[Images via Elle.com]
Valentino
Mention the name Valentino and it’s easy to get visions of the designer’s ultra-famous gowns, à la Julia Roberts in a black and white vintage dream at the 2001 Oscars. And while the house’s current design heads Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri are hardly shy about putting models in fresh, frilly, demure minis, there were a few surprise twists and turns on the Valentino spring 2011 catwalk. There were a handful of looks in…wait for it… denim! It was, nevertheless, the most refined-looking display of denim ever, but it was nice to see something so quotidian done with such class. Trust Valentino to take basic cotton, among many other things, and make it seem truly out of this world.
[Images via Elle.com]
Yves Saint Laurent
Black, white, backless jumpsuits and exposed midriffs with calf-length skirts…it was all about pushing the ends of the YSL spectrum as far as they could reach for Stefano Pilati. A somehow new and inventive trench coat appeared on the same runway as a ruched and ruffled gypsy-eque dress; a blouse fit for a pilgrim was immediately disavowed by the fact that it was completely sheer. It was as if the designer wanted the collection to be omnipresent, to meet any kind of need any woman might have in order to make her mark. Oh, marks were made alright, by Pilati himself and the YSL Spring 2011 woman, though she doesn’t even know it yet.
[Images via Elle.com]
Balenciaga
While Nicolas Ghesquière used items from the house’s long history to influence his designs for Spring 2011, this wasn’t a presentation of how-well-do-you-know-your-Balenciaga — for example, a particular panel leaf dress inspired the shape of this season’s coats. Instead, Ghesquière had slicked and spiked models wearing minimal make-up and bringing a tough masculinity to each look. A smooth, almost serpentine texture on smocked blouses contrasted tailored trousers and scalloped, sleeveless, menswear-style shirts. The designer insisted he was after individuality, and he sure got it.
-Kaci Hamilton
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