By Katie Wright

Here are 8 of my picks of some of the best shows at Paris Fashion Week for autumn/winter 2010.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

That Alexander McQueen’s final collection was so beautifully regal, ornate and so distinctly McQueen in style only heightens the sense that we lost this design genius far too soon. The garments on show at the private presentation in Paris last week were 80% finished when Lee died, and were completed by his design team posthumously.

For me, this is the wardrobe of a stylish young European queen who is to be dressed to the nines for a season of state balls and international engagements. Comprised of wonderfully draped dresses, capes and gowns in blood reds and royal blues, fabrics are sumptuous and gilded (but never gaudy) with intricate gold embroidery. This remarkably moving collection marks the end one of fashion’s saddest tales – the death of a designer who was clearly at the peak of his powers.

CHANEL

I’m trying not to think about the ecological implications of shipping an iceberg from Scandinavia to Paris, for that is what Karl Lagerfeld decided would be the best backdrop for his unequivocally wintry Chanel autumn/winter collection. At least the other major ethical conundrum was negated, as all the fur used – and boy was there a lot of it – was fake. Giant fluffy ‘Where the Wild Things Are’-style body suits, furry monster boots, trimming on classic boucle suits, even white fur panties, Lagerfeld covered it all.

GIVENCHY

I know that I love this collection, but I’m not even sure I can put my finger on why, or even begin to describe it. Riccardo Tisci Seemed to be in cerebral mode as references came thick and fast: vampires (bright red lining on black velvet); minimalism (stark white tailoring); nineties (choker necklaces) and goths (lots and lots of black). Further research reveals Tisci was inspired by scuba and ski gear. Which leaves me no more enlightened, but who cares? Whatever the equation, it had a great result.

CHLOE

Autumnal colours for autumn – doesn’t exactly sound revolutionary does it? But somehow the caramel, camel, coffee, mustard, and every other derivation of brown were saved from being boring by the brilliant designs of Hannah MacGibbon, who provided yet more of those ever-so-slightly unusual, but always superbly wearable pieces that Chloe devotees crave each season. This time round, mannish tailoring, a bit of fringing and a touch of denim all featured, plus the leather T-shirt still rules.

LOUIS VUITTON

Chiming in nicely with Miuccia Prada’s return to designing for a more womanly figure, Marc Jacob’s had to enlist the help of several supermodels of yesteryear with the requisite curves to display the Louis Vuitton winter collection. Bar Rafaeli and Letitia Casta wore demure full-skirted fifties dresses complete with ladylike long gloves and handbags carried delicately in the crook of the arm, before Elle McPherson took the final exit in a corseted strapless pink gown that any Disney princess would go crazy for.

MIU MIU

Miuccia Prada continued her focus on the sixties, with lots of mini tunics, and flower power evident in the scalloped edges and cutesy floral embellishments. I usually get very excited about Miu Miu but somehow this season didn’t quite excite me as much as usual – perhaps it was to do with the colour palette of black with touches of purple and orange.

STELLA McCARTNEY

Stella delivered plenty more of her fresh take on minimalism, but my favourite looks were a bit more racy – the dual length hems and gorgeous fish scaly sequined dresses in tangerine and fuschia.

HERMES

It looks like Alexander Wang wasn’t the only designer inspired by the economic crisis this season as Jean Paul Gaultier sent out a parade of sharply suited, bowler-hatted and umbrella-ed city workers at Hermes – plus a few Victorian gents for good measure.

GALLIANO

OTT in every which way, this was a spectacular show of insanely elaborate gowns, all with a Mongolian/Russian vibe.

By Katie Wright

So in the blink of eye Milan Fashion Week came and went last week. There was a particularly high frequency of big shows crammed into the weekend thanks to a certain Mrs Wintour, whose every whim must, of course, be obeyed. Since the US Vogue editor in chief chose to limit her stay in the Italian fashion capital for just three days, accordingly the schedule was rejigged. If ever you needed proof of her influence, this was it. So what did the powerhouses have to show Anna this season? Here’s a synopsis of the headlines.

Sticking to what they do best – sexy tailoring - Dolce and Gabanna opened with about a million variations of the black suit jacket, and closed with about a million more models parading in said jackets and very little else. The show was beautifully styled – signature leopard print was mismatched with snowy polka dots on a navy pencil skirt, and the sharp tailoring was balanced with lots of womanly dresses in floral print and lace.

The mainstay of Alberta Feretti‘s collection were ornate, textured, marble-coloured dresses , plus the occasional injection of sharp and shadowy separates.

The girls at Giorgio Armani were vampire-pale with Japanese horror film hair, while the clothes were largely pitch black velvet (yep, that fabric again) and cut on the bias, with the occasional flash of colour, like this wonderfully playful bubblegum fur coat.

Frida Giannini continued her experiments in svelte boyish separates at Gucci but pants were longer and less slim on the hem. That’s not the first indication seen this season that we could be seeing the beginning of the end of the skinny jean – which would be colossal news if it actually came to pass, obviously. Great lacy cocktail dresses too.

Prada was just a bit too sensible for me this season, all practical and fit for people with curves – there was a distinct focus on the bust. Bring back the entirely impractical crystal chandelier dresses I say.

Versace lurched from the downright ugly – royal blue polo neck with flared chaps anyone? – to the out-rightly awesome i.e. super shiny wonderwoman cocktail dresses.

We got the usual lesson in perfectly crafted minimalism from Jil Sander.  My favourite piece was an adorable tailored onesie.

And finally, you can’t seriously expect anyone to believe that is actually a DRESS, can you Emilio Pucci? It really is obscenely short. And this is coming from a girl who heard the old ‘you’re not seriously going out wearing that are you?’ refrain plenty of times in her youth.

Oh right, you’ve lopped off one arm and made it see-through? Yes, that’s much more sensible, it’d make a lovely First Holy Communion dress.

Got any loves/loathes from this lot? Hit me up in the comments box…

More pictorial depictions of trends I spotted at London Fashion Week AW2010.

Next winter you will be wrapped up in fur (real or faux is up to you) and shearling…

Photos: style.com and londonfashionweek.co.uk

By Katie Wright

First off, a confession. There’s no easy way to tell you this dear Ballad Of… readers, but I can’t hide it any longer: the truth is, you’re not my only blog. You may have noticed I’ve been a bit distant the last couple of weeks, and the reason for that is, I’m just going to be honest with you, I’ve been away at London Fashion Week, writing for another website. Well, two in fact. There, I’ve said it. I’m sorry. But now I’m back and I’m going to make it up to you, I promise.

So to make up for lost time, I thought we could spend some quality time this week crystallising everything I saw at LFW into some pretty little trend boards for Autumn/Winter 2010, before trying to play catch up on Milan and Paris. First up, the textures and fabrics you WILL be wearing next winter… 

 

Photos: Style.com and londonfashionweek.co.uk

By Katie Wright

It’s been hard to keep up with all the action with all the big names over the final two days of New York Fashion week, and it’s only going to get busier with London Fashion Week starting tomorrow. I’ll be down at Somerset House blogging and tweeting my little socks off so be sure to follow @blondekatie on Twitter for snippets of the action from the front line.

Before all that, here’s a mammoth run down of ten more NYFW collections that caught my eye. Not necessarily a top ten per se, but a ten nonetheless.

1. Things were all boyish and blankety to begin with at 3.1 PHILIP LIM. I preferred the liberal use of purple sequins and chiffon trailing out to one side.

2. DEREK LAM’s girls were not to be messed with – they channeled cowboys, indians and the mafia.

3. Possibly my favourite collection of the season so far was one that featured an array of outlandish motifs - giant body-shaped belt buckles, bar codes, breast plates, crucifixes, jewels, gigantic bows and slogans to name but a few. JEREMY SCOTT combined them all to poke fun at fashion – but in the nicest possible way.

4. ‘Goth secretary’ were the words that sprang to mind for me at PROENZA SCHOULER. But in a good way. The scribble-patterned jeans and duffel coats were great too.

5. I love the way that OSCAR DE LA RENTA takes all the hottest models (Coco, Agyness, Karen, Sasha, Freja et al) and makes them over to look like middle-aged women from the eighties with big wavy hair and frosted lipstick, yet they still look amazing. I put it down de la Renta’s timeless clothes. As luxe, glamorous and expensive-looking as ever.

6. NARCISO RODRIGUEZ takes the cake for craziest head gear of the week. Nice asymmetrical dip-dyed sci-fiesque dresses too.

7. The highlights of VERA WANG’s collection for me were the adorable gothy princess dresses.

8. MARCHESA also nailed the goth-princess look, and took this season’s fixation on body art in a beautiful new direction.

9. The least practical and wearable (at least outside of the A-list lifestyle) aspects of REEM ACRA’s collection were also the most desirable – a coat full of holes and the oh so shiny and wonderful full-length gowns.

10. I don’t know much about MILLY, but I know this Parisiene beret and ubermini combination is a winner.

By Katie Wright

Each season, I think that I look forward to the Marc Jacobs collection as much the rest the next fashion-lover i.e. a LOT. (A couple of weeks ago there were rumours that Marc was ‘over the whole celebrity thing’ and had been street casting for models, so there was added intrigue as to what direction he was going in). And usually I’m blown away by the abundant creativity and beauty on show. But this time round I’m just not sure what to make of it.

Fair enough there are some lovely pale chiffon dresses, and great fur coats, but the midi-length bias-cut skirts and loose blazers in grey tweed that dominated the first 30-odd looks were really quite, well, frumpy. The loose historical references Marc loves to nod to worked wonders as usual (a shimmery velvet damsel-in-distress dress being a case in point) but the only thing that really made me gasp with desire was the pair of see-through rain coats. On the whole, I’m still undecided. What do you reckon readers?

I definitely know how I feel about Halston’s AW2010 offering – it’s brilliant. Halston is a bit like the US equivalent of Biba. It was huge in the seventies and people got pretty excited when the brand reappeared on the schedule of NYFW a couple of years ago. I didn’t really see the fuss before, but this season, with the arrival of new head design honcho Marios Schwab, the billowing disco gowns have been all but replaced by a sharper, sci-fi aesthetic that totally works. Pleated and subtley draped cocktail dresses are augmented with metallic detailing, or beading that resembles circuit boards, and colour-wise muted fawn and teal feature heavily – alongside an egg yolk yellow silk jumpsuit that is pure seventies Halston throwback. Maybe Marios is what Halston has been waiting for.

Also deserving of a mention today is Zac Posen. Just like last season, when the finale flower-strewn sparkling gowns eclipsed everything that had gone before them on the catwalk, Posen’s best AW2010 looks were in the final third of the show. Following a lot of quite dreary sandy brown suits were a bunch of fantastic mini dresses in my most favourite clashing colour combo, pink and red. I want them all.

NYFW continued apace on day four with more of the big hitters (Carolina, Marc,  Calvin, more from Donna). We’ll get to those later, but  first here are a choice selection of note-worthy names and what they’re up to for Autumn/Winter 2010.

Cynthia steffe – It was a veritable school disco with Steffe’s girls  in a variety of uniform-grey and monochrome pinafores and mini-kilts.

At Lacoste, the obligatory sporting whites were out of the way it was a glorious riot of smiling models in colour-blocking brights. Practically everything was cropped – sleeves, tops, hems, you name it.  Great asymmetrical cloches too.

Managing to merge the 1890s and 1990s, Julian Louie’s minimalist Victorian dresses came with either long sleeves and ridiculously short skirts or mega high necks and no sleeves. A simple but effective equation.

Helmut Lang: T-shirt with wolf. Need I say more?

Ohne Titel explored a dark military sensibility throughout.

The spectrum of mismatched slighty grungey looks at Gary Graham was wide, but were all paired with mega high platforms.

Elise Overland went hell for leather. And velvet. And er human hair?

As usual, Victoria Beckham didn’t break much new ground, but she knows the value of keeping things simple and I’d happily take all 26 of these frocks for myself.

By Katie Wright

Two grand dames of New York fashion were on the menu on day three, and displayed some of the most wearable and desirable clothes we’ve seen all week.

Oftentimes, DIANE VON FURSTENBURG seems to pinpoint a location with a collection, rather than a specific era or aesthetic, and while last season the giant sandy backdrop was an obvious clue to travel abroad, for Fall 2010 the oil slick-black catwalk denoted that she was firmly back in the city. Diane’s girl this season is an urbanite who likes to mix and match boyish separates in skyscraper colours with flippy, flirty dresses. She also loves to play with texture – velvet here, leather there, and, when out on the town,  plenty sequins and shine.

Donna Karan has always had a knack for appealing to the city-dweller, and this year’s DKNY outing was no exception – almost every piece of this autumnal-toned collection could slot ideally into the wardrobes of girls and women everywhere. Her trademark drapey-clingy dresses were giving a Cubist makeover, and there’s a coat for every occasion – pea, duffel, gillet, boxy blazer – plus Karan’s interpretation of the emerging tartan trend was spot on.

By Katie Wright

After the endless catwalks that are so monochrome they don’t even need to be photographed in colour, Peter Som’s Autumn/Winter 2010 collection was a blast of fresh air today. And it was a blast from the seventies, signified by busy psychedelic prints, silky floral dresses and lots of lemon and lime.

Volume also came in the form of fluffy furry gillets and coats, but was kept in check with tight belted waists. So New Yorkers will be glad to know that if  there’s a repeat of ‘snowmageddon’ next year (and Londoners for that matter; the city ground to a halt with the arrival of a couple of inches of the white stuff in January) then Som has plenty of sartorial solutions - even snoods managed to look chic on his runway, as did cloche hats by Albertus Swanepoel.

The other top picks from NYC Day 2 were Brit duo PREEN and native of Chicago, CYNTHIA ROWLEY.

Unerring in their ability to superbly subvert sex appeal, tight PREEN dresses combined high necks, long sleeves and low hems with carefully placed cut-outs revealing peep holes of skin, lace and black gauze. Some went even further as the ratio of flesh to fabric was decidedly top-heavy. One particularly fetching look added a tailcoat to a floral negligee – it was like a naughty public school girl’s walk of shame.

A limited range of black, white, cream and a few purples were the themes that unified this collection of two halves, as all the body consciousness was counter-balanced with boyish tailoring of wide-leg trousers and and loose lines.

Photos: Style.com

Perhaps CYNTHIA ROWLEY got caught up in hype surrounding her home town’s bid for the 2016 Olympics as the Chicagoan’s collection had enough sports-inspired looks to keep Team USA in medal-winning kit for winter.

Aside from clingy sportswear, the other big story of the show was texture, via grass skirt fringing, oodles of ruffles and puffed silk. A base of black and monochrome abstract print was augmented with flashes of brightest primary colours and sometimes all-out rainbow spectrums. A special mention must also go to the shoulder bags with thick hoover-cord straps. Top to toe, it all looked like so much fun to wear.

Photos: Style.com

Also a quick shout out to this amazing dress that I almost missed from day one, by PORTS 1961. It’s like melted chocolate poured over the model. Divine.

Photo: Style.com