaking. Powerful, colorful, and very French joie de vivre. But times changed, as did women, fashion and the business.

So for old times sake: some highlights of past collections.

Jetty Ferwerda

Groupielove #1

Balmain is the hottest label in town. For spring  Christophe Decarnin brought out another whammy of a no-brainer blockbuster: disco cavewoman goes to the front. His army of sizzling, sleek-limbed supergirls strode out with huge-shouldered, metal-epauletted military tailcoats. Their T-shirts were tattered; bullet belts were slung around artfully “destroyed,” stained, and holed jeans or, yet more sensationally, minute, hypersexed, raggedy suede and leather loincloths (the term “skirt” hardly covers it). No wonder the models had fun, these clothes were made to suit their bodies. Daria Werbowy was exclusively booked to do the show.

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

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