This latest women’s collection is all about confidence and romance, and we are loving the ‘dark glamour’ of Gucci this season! Frida Giannini’s Fall 2012 ready-to-wear collection features tons of super luxe velvet in dresses, skirts and pants, and a super-rich color palette with deep sea greens, blues and blacks. This collection is luxurious and understands print stories. Style.com reports the mood, not unlike at her men’s show last month, was dark—with rich tapestry jacquards, plush velvets, a hothouse floral printed on a ground of black, and a palette that revolved around plum, bottle green, espresso, and jet. We could go on, but basically we just LOVE it all! Here are some of our favorite looks.
This film has been out for a while, but we still revel when we watch one of our favorite documentaries Bill Cunningham New York. Known for his trademark bicycle and camera, New York Times street photographer Bill Cunningham has become a staple in New York City, as he has captured fashion trends for the Style section in his columns “On The Street” and “Evening Hours” for over 50 years. Filmmakers Richard Press and Philip Gefter (also of The Times) produced a wonderful tribute to the accomplished cameraman, who was the only member of the media to be invited to Brooke Astor’s 100th birthday party. We admire Cunningham for his craft and unparalleled obsession with fashion and photography. If you have a chance, we highly suggest that you watch Press and Gefter’s documentary, in addition to keeping up with Bill’s column in The Times.
Sign of the Times: Bill’s most recent “On The Street” column highlights the trend for skinny jeans and ankle boots with a chunky heel. Get the look with the Alice Coated Skinny paired with a heel like this Gucci Bootie.
The last of our favorite trends from the European Fashion Weeks was a tendency to strong color. While color is always featured on the spring runways, the 2012 lines were especially vibrant, with labels showing solids and bright prints in unconventional color combinations. Some of our favorite uses of color came from Haider Ackerman, who showed cool greens, violets and blues with metallic sheen, Burberry Prorsum, who mixed army greens and navy blues with yellow and orange detailing, and Gucci, who favored a bold emerald green and rusty orange with their usual black and white sexy aesthetic.
Denim will take similar color cues from the spring runways - HABITUAL is showing a variety of strong tones in the new line, including our Acid Red crackle coating, several new hues for our Color Coated denim, including the Alice Skinny in a dark, vivid green called Tea Leaf, a subtle salmon pink called Taj Mahal, and a sandy taupe called Goa, along with dyed denim washes like the acid yellow Tapestry and a cooler tone called Dark Teal.
If acid yellow was the dominant color story coming out of Europe last week, it was a push towards “ladylike” cuts that caught our eye in the shape department. We saw classically feminine silhouettes in the dresses and skirts on nearly every runway, and many designers also showed beautiful high waisted pants, jeans and bottoms in both skinny and wide legs.
We use the term “ladylike”, because a high waisted pant is a more mature, sophisticated look, offering extra coverage for the wearer in both the front and the back, so you don’t feel like a teenager with your backside hanging out. The silhouette also shows a woman’s curves in all the right places, drawing attention to a small waist, and hiding “flaws” like thicker thighs and legs, for those that might be insecure about those areas.
Some of our favorite high waisted looks came from J. Crew and Vena Cava, who went with wider leg cuts, and Gucci, who led off their show with a slimmer version featuring button cuffs. Oh and hey, there’s that acid yellow again in a wide leg street look. HABITUAL will offer several ladylike, high waisted looks in both wide and narrow leg for Spring, including the Almas Hi Rise Zip Skinny, the Harrison Ultra Hi Rise Bell Bottom, and also the Thalia and Inga Ultra Hi Rise shorts.
