BALMAIN presents a mastery of the current trends. Tutus and low-slung pants bring a light, youthful twist to the sophisticated structure and intimidating, futuristic qualities of this collection. Spring's most successful trends are masterfully reworked and portrayed in Balmain's Fall 2009 RTW line.
DEREK LAM
Chanel Iman in this dress...knockout.
DRIES VAN NOTEN reminds me at first of YSL's Mondrian dress from the 70's. Colorblocking, high necklines, and clean silhouettes are conservative and classic: a theme also present in both Chloe and Bottega Veneta F'09 RTW.
ZAC POSEN brightens my day with this line. If the fluency and romance of his color combinations aren't enough to lift your spirits, turn your attention to the elegant feminine cuts and disciplined shape of the pieces... Flirty and flowy and fun were bonafide rarities this season... Back to black and back to business seem to be the story, but not here. Zac Posen's show was polished, refreshing and rich.
VENA CAVA: FRESH TO DEATH
Vena Cava always has something new and interesting to bring to the table, whether in the uniqueness each piece or the line's overall message. These designs apply a couture softness to an urban look without gaudy overabundance of definitively "urban" features. The less tangible aspect of this collection is revealed subtly or perhaps even unintentionally in the skew styling and absent attitudes of the models themselves. It may be marginally commercialized, but it is couture, and it is youthful, it is fresh, and it is smart.
Chiuri and Piccioli modestly embraced the embellishment trend and conservatively implicated the rest; leave it to Valentino to remain truly classic throughout the times. YSL's white blouses were stunning. The impeccably tailored suits were authoritative and sharp. Prada displayed some bold juxtapositions of color and boldly plunging necklines. Besides the designers mentioned above, I was most pleased with: Chris Benz, Christian Dior, Chloe, Emporio Armani, Jason Wu, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, and of course Marc Jacobs.
Track the trends! After watching more than a few slideshows, sorting through which trends were most widely adapted was not tooo too difficult.
Tiered fabrics in silks, feathers, furs, and wool blends; accentuated waistlines cinched with belts and ties, over-exaggerated hourglass silhouettes, strong shoulders, shapeless frocks and ponchos, body-con, 'bondage' dresses, and sophisticated-sexy-chic. Fall '09 RTW is drowning in furs, velvets, metallics, gathered fabrics and monochromatic tones.
To be continued.
