Glamazon

While we're working on theories about glamazon women, about the exaggerated notions of femininity cropping up this Spring 09, along comes Christian Lacroix who gives us more arsenal than we could hope for. Lacroix looked back to the eighties for his Spring 2009 collection. The collection reminds us of our fashion sense when we were eight years old, listening to George Michael on cassette tape and playing dress-up to such a degree that our parents thought we might actually be color blind. But, you know, the Paris Fashion Week version. Lacroix's version of the modern woman plays with the excess of the eighties and the confidence of a woman who can wear ruffles and bows and stilettos to such an aggressive degree that they make women in pantsuits just look like fakes. 

Right now, in our fashion laboratory, we are working on a trend forecast to encapsulate the entire Spring 2009 season and, because the Paris shows run until Sunday, we just can't say much yet--let the Maison Martin Margiela example, at left, be your guide. We will say, also, that it pivots on the notion of the "glamazon" woman and all kinds of bombshell-personified characteristics. We're looking into the rise of the eight-inch platform, the passing of couturier Yves Saint Laurent, the commodification of Anna Wintour, and Rodarte, as potential causes of this new fashion identity. The Glamazon gal shows a lot of leg (sometimes just one at a time), comes in all shapes and sizes, wears nothing below a 6-inch heel, and knows how to stir up trouble. She is a hyper-feminine woman who is really, honestly, kind of terrifying (in an awesome way).