Outerwear is an important element of any season and one that--like shoes and accessories--people often "trade-up" for thanks to the impact it has on a wardrobe. This Fall 2009 Rag & Bone and 3.1 Phillip Lim both showed great break-away coats that were military inspired and loose and swing-y respectively. This versatile trend is one of our favorites from the season and we can't wait to see what other renderings crop up come September.
Another season, another batch of footwear options to drool over in the coming months. Of all of the shoes that came down the runway during Paris Fashion Week, we found a few particularly noteworthy. We loved the Chloe-like rubber wedges from Kenzo, the thigh-high boots from Louis Vuitton, the ribbon tied netted heels from Balenciaga, and the nude ankle-strap heels from Miu Miu. Check out our lineup of 100 shoes from Paris Fashion Week below, and, if you can stand more, check out our round-up of 50 shoes from New York Fashion Week.
In New York and London hemlines might have been extra short but in Paris, where the old fashion houses rule, long and slinky seems to be the way to go. Balmain, of course, excluded. As we mentioned yesterday, we love the edginess of the Fall 2009 trends--strong shoulders, tall shoes, cinched waistlines--especially when balanced out by softer elements like these evening frocks. In our opinion it seems to be Balenciaga who demonstrated this dynamic best.
Thanks to how it compliments other recent trends--like cut-outs, body-con silhouettes, and transparency--lingerie has been a popular fashion statement as of late. For Fall 2009 some of fashion's biggest names embraced lingerie with straight-out-of-the-bedroom pieces intended for evening wear. As much as we love a strong shoulder, a pair of lean trousers--we also appreciate this ultra-feminine take on things.
Fall 2009 has shown so much leather, we're not even quite sure how to properly wrap our minds around it. One thing is for sure, your Fall wardrobe should start with a classic, well-fitted pair of leather (or for those who don't wear it--faux leather) trousers. Many of those which we've seen on the Paris catwalks are skinny from top to bottom--as if the more assertive version of last season's PVC legging. In the case of Yves Saint Laurent, however, leather trousers were rendered just like a pair of classic wool trousers--pleated and with a rise that came to the natural waist.
So far this season we've reported on statement furs and fur gauntlets as trends and today we're adding another incarnation to the list: asymmetrical furs. We noticed this trend on a few of the Paris catwalks and were going to just let it be for fear that we'd exhausted the subject, but then Cathy Horyn mentioned in a post this morning that Elbaz employed it as a way to keep the retail cost down, and we thought it did deserve a mention. For all of you anti-fur fashionistas out there, who are tired of this particular subject, check out Stella McCartney's collection which showed in Paris this morning. The vegan designer makes coats so voluminous they surpass even the most statement making fur outerwear.
Everyone knows that the atmosphere of a show--its music, lighting, seating arrangements--can greatly influence the impression one has of a collection. This season, perhaps to communicate a recession-defensive, no one-can-mess-with-us message, runways were transformed into streets. At Nina Ricci, a show that was fueled with energy thanks to a soon departing Oliver Theyskens, the catwalk appeared cold, hard, slick--let's just say it was not a warm, fuzzy statement on the part of Theyskens. At Lanvin--the show that made for the best photographs if nothing else--the catwalk was doused in water so that it appeared as though models were freed from protective awnings and were finally able to make their way home. Although the clothing is still astronomically priced in both cases, the catwalk-turned-street sent a message of DIY independence.
Balmain might have been barelegged yesterday, but if Nina Ricci and Balenciaga have anything to do with it, women will pair all of their slinky and short frocks with sheer black hosiery next season. Oliver Theyskens' Spring 09 collection for Nina Ricci propelled this trend into motion, and we're glad to see many designers doing it this season. It's affordable and sexy and, really, we don't think we're alone when we say that the black opaque look is kind of overdone.
We've been going around in circles with draped trousers and strong shoulders for a while now, and this season is no exception. This morning, Balenciaga revealed an utterly polished version of the look which made us sigh "only in Paris" over our morning coffee. Earlier this season, in New York, Temperley London gave us an exaggerated version--fit for a London It-Girl--and Marc Jacobs gave us a truly American rendering with denim and colored metallic. No matter which style you identify with, it seems the options are still plentiful.
The first time we remember seeing fur gauntlets crop up this season was in the striking Balenciaga Pre-Fall collection and, come to think of it, the Prada one too. Needless to say, we think this trend is about to become as eponymous as lace was last fall or as thigh-high boots will be this season as well. In New York, Donna Karan, who vowed not to use fur this season, rendered hers in shearling. In London, Giles Deacon styled his with bare shoulders, and in Milan, Salvatore Ferragamo showed off a trademark penchant for luxurious monochrome.
