Trend Report Fall/Winter 2012/2013: Blooming Winter Florals

Not fun and flirty like in summer, but gorgeous and luxurious is the feeling we got from the floral prints on this year’s fall collection. Especially Dolce & Gabbana’s embroidered winter florals (on the skirts, tops, bags and in the models’hair) looked mesmerizing. Yet Erdem, Christopher Kane and Peter Pilotto stunningly put the catwalk in bloom as well.

McQ attached fabric flowers to a black lace dress as Marni created one of it’s signature printed suits with golden flowers. Antonio Marras and Preen opted for autumn shades as the rest took the theme a little darker.

Whether eastern-inspired, tropical or pure fantasy; every single flower put a smile on our faces. Winter in bloom, we like!

Trend Report Fall/Winter 2012/2013: Hat Factor

Every single season hats pop up during the collection presentations. Yet we can’t remember having seen hats as big as they were for fall/winter 2012/2013. Marc Jacobs clearly seems to have had some kind of hat obsession during his designing process. In every single one of his collections (Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs) there was a hat-overkill.

Models stepping of the Louis Vuitton train wore colored felt versions as the young girls at  Marc Jacobs sported the most hideous (if we may say so) colored fur examples. They might never be worn by a living soul again, yet they made up for a nice show gimmick.

More modest hats that will in fact generate sales are the ones designed by Max Mara, Donna Karan, Roberto Cavalli and Burberry. We did not recognize any particular hat trend, but hats definitely add that wow-factor to any fall look.

Trend Report Fall/Winter 2012/2013: Countrystyle

Quilted jackets, tweed suits, leather boots and jodhpurs; dressing like the English Elite was never this fashionable. Designers, from Burberry and Lacoste to Ralph Lauren and MaxMara all reinterpreted these country classics.

Done is earthy tones like army green, beige, camel and brown the traditionally tailored designs made up for some wearable looks topped off by tweed hats and knee high riding boots.

While more classic brand like Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste and Ralph Lauren stayed on the save side; brands like Burberry and Chloé experimented with shapes and materials to create modern countryside looks that would work excellent in the city’s streets.

Trend Report Fall/Winter 2012/2013: Ginormous bags

Remember the tiny designer bags in which we could barely put a set of keys and a cell phone at the same time? Well they’ve gone for good (ehh..for a few seasons). This fall it’s all about the ginormous bags.

According to Alexander Wang, DKNY, Chloé, Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs having to fit all your items in one bag is no longer a concern. What you need to start worrying about is the risk of packing way too much. Because the big fall/winter bags seem large enough for an entire weekend break.

We couldn’t be more excited. Now we just need to learn how to pack efficiently and neat, so we’re not searching and grabbing for our keys for over half an our.

Trend Report Fall/Winter 2012/2013: Funky Sweaters

Forget those Nordic printed knitted sweaters we’ve seen the last couple of years; upcoming fall it’s all about the cool printed ones. And the crazier the print, the more popular the sweater, so it seems…

Balenciaga introduced multiple versions of a space printed jumper, while Humberto Leon and Carol Lim created a tiger printed sweater for Kenzo. We spotted horses at Altazurra and a spooky creature at Diesel. Jeremy Scott and Asish took it even further by showing knitted smileys and Bart Simpson tops. Add a few outstanding graphic prints from brands like Sportmax, Moschino and Stella McCartney and you’re sure there will never be a dull moment this fall… fashion wise, that is.

Trend Report Fall/Winter 2012/2013: Hourglass chic

As a result of last season’s peplum hype this fall it is all about the accentuated waistline again. At Etro and Dior we still spotted some gorgeous peplums, yet other brands (Oscar de la Renta, Salvatore Ferragamo, Prada, Rodarte) created the same hourglass effect by  belting tops, jackets and even big winter coats.

This brings the waistbelt back in the picture after a few years of absence. And guess what, it’s getting bigger again. Sonia Rykiel and Victoria Beckham may still have opted for smaller belts, yet as seen at Michael Kors, Yves Saint Laurent (Saint Laurent Paris), Acne and Fendi big belts are back. Wear yours in a shade matching your outfit and create that elegant super feminine figure.

Karssenberg-Greidanus Amsterdam Fashion Week Preview

First time
Karssenberg-Greidanus will present their work for the second time during Amsterdam Fashion Week. For the very first time designers Sanne Karssenberg and Cleo Greidanus are presenting a summer collection, named CloudScape. Sanne: “Up until now we’ve only been working on winter collections and art projects, so this will be our first spring/summer collection. Now don’t expect it to be all airy and bright, ‘cause the show won’t have that typical summer feeling.”

Rainy summer
No bikini’s or tropical blouses, these designers translated ‘summer’ in their very own way. “We’ll show shirts and dresses that are perfect for summer. Plus, we’ve designed raincoats that are right for our rainy Dutch summers, since we always like to design functional clothes that made for protection.” And it’s not just the weather these coats refer to, the designers used rain as a metaphor too. “Rain stands for the large amount of data we receive every day, which can be kind of an overload. The raincoat can feel as a safe cocoon, but can be kind of suffocating too.”

Hello color?
It’s the first spring/summer collection but it is also the first time the designduo is working with color. Well, color…“Before we always used ‘non-colors’, now we’ve used shades of white, grey, black and red. We used these on lots of jerseys, some transparent plastics, knitwear, glass-like materials that represent water drops.”

Story to tell
Karssenberg-Greidanus have been absent for a while, but decided to show again during Amsterdam Fashion Week, since they felt they had a new story to tell. “For the first time we are launching a more wearable collection, we felt people should see that. We want people to know the story behind the collection and with a catwalk show you can tell that story. It is slightly more stressful though, because we really want the collection to portray the right feeling.”

Pre-show ritual
Sanne: “We’re pretty right on track. Every now and then I get a small anxiety attack, but apart from that the show preparations are going well. We hope we have time for our pre-show ritual on Wednesday. We like to go to the hairdresser together and get a new haircut as a last preparation for the show and a welcome getaway from the design studio where we are spending all our time right now.”

Karssenberg-Greidanus will show their Spring Summer 2013 collection on Thursday 12 July at 08.00 PM

See some the first impressions of the collection below.

Summertrend 2012: Sugarsweet

Say goodbye to all the color blocking and screaming colors this summer, because it’s time to soften it up a little. It’s absolutely clear that for this summer the great designers were a little nostalgic. They went back in time and got inspired by the late forties and fifties, which results in loads of swirling skirts and dresses, high waists and cat-eye sunglasses. But the title role on the stage definitely goes to the pastel shades.

Pale blue, soft pink, light yellow, white, lilac, mint green: sweet and girly it is.  And you can even wear them all together. For sure, it was Miuccia Prada who had set the tone (and not for the first time) with her Prada ‘sweetness’ collection. But also Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Chloe, Jill Stuart, Christopher Kane, Marni and Yves Saint Laurent showed us their softer side.

With the biggest retailers who picked up this trend right away, it won’t be difficult to create this look yourself. You can take this look to the highest level like Prada does, mixing the ice cream-shades with some stunning embellishments, flower prints and fifties shades. For a more sophisticated and modern look it’s better to choose a streamlined silhouette without any finery or use pastels as an eye catching detail in a white and crispy design.

Eva Dusch

Summertrend 2012: no fuss

Still going strong: minimalism. Although less than previous seasons, minimalistic designs are still doing well on the catwalk these days. While romanticism, femininity and retro glamor is gaining ground in the world of fashion -even designers known for their minimal approach are experimenting with romantic elements-, clean, simple and sculptural shapes are still one of our favorites. Why?  Because we love the strong lines and shapes, the less is more attitude, the daring and uncommon forms, the humbleness and timeless character of the clothing.  Because we adore the strong, boxy jackets at Balenciaga, the clean-cut silhouette at Celine, the pointy shoulders and perfectly fitting, body-hugging dresses at Lanvin and the ultra simple but feminine Jil Sander dresses.

This trend works for almost every woman, no matter size or shape. And all these designers proved once more that minimalistic can be sexy and feminine too. And honestly, they make a great exception between all the girly flowers, pastels and fifties dresses that are already hanging in our closet, don’t you think?

(Eva Dusch)

Summertrend 2012: Bare Belly

It was a definite no-go for several years, but the bare belly is back! Designers have taken last season’s cut-out-trend a little further and have created all kinds of belly-revealing fashion pieces. The bare part varies from upper stomach (Blumarine, Prada, Emilio Pucci, Dolce & Gabbana) to lower belly (Roberto Cavalli, Acne, Gaultier, Missoni), from modest to slightly tacky.

The how-to-wear part is actually quite easy. Mix your cropped top with long pants (Roberto Cavalli), shorts (D&G), pencil skirts (Prada) or maxi skirts (Emilio Pucci); everything is possible.

And though the bare belly isn’t quite the office look, there surely is no harm in showing of your abs at a fancy cocktail party. On the contrary! Finally you can show off that hidden six pack of yours. Or ehh.. at least you have a good reason to start working on that.

If you’re not so sure about this trend yet, just opt for last season’s cut-out trend, which is still very chic as well.

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