FASHION Magazine

If you’re of a certain age (read: late 20s), Gwen Stefani will forever be just a girl covered in bindis. And if you’re like me, her style inspired you to stick a few gemstones on your own brow back in the ‘90s. Well, it’s time to check if you still have a stash of mini baubles: face decoration is coming back! While add-on embellishments are already trending for Spring, this morning’s Miu Miu show continued the brow party that Chanel started yesterday—meaning the trend is sticking around throughout Fall.

View our picks » “You want volume? I’ll give you volume.” That seemed to be Sarah Burton’s thinking for the Fall 2012 Alexander McQueen collection. The show opened with white jacquard skirt suits featuring fluffy collars that extended from chin to elbow then moved into doily dresses with arcing sleeves and hips. Pink puffballs of Mongolian […]

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The crystals rising from the gravely floor of the Grand Palais were the first clue that today’s Chanel show was going to be about shine—and was it ever. Fabrics and trims literally glistened from top to toe—from the models crusty brows to the crystals on their Lucite heels.

In between, amethyst bits covered the shoulders of a jacquard top, sequins lined the hood of a crisp bomber, and wide metal collars like small breastplates were tucked under suit jackets. Prism motifs included jewel-tone prints, seaming on a grey flannel coat, plastic-y appliqués on another coat, and geometrics carved into shearling. Reflective fabrics included a blue crinkly foil blouse, crushed-velvet stovepipe pants, and some sort of silver weave, probably lurex, for pantsuits.

See the collection » “He sure is going out with a bang,” said the retailer sitting next to me, summing up Stefano Pilati’s final collection for Yves Saint Laurent. Black suit after black suit—each one chicer and stricter than the next—opened the show, then life-size calla lilies in purple and green jacquard began appearing from head to […]

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View the sleeve and shoulder trend in action »

We need to talk about sleeves. Shoulders too, but first sleeves.

There is a majorly mannish tailoring trend forming at the Fall 2012 shows in Paris, but what keeps it from being dull is that the designers are having fun with sleeves.

Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci cut his sleeves short and wide for boxy jackets and colour-blocked furs. We’ll surely be seeing these goods on Alicia Keys and the other stars who were in his front row.

There were striped knit sleeves on wool coats at Kenzo (made ultra-cool thanks to designers and Opening Ceremony co-founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim).

There was so much fabulousness going on outside the Viktor & Rolf show on Saturday—think Karlie Kloss with moody stained lips and stringy hair, Anna Dello Russo in Big Bird fur, and Gareth Pugh looking as edgy as his own collections—but alas, none of it could contend with Katy Perry, her vibrant cobalt Viktor & Rolf swirl trench, or her dyed-to-match Wonder Woman-blue do. The latest in a string of candy (and comic) coloured dye jobs was all the buzz all weekend long, and so it’s only fitting that it get a photo tribute here!

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I am just back from another showroom visit, this time at Lanvin. I am still reeling from the beauty and all-out luxe. Here’s what I learned in four points:

Get up close and personal »

1.   The shapely jewel-tone dresses that came down the runway three evenings ago—surprise surprise!—turned out to made from bra padding, giving them a soft but substantial sculptural quality.

Judging by all the coatless wonders skulking around outside the shows this weekend, we’d say that things are heating up in Paris. But alas, the 4°C readout on our screens says otherwise. If fashion week has taught us anything, it’s that you dress for the cameras despite those frigid temps.

View the style snaps »

View the collection »

The energy of a runway show cannot be beat—assuming of course, that you’re listening to a rocking DJ, perusing kickass clothes, and ogling Tilda Swinton in front row. If not, a visit to a designer’s showroom can be just as satisfying.

Taking the time to get up close and personal with this latest batch of collections seems even more crucial than in most seasons, given the major trompe l’oeil layering trend that’s impossible to dissect as models rush by. I was trying to figure out whether an item was constructed of one layer or three as I headed to the Carven showroom.

Today’s batch of photos proves that, well, you can never have too much beauty outside one Paris fashion week. Pre and post Balmain and Christian Dior, we caught everyone from Karlie Kloss, to Joan Smalls, to Kate King, to Magdalena Frackowiak, to Anja Rubik, to Alana Zimmer (and there’s more!) striking a pose for the cameras. Check out our best shots.

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Walking past the Meurice Hotel this afternoon, I passed a cluster of girls around the front door. Something told me they were waiting for someone famous who would be headed across the street to the Tuileries and the tent where the Viktor & Rolf show was being held. A short while later, as I sat in my seat, Katy Perry breezed past me in a blue coat and blue updo, settling in just metres away. And the paparazzi went wild.

The premise behind L’Odyssée de Cartier sounds super for a fashion shoot—but even better for a three-minute film by Bruno Aveillan. The noted commercial director dreamed up a scenario that was anything but commercial—a diamond panther, sitting in the window of the Place Vendôme boutique, bursts into a live panther and escapes on an odyssey. […]

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