Fall 2010: Carolina Herrera

 

NEW YORK, February 15, 2010

By Nicole Phelps

In her last couple of outings, Carolina Herrera has explored the arty side of her oeuvre, getting baroque with her fabric combinations or heavily embellishing them. That's been to the detriment of her refined, elegant message and, no doubt, to the quiet despair of the ladies who love it. So it was a positive development that she came back to the ultra-luxe side of things for Fall, and for the most part, employed a lighter, more familiar hand. The designer limited herself to brushstroke prints and floral embroideries, while letting silhouette, bold colors like Prussian blue and deep red, and sable fur (plenty of it) do the talking.

Delivering on her "Lady of the Sleeves" reputation, Herrera puffed up the volume on the arms of day dresses and off-the-shoulder evening versions alike. There was a fullness, too, to high-waisted, fluid trousers that were paired with grand white blouses or statement-making jackets and coats—the former in, say, crocodile with matching wool sleeves, and the latter in camel double-faced cashmere and sable. The teenage models inevitably strained to pull off these looks as confidently as the rather older target customer eventually will. After all, these ladylike clothes require the kind of bank balance and sophisticated good taste it takes a few years to attain.

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Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Alexander McQueen's last works were given final honors by his trusted team in a hushed and dignified showing that went to his core as a designer who scaled the heights of couture accomplishment. Sarah Burton, his right hand, described how, in beginning this collection, McQueen had turned away from the world of the Internet, which he had so powerfully harnessed in his last show. "He wanted to get back to the handcraft he loved, and the things that are being lost in the making of fashion," she said. "He was looking at the art of the Dark Ages, but finding light and beauty in it. He was coming in every day, draping and cutting pieces on the stand." The 16 outfits shown had been 80 percent finished at the time of his death.

What McQueen was preparing had a poetic, medieval beauty that dealt with religious iconography while recapturing memories of his own past collections. He had ordered fabric that translated digital photographs of paintings of high-church angels and Bosch demons into hand-loomed jacquards, then taken the materials and cut stately caped gowns and short draped dresses. In its ornate surface narrative, that might read as a kick against the plain and restrained direction fashion is taking, but in their own way, the fluted, attenuated lines of his long dresses suggested a calm and simplicity. Instead of aggression, they transmitted the grace of the medieval Madonnas and Byzantine empresses McQueen had been studying.

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Zara's May 2010 Lookbook Perfects Fresh

To find on-trend pieces that carry both quality and a price that won't give you giddiness, we like to look towards Zara to supplement the gaping holes in our closet. Take their current May look book, shot after shot of gorgeous pieces that border the fine line between luxe and lax. So, what can we expect from Zara's latest issue? Lovely laces, soft denim, and everything neutral...perfect for summer days and midsummer nights.

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