Paris Fashion Week Fall 2012 just wrapped up and it offered plenty of fun trends to test out this season.
Pictured – (first row) – Balmain, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney
(second row) – Valentino, Kanye West, Lanvin, Valentino
ELIE SAAB
At first glance it would appear that Elie Saab piggybacked on Stella McCartney’s miracle optical illusion dress for much of their collection but floor-sweeping capes and floor-length thigh-high slit gowns dominated much of their latest runway presentation. The color schemes presented were an array of black, blue, gray, white, gold, and blush pink. Tweeds, gold and vintage-inspired Art Deco beadings wrapped up Elie Saab’s stunning designs. Favorite look: the floor-length Art Deco-inspired gold gown.
VINTAGE-INSPIRED BEADING
OPTICAL ILLUSION
CAPES, FLOOR-LENGTH & THIGH-HIGH SLIT GOWNS
LOUIS VUITTON
Hats and more hats were the lead style essentials designed by Marc Jacobs for his Louis Vuitton Autumn Winter 2012 collection. One can say that Marc may have drawn inspiration from Mary Poppins and he bought her style to contemporary womenswear fashion 2012! What you can look forward to for LV is luxe oversized handbags, intricate embroidery, embellished buttons, chunky platform heels, and old-fashioned railroad chic. Marc did in fact say that he looked to 19th Century LV origins for his new collection.
MIU MIU
Miu Miu expertly combined rich bright colors and patterns for their menswear-inspired collection. Much of the collection was focused on pantsuits. The five dresses and four high-waisted short-shorts were elaborately embroidered and quite on the short side. This collection is for the power business corporate woman.
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
Space-age meets rocker chic is what Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen presented for their PFW Fall 2012 presentation. Exaggerated sleeves, hemlines and shoulders were their knockout style winners. Unexpected fabrics such as goat fur and leather combined with elaborated designs set in laser-cut organza upped the cult-like fashion ante that McQueen is famously known for.
KANYE WEST
Prior to his second womenswear runway presentation at Paris Fashion Week, Kanye West had the fashion world and shoe addicts in the palm of his hands when Paris boutique Colette unveiled his $6K Giuseppe Zanotti heels now on sale. It wasn’t before long that Kim Kardashian and Chanel Iman were shortly photographed in head to toe Kanye West designs. Did Kanye live up to the hype surrounding his new collection? He most certainly did and much more. I predict buckle-heavy over-the-knee boots will become the season’s most coveted item to date. Kudos, Kanye!
VALENTINO
Valentino’s designing duo Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli turned towards folk costumes to create femimine style cuts for their PFW Fall 2012 presentation. Hair and makeup seemed to draw upon that same inspiration as well. Valentino’s signature color, red was of course front and center.
BALMAIN
Angular shoulders, hip-hugging tuxedo cigarette pants, waist-slimming gold woven belts and crush velvet thigh-high slits were Balmain’s stylish winners on the runway. Balmain’s Oliver Rousteing presented another nicely done collection that proved that couture has never looked so effortless. Boxy leather jackets and fitted military dresses stuck with Balmain’s classic tough androgynous signature look. Not bad for a collection that’s inspired by Elizabeth Taylor and intricate Faberge eggs.
STELLA McCARTNEY
Although Stella stuck with her now signature optical illusion look, blue was her key statement style piece. Splashes of hot pink and brown, ruffled hemlines, side-zip jackets, croc-skin booties, and fitted silhouettes rounded up Stella’s fresh womenswear line. She added unexpectedly a varsity jacket lapel to her tweed jacket.
LANVIN
Peplum and ruffles mixed up Lanvin’s signature classics. For his 10th anniversary at Lanvin, Alber Elbaz stuck with what made Lanvin legendary – exaggerated appliques, prints, peplum, ruffles, furs, and intricate handcrafted designs.
BALENCIAGA
Balenciaga’s latest PFW look was all about transparent, electric colors, laser-cut, and geometric prints! Nicolas Ghesquière of Balenciaga delivered on producing another futuristic space-themed collection similar to the forward fashion Alexander McQueen provided with their latest line.
FALL COATS
Fantastic boxy, roomy jackets in textured fabrics like tweed, leather and acrylic from Celine, Mugler and Hermes created streamlined must-have jackets for the fall season!
INVEST IN BLUE, RED, ORANGE, & GRAY
Gareth Pugh, Giambattista Valli, Givenchy and Dries Van Noten are on the color scheme trend of investing in blue, red and gray for the fall season.
Image credits – Elle.com & GoRunway.com
What looks do you LOVE from Paris Fashion Week?
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