COUNTRY FROLIC
Paris: While the Prada show last week paid homage to 50s glamour, Miu Miu's spring collection seemed to be more of a meditation on austerity. Drab A-line skirts and puffy-sleeved button-ups were the picture of piousness; peeks of the midriff in between delivered the perverse twist that Miuccia Prada does so well. The pallid palette and forms subtly evolved
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PRIM CONFECTIONS
Paris: Marc Jacob's S/S 12 Louis Vuitton collection held on to last season's prim elements while nixing the perverse. Fall's constructed hourglasses evolved into boxier Mod shapes with similarly rounded shoulders and full hips. Peter Pan collars returned, but this time they were delicate and lacy. Fancy broderie anglaise and a range of fine silks replaced F/W's fetish-y leathers
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LACE ELATION
Paris: Building on the romantic femininity echoed by so many designers this spring, Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri's collection managed to maintain the girlish glamour, without an ounce of stuffiness. Inspired by bohemian female artists from history including Deborah Turbeville and Georgia O'Keeffe, a serene folkloric thread ran through the clothes, from exaggerated lace motifs to heavy
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SHEER CHIC
Paris: Hakaan Yildirim showed a shiny, sheer S/S 12 collection, reputedly influenced by African futurism. While African influences were not apparent, futurist themes were, with Yidirim’s models adorned in all manner of mesh and lace in clean optic whites, onyx, and silver sparkles. A sequin plated skirt and similar strapless cocktail dress evoked the heatproof tiling found on space
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SEA SIRENS
Paris: Between the royal wedding and the record-breaking exhibit at the Met, Alexander McQueen has quickly become a household name among the masses. For spring, creative director Sarah Burton met the mythology of McQueen head-on with an ambitious offering inspired by oceanic life. The three G's framed the collection: Grès, Gaudí and Gaia. Fortuny-style pleated fabrics were swathed, draped
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Chanel tends to set nail color trends so all eyes were on fingertips for this Spring 2012 show. They featured the upcoming Spring trio of Le Vernis polishes in April (rosy red), May (pink) and June (pale orange).
A few girls also wore Attraction, a new oyster-colored shade set to launch in January.
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MODERN MERMAIDS
Paris: For Chanel this season, Karl Lagerfeld conjured a luminous underwater world, as models emerged from a white coral reef backdrop with pearl-dabbled hair, and singer Florence Welch performed standing in a giant clam shell. A culmination of key S/S 12 trends, the collection touched on a range of silhouettes, from minimalist to ladylike, while the use of icy
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SUBTLETY IS KEY
Paris: Although it didn't break any new ground, creative director Clare Waight Keller's debut Chloe collection was graceful, and seemed to seamlessly pick up where her predecessor Hannah MacGibbon left off earlier this year. As a starting point, Keller looked to what has worked for the house in the past, like delicate fabrics, cosmetic shades and boyish shapes,
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REAL ETHEREAL
Paris: Giambattista Valli’s most recent collection floated light, airy garments of silk, satin, and silver lame atop solid, boxy silhouettes. The collection’s central theme was this contrast between vivacious garments bursting with sequins and marabou in delicate shades of bone, china, and lemon, and the spare, utilitarian boxy cut. While this creative tension added drama to the collection,
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ARTISANAL ASPIRATION
Paris: The debut collection of freshly launched line Maiyet had accumulated quite a buzz this season, with a fresh collection of youthful, romantic clothes and a novel production concept to match. The line, which was launched by Paul Van Zyl, a South African former human rights lawyer is fully produced by a network of global artisans, stretching from South
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RESTRAINED LUXURY
Paris: Rumors of Stefano Pilati's imminent ousting from Yves Saint Laurent have been swirling around for years now, and yet he keeps on hanging on by a thread – likely one spun with Teflon and a little bit of gold. Pilati has wisely chosen to stay true to the house's archives in recent seasons, and spring was no exception.
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