>> At Jason Wu earlier today, Odile Gilbert styled hair in heavily-pinned twists, then added black plumes for a darkly ethereal look. Makeup was kept fairly pale and bare — save for the lips, which were stained a vivid matte poppy. Click through for an up-close look at the backstage beauty photos from Jason Wu's Spring 2012 show.
>> "Courtney Love meets Julie Christie; a rich East Village girl who's a bit of a mess," stated hairstylist Eugene Solomon backstage before the Peter Som Spring 2012 show earlier today at Milk Studios. It was an acurate description, not only of the hair — which was side-swooped and puntuated with Kool-aid-hued strips — but also of the collection itself, with it's updated '60s silhouettes, vibrant hues, Charlotte Olympia-designed platforms, and chic-surfer mood. "I really wanted to convey the strength and energy of downtown in the prints, the tweeds, all the things that I love," Som explained. To that end, there were cropped pants in large-scale photo-florals, retro-tinged bathing suits in zebra-head repeats, collarless jackets in graphic houndstooth, and high-shine skirts in canary yellow. The buoyant mood on the runway was matched only by the first-day-of-school vibe in the front row — Tommy Hilfiger, Taylor Tomasi Hill, Amanda Hearst, Bryan Boy, and Joanna Hillman were there, as was Anna Dello Russo who chatted with seatmate Hanneli Mustaparta.
>> The Spring 2012 shows have only just began, and already there's one color that seems to be emerging as a potential it-hue: Tangerine. So far, we've spotted it in various forms at BCBG, Jenni Kayne, and Richard Chai Love (left) — as well as splashed across prints at Peter Som earlier today. While it may be a bit too early to say for sure, we're betting we'll be seeing a lot more of the citrus hue in the weeks to come. Here's a look at a few of the collections offering tangerine for Spring 2012 thus far.
>> Here's an unexpected color combination that looks just right for early Fall. Neon lime and cherry red may seem a bit unorthodox, but this street-snapped ensemble is all about balance — a black trench and earthy-toned booties temper the vividness of the bag and dress, while a smear of red lipstick brings the whole thing together. Click through for similar finds to make this super-chic look your own.
Photo courtesy of Phil Oh
>> New Kenzo creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim are already dropping hints on their vision for the label, which will become more clear when their first collection — for Spring 2012 — debuts during Paris Fashion Week.
“Kenzo was always about color and pattern and having fun — that’s why we are so happy to start with a Spring/Summer collection,” says Leon, adding that he and Lim are not as attracted to the hippie side of Kenzo as to the inspiration the label's founder, Kenzo Takada, derived in street culture. The goal in reviving the brand, Leon says, is "to tell a story and to capture in our designs the Kenzo of 2012.” Lim adds that their Kenzo is for “sexiness, powerful women and those not afraid to wear color.”
The designers' Asian heritage — Leon is part Chinese, Lim is Korean, Takada is Japanese — will also come into play, Leon says: “We are very Asian. It is definitely in our blood.” And they're also hoping to intrigue more than just the younger generation with their designs: ‘’We want people to feel that Kenzo is a warm and exciting branded family store."
>> 'Tis the season for fashion critics to sharpen their pencils — and, so it seems, do the same with their words. Both Cathy Horyn and Robin Givhan have some choice thoughts on Nicolas Ghesquiere and Zac Posen, respectively.
Horyn writes in the New York Times: "The fact is, some forms just become worn out ... though he is not a showman, there is a growing impatience with Nicolas Ghesquiere. His experimental treatment of materials at Balenciaga has been exciting to behold, and necessary, but more and more the effect is like jumping on a spring-shot mattress. What happened to the cool street chic of Mr. Ghesquiere of a decade ago, when you actually saw women wearing his clothes? People who followed his career from the start probably appreciate his technical leaps and are willing to indulge him for the sake of creative freedom and the sheer hope of being knocked off their chairs ... But I suspect that our extremely materialistic culture, with the grab-and-go mentality fostered by the Web, just makes new fans itch for something to wear."
And Robin Givhan tells Page Six Magazine of Zac Posen: “Zac reminds me of another era in fashion. He’s a maestro. It reminds me of a time when there was an embrace of fashion as this fun, entertaining industry. He’s got a lot more competition now. [Early on in his career] he was one of only a few young guns. But people like Jason Wu have cut into a lot of the razzle-dazzle that he once owned. When you burn that white hot, eventually you burn out. That overwhelming hotness has cooled off.”
![Fashion's Night Out 2011 [Pictures]](http://media1.onsugar.com/files/2011/09/36/4/166/1668379/5640ba84d9e00baf_124169590.xlarge/i/Fashion-Night-Out-2011-Pictures.jpg "Fashion's Night Out 2011 [Pictures]")
>> Emmanuelle Alt did the rounds for Fashion's Night Out in Paris last night — flanked by Anja Rubik, Isabeli Fontana, and Natasha Poly — and Anna Wintour did the same in New York — judging a talent show with Alexander Wang, signing September issues of Vogue for fans, greeting Justin Bieber at Dolce & Gabbana, with more stops in between. "Everyone is doing something. I was going to email Anna and congratulate her," Diane von Furstenberg said last night. Check out what the industry did for Fashion's Night Out — in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, and Sydney — in the slideshow.
