Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2008 Trends

Not to say anything bad about NYC and London but fashion week to me is Milan and Paris. NYC has a lot of great designers but it's problem is volume. London is great for creativity but it's a bit small. A lot of my favorite designers show in Milan (Prada, Marni, Jil Sander) and it gets me excited about fashion and what they have planned for the masses.


Bows (Pictured Luisa Beccaria)
Bows are another common trend to the fashion weeks that I'm enjoying. The Italians stuck to small bows on blouses like most designer. However, Francesco cognitional bucked the trend and used large bows in his collection. I'm looking forward to this trend on the streets.


Dramatic Cuts (pictured Jil Sander)
Dramatic cuts continued it's rise in popularity during Milan Fashion Week. Jil Sander's brilliant collection has been the best execution of the dramatic cuts trend in NYC, London and Milan. The trend hit many of the major design houses like Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Bottega Veneta, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Missoni.


Flares (Pictured Burberry)
Say goodbye to the unforgiving skinny trend; pants are spreading out again. Flares and Bell bottoms are making their way back into the mainstream. I hope you didn't throw your old flares out. Burberry used rich colours and shine to make their flares the best of Milan. D&G, Derercuny and Moshino all incorporated flare/bell bottoms in their collections.


Red (Pictured Iceberg)
The red trend powers on through Milan sweeping designers up in it's wake. Bottega Veneta, Moschino cheap and chic, Missoni, Rocco Barocco, Kristina Ti, Iceberg, dsquared and Maurizio Pecoraro all used red making this trend one with staying power and influence.


Bright Tights (Pictured Marni)
Tights, tights and more tights. What seemed like a small flash in the pan in NYC blew up in London and Milan is keeping it going strong.D&G pulled no punches with the tartan theme and tights were made to create a head to toe look. There are subtle design changes going on in th house of Just Cavalli, they are all for the better. He couldn't help himself this season and created leopard print tights.


Collar Treatment (Pictured Jil Sander)
Designers looked to the collar for volume and shape this season in Milan; building from the momentum of the trend from NYC to London. Jil Sander's collection not only did dramatic cuts really well, his collars were to die for. Other designers feeling the dramatic collar are Versace (a little suprising to me, but Donnatella has been moving forward with the collections recently), Roksanda Ilincic, 6267, Alessandro Dell'Acqua and Bottega Veneta.


Tartan (Pictured D&G)
The Tartan train is chugging along. The Italians loved tartan especially D&G who went nuts for the stuff. No other designer so far has taking the trend to this level. Other subdued collections that used tartan included Moschino cheap & chic, Just Cavalli, Dsquared and Dolce & Gabbana.

images: style.com and style.it

Interior Design Trends: Toronto Interior Design Show '08

Thinking of redecorating?

We spent a few hours at the Toronto Interior Design Show this weekend to check out the latest trends. It proved to be very inspiring with a little something for every taste. The themes for 2008 were easy to spot...

Black and White

Everything from wall paper, furniture and throw pillows to smaller accessories... black is back! This trend is crisp and elegant paired with white then using a splash of unexpected color such as red for an accent. Designers used wallpaper instead of paint on one or two accent walls, leaving the rest in a nice clean white to open it up and keep the room from looking too dark or too small.


This wall paper sample is elegant without being overly elaborate.


Chocolate brown paired with cream or ivory affords the same striking contrast with more of an earthy feel.

The Environment

We loved this kitchen garden from The Designer Guys.

Natural wood, celery green, cream, bamboo and organic cottons are the main characteristics of this relaxing trend.


Color

Fresh Aqua with chocolate brown is a popular look. The key here is to keep the furniture in classic colors and experiment with a vibrant splash of color on the walls. Aqua was also common on throw pillows, curtains and other accessories.


House and Home's Linda Reeves designed this room using black and white as the base then loaded it up with colorful accessories, animal prints and eye-popping fuchsia.


The condo fire place and wine rack add a dash of cheer to any room.



There were plenty of unusual and inspiring art exhibits tying black, white and vibrant color together.


Textiles

Elaborate tile schemes for back splashes or bathrooms add a sophisticated touch.

Design Within Reach was one of the show sponsors in conjunction with the launch of their new store in Toronto on 435 King Street W. This is fantastic. If you are not familiar with DWR, it's time to acquaint yourself! They are a fully licensed design shop, which means they sell the real thing, manufactured by the company holding the license to the original design. They sell a wide range of pieces from affordable to pricey.

Check out the rest of our pics from the show!

Mercedes Benz NYC Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2008 Trends

The collections were dark and sombre, falling in line with the economic mood of the world. The subprime fiasco is having global consequences and the luxury industry is wondering what part of their business is going to take the biggest hit. There was a general turn to the masculine throughout the week. Some trends this fashion week were widespread and others just a ripple.


Red (pictured Zero Maria Cornejo)
Red is a great change from the pinks that have been popular over the last few seasons. Burnt hues dominated the runway with the heavyweights Proenza Schouler, Herve Leger and Oscar de la Renta. There were reds across the spectrum from the bright supersaturated version at Y3, Zero Maria Cornejo and Marchesa and the more purple based reds at Zac Posen, Reyes and Donna Karen.


Blue (pictured Marchesa)
Blue was another dominate force with many designers falling under its spell. Cobalt blue was the standout shade and designers like Betsey Johnston, Karen Walker, Matthew Williamson and Oscar de la Renta used it. The darker shades of blue were plentiful and some standouts did the opposite. Rodarte used the lightest shade of baby blue that lent well to their twisted fairy tale themed collection. Other notable blues were used by Narciso Rodriguez, Marchesa, Preen, Proenza Schouler and Benjamin Cho.


Blue and Black (pictured Marc by Marc Jacobs)
Blue was popular but so was pairing it with black as seen at Calvin Klien, Doo ri, Vera Wang, Zero Maria Cornejo, Proenza Schouler, Rag and Bone, Lela Rose, Costello Tagliapetra, Elle Tahari, Benjamin Cho, Bill Blass, Derek Lam and Thakoon. That list is nowhere near complete.



Velvet (pictured Ports 1961)
I’m not a big fan of velvet but I’m in the minority. The darker colour palette of fall 2008 2009 lends itself well to velvet. Dresses were staples, but you could find a pair of velvet pants at Carolina Herrera. Some of the majors using velvet include Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Oscar de la Renta.


Bows (pictured Carolina Herrara)
Oversized bows adorned many a blouse during New York fashion week. Proenza Schouler had my favourite version of the bow in my opinion. Thakoon, United Bamboo, Carolina Herrera, Doo ri, Jason Wu, Ruffian and Marc by Marc Jacobs all used bows in their collections.


Flora and Nature (pictured Benjamin Cho)
It took NYC a season to jump on this bandwagon. It was used sparingly in many collections and a few chose to make abundance use of the theme. Florals a la Balenciaga were featured at Betsey Johnson, Diane Von Furstenberg, Erin Featherstone, Karen Walker and Bill Blass. Designers like Marchesa, Benjamin Cho and Koi Suwannagate used textile flowers as embellishments on dresses.


Neo Gothic (pictured Rodarte)
This is a small but interesting trend that uses qualities from past period with a contemporary spin. Rad Hourani (a Canadian) had a beautiful collection of black and red. Rodarte’s punk rock fairies were complete with spike Christian Louboutin pumps. Ruffian, Phi and even bridal queen Vera Wang infused the past with the present.


Tartan (pictured Ralph Lauren)
Some designers turned traditional tartan on hits head like Thakoon, Ports 1961. Some collections were overrun with tartan like Ralph Lauren and Thakoon. The amount of red tartan on the runway solidifies the colours dominance this season.


Bright tights (pictured Anna Sui)
Tights of all colours and prints were a favourite trend of fashion week. It's something that is accessible to everyone. I loved the rich opaque tights shown at Proezna Scholuer and inspired me to break out my mustard ones and pair them with burgundy shoes. Rad Hourani sent completely red looks down the runway. Erin Fetherston, xxx, and xxxx also stuck to the solid colour. Printed tights in New York were in force at Anna Sui, Philosophy, Karen Walker and Miss Sixty.

The cocoon silhouette was very popular among the designers. Other colours looking to make an impression are gold and pumpkin. We'll see what the other fashion weeks bring to the trend landscape.

images: style.com