Monday 22 March 2010

Top Ten Collections: Fall 2010/2011




ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
If Alexander McQueen's death cast a shadow over the Fall shows, his final collection shone brightly—and remained sui generis. With their religious imagery and stately, almost medieval silhouettes, the 16 pieces showcased his skills as a tailor, as a master draper, and, above all, as fashion's most ardent romantic. We won't soon forget his monumental talent.


BURBERRY PRORSUM
The live-streaming thing was cool. Even more so, the instant gratification of "clicking to buy" the same day as the show. But none of that would have mattered if Christopher Bailey hadn't delivered on the fashion front—and that he did, from the cropped leather aviators and shaggy white shearlings to the killer thigh-high python boots.


CELINE
"Strong, powerful, reduced." Phoebe Philo's description of her Fall collection is equally apt for the season as a whole, which indicates just how agenda-setting her vision for Celine has become. And from the looks of her silhouette-shifting kick flares, her sexy black leather, and her fantastic outerwear, her influence won't be waning anytime soon.


CHANEL
A fashion showman nonpareil, Karl Lagerfeld had 240 tons of snow-ice trucked in from Sweden for Chanel's Grand Palais show. But his real magic trick was making fake fur—woven into tweed suits, skirting the hem of leather jackets, decorating handbags and boots—just as covetable as the real thing. Snice one, Karl.

DOLCE & GABBANA
At a moment when designers were going for the emotional connection, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana trumped everyone with a feel-great video about their atelier employees and a lineup long on their specialties: leopard spots, polka dots, peekaboo black lace—and, last but not least—those expertly tailored jackets.


DRIES VAN NOTEN
Dries Van Noten's MO? Give women what they want, and make it look effortless—as in a shrugged-on, slashed-sleeve sweatshirt; an easy olive-drab button-down; and long shorts in a lushly gorgeous floral print. The mix-and-match potential of this collection should have 'em queuing up to get into his stores when it arrives this summer.


MARC JACOBS
"There's so much striving for newness now that newness feels less new," Marc Jacobs told us. His solution? Tweak greatest hits like panne velvet dresses, seventies-ish pantsuits, and evening sequins, and send them all out on unknown models to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"—all of which sent his fans over the rainbow indeed.


MICHAEL KORS
They don't come more quintessentially American than Michael Kors, and in a season of quintessential American sportswear, the designer stepped up to the plate. Think chunky knits, slouchy trousers, and smart chesterfield coats, but with the luxe factor dialed way, way up. Speaking of, he's your man for a sumptuous fur.


PRADA
Casting Victoria's Secret Angels wasn't Miuccia Prada's only unexpected maneuver this season. As Marc Jacobs would do later at Louis Vuitton, she focused our attention on that erogenous zone often neglected by fashion folk: the bust. With their ruffled necklines, her fit-and-flare, fifties-ish dresses were irresistibly fetching and full of that indefinable Prada charm.


RAG & BONE
New York's go-to guys for a great pair of jeans and menswear-inspired basics upped the style quotient with their Fall collection, layering Harris Tweed with hoodies, matching camouflage to plaid, and sending out Fair Isle-by-way-of-the-Himalayas knits. In the current climate, there's a lot to be said for a high-fashion mash-up at relatively attainable prices.

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