Sarah Burton, the new Creative Director of the Alexander McQueen line after McQueen’s passing, presented the fall 2011 McQueen collection at Paris fashion week.  The collection is, “The Ice Queen and Her Court”, and it is just that cold and courtly with “heritage silhouettes” but also feminane somewhat soft, full of textures, feathers, and fur.  Love the shoes and boots, the lacing seems very sexual in the shapes of bare skin it leaves.  I also enjoy the contrast of the matte pvc full length gloves and cropped pvc leggings (with that great front knee zipper detail) with all the textural dresses.  I’ve been intrigued by the look of an oversized fur trimmed hood after seeing Chris Corner’s parka in the new IAMX video, and more so now, seeing it here.  Wouldn’t have minded seeing more harness in this collection!  I’ve been dreaming of Ice Queen inspired coats and dresses since Tilda Swinton’s costumes in Narnia, I really love the whole aesthetic of this collection.

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Christian Dior put their fall 2011 collection down the runway at Paris fashion week.  It’s impossible not to look at this collection and think about the current events involving Dior and the firing of their Creative Director, John Galliano.  Now that Galliano has been let go from Dior and they are working to fill his position, this marks the last Dior collection Galliano will be involved with.  The show was closed not by the head designer which is the norm but by Dior’s design team, those who work had to make the shows happen. 

Filled with Victorian elements, especially of note were the knee-high leather boots, the dark makeup paired with finger waves moving into soft curls styling for some of the looks, the outfits in pastel and cream color combinations, and the use of bloomers throughout the collection.  Our fashion editor, Meagan Hendrickson, seems to be interested in bloomers lately, styling them in a piece for the upcoming issue and featuring them on our blog.  Bloomers will make a great garment for spring and summer.

How much do the values of the artist matter when looking at beautiful work?  It seems likely that Galliano’s anti-Semitic outburst at the Paris café that lead to his dismissal from Dior was just that, a drunken outburst.  Perhaps it doesn’t reflect his true opinions, but he should have known better.  Aside from everything that just happened with Galliano and the Dior house, it is a beautiful collection.

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This year’s fall collections seem to have had a darker vibe. The runway show for Lanvin’s fall 2011 collection shown at Paris fashion week featured an eerie weeping willow as it’s backdrop. Southern witches walked the runway with large brimmed black hats. Majority of the ensembles were all black and paired with amulet-esq jewelry and detailing and those hats it had a darker than typical feel. Mostly the designs are too boxy or simple for my tastes but I enjoyed the aesthetic of this collection.

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Zac Posen showed off his fall 2011 collection at Paris fashion week.  The collection was simple and streamlined.  The highlight is defiantly the textured and structured black leather pieces, jackets and dresses, with exaggerated shoulders and waistline, very nice.  Loving the mixing of shades of deep blue and teal.  Also some breathtaking evening gowns with exaggerated waistlines.  And the shell-like wool cloak/coat (lower left), blending the past and future, is another great highlight of this collection.  Nothing to blow your mind, but defiantly a beautiful, well crafted collection.

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Nicola Formichetti presented his first women’s collection under the company’s new name just “Mugler” at Paris fashion week. The main piece of news on the show was that Lady Gaga walked in it. Overall the collection seemed all over the place. I enjoyed the use of pvc and latex in the collection and the 80s nightlife feel, but I’ve loved Thierry Mugler pieces I’ve seen in person at the Met’s costume institute and such, and in comparison this just didn’t blow me away.

Lady Gaga

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The runway shows have moved over the Europe to London, Milan, and Paris and are now wrapping up.  Most of the major design houses show in Europe and there were a many elements of note.  Prada’s fall 2011 collection shown in Milan featured some great sci-fi-esq shift dresses covered in shiny plastic scales.  I especially loved the translucent iridescent pearl scales. 

There were a lot of head coverings with a flapper feel and when paired with large aviator style shades they had a nice flight cap feel. And of course some lust worthy shoes and handbags. Utilitarian clutches with large hand straps (see white handbag with white coat on left, yum!). Sexy boots that gave the illusion of mary janes or ankle strap heels fused with knee-high socks.

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Rodarte showed their fall 2011 collection at NY fashion week.  You have to love the length, I have been waiting for the opportunity to dress like a Jane Austen novel heroine for years and finally my time has come. The cool thing about this modern Victorian peasant look is the clean updates to long dresses, skirts, and jackets. Rodarte uses beautiful modern geometric fabric lines, and ditsy prints broken up by beautiful neutrals and contrasting fabrics like chiffon and heavy wools.

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At NY fashion week, with so many casual ready-to-wear collections this season I feel as though it was tough for many designers to really shine through, I saw a lot of repeats in trends and mediocre collections. I understand that this is not couture week, but Marchesa’s fall 2011 collection certainly is and far outshines most of what I saw on the runways. The perfect embroidery paired with meticulous draping has always been their signature and was no less in this collection, but what was more was a new perspective on Victorian. Marchesa is very good at showing modern elegance but to blend modern with the kind of nostalgic beauty of the 19^th century is a new endeavor well achieved.

The helpless romantic in me always tends towards nostalgia; Marchesa’s new couture dress collection epitomizes romanticism through what they call “Decaying Opulence”.  The design duo displayed an intuition into how women want to see themselves as beautiful. It takes a certain kind of confidence and personal identity to wear a Marchesa dress, and this collection embodies an alter ego that many women feel akin to but it is at risk to portray.

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Diesel’s Black Gold fall 2011 collection shown at NY fashion week, was nice and dark and gritty.  Layers, leather, textures, and laced-up.  There are some hints at a steampunk aesthetic here.  But I’d rather see it as vagabond troubled artist strolling the streets of a dirty crumbling city or militaristic survivalist cowboy making it in a post-apocalyptic scared world.  At first I wasn’t sure on all the lacing, but once I saw the asymmetrical laced-up leather vest I was sold.  I’m loving the color pallet of black, navy, slate blue, brown, mauve, olive, and ivory.  Maybe it’s because I just rewatched the Matrix after a few years, but I had forgotten the nice styling details in that movie, and this collection is right in tune with that (yet nicely updated), right down to the men’s flapping leather trench coat and the women’s tight long black leather ensemble.

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It’s easy to look at Anna Sui’s fall 2011 collection shown at NY fashion week or Anna Sui’s designs in general and get overwhelmed by all the bold colored bohemian 60s prints.  But there is a ton going on in this collection and in her design style in general that is worth taking cues from.  As I see it Sui is inspired by a whole many decades, periods, and subcultural styles and it’s just a matter of picking the pieces where she blends the styles you enjoy together.  And sometimes discovering you enjoy periods or styles you didn’t think you did.

There are many 60s/bohemian prints and cuts in this collection that I just can’t get into.  But there are some cases where the color and prints come together in a way that catches my eye.  Side stepping this look that was the meat of the collection, there were four main aspects I enjoyed in this collection.  First, animal cosplay hats and designer fashion, perfect!  Cosplay hats have been popping up all over for the past couple years, but this is one of the best ways I’ve seen them done.  Second, glasses on the runway.  There were a few bookworm inspired outfits pushed further in that direction with a pair of frames, very cute.  Mainly, were the all black ensembles pulling from many decades to create a dark, lush, and just plain beautiful effect.  Sui can do sweet and super chic all black ensembles drawing from Victorian, flapper, mod, goth, and boho all at once amazingly.  And lastly, she does this look in all white and I am inspired!

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