marchesa fall 2011

The New York Fashion Week Team’s Top Fall 2011 Trends

Now that New York Fashion Week has ended, we’ve had some time to decompress and digest the whirlwind of shows and looks we saw to bring forth Fashion Pulse Daily’s favorite trends for fall 2011. Here are our top picks:

[Naeem Khan Image via Elle.com]

Trend: Red

Despite the fact that this year’s NYFW coincided with Valentine’s Day, among the most favored trends of this Winter/Fall 2011 season is the incorporation of the traditional Asian imperial color, red, in prints, solids, lip color, and eye color. Featured multiple times in shows and presentations by such designers as Naeem Khan, Marchesa, and Alice + Olivia (to name a few), the elegant and classic romanticism of red has returned due to the influx of Asian-inspired themes this season. Marchesa loved red so much that it was incorporated into both the clothing and the eyes while Alice + Olivia used luscious red for lips and as an added flair in smart red shirts and jackets. Without a doubt, red has conquered us all.

-Rose Lou

[Tracy Reese Image via Style.com]

Trend: Pleats

There’s something decidedly feminine and flirty about accordion pleats, and I loved how Tracy Reese and Milly by Michelle Smith incorporated them into their collections. By putting the pleats in such gorgeous, yummy colors, and playing with length, it was at once demure and bold. They took a trend that can feel era-specific and made it very fresh and modern.
–Kaci Hamilton

[BCBG MaxAzriaImage via Elle.com]

Trend: Sheer

Sheer dresses, blouses, and skirts were seen on the runway but perhaps not quite overwrought or displayed in a typical fashion. Despite being sheer, each look still appeared to have a covered-up quality. The translucent fabrics were often patterned in plaids (Tommy Hilfiger showed a plaid print sheer dress) or stripes like in the BCBG Max Azria dress shown above. The designers in unison played with the transparency of the fabric to make sexy but chic, wearable looks a must for fall.

–Dana deBoer

[Diane von Furstenberg Image via Elle.com]

Trend: Rocker Chic

Sure, we’ve see our fair share of influences and subcultures make their way through the collections and inspiration saunter down the runway, but one that was certainly evident in collections as far ranging as Diane von Furstenberg and Alexander Wang to Diesel Black Gold and Betsey Johnson was one of rocker chic. We now know that the motorcycle jacket has certainly not been put to rest quite yet, and a perfect feminine update to this trend is a vibrant pout in a classic red or berry stain.

-Julia DiNardo

Sign up for the Fashion Pulse Daily Newsletter

Marchesa Fall 2011 Backstage Beauty

[Image via Vogue.com]

Backstage and upstairs at the Chelsea-located Marchesa Fall 2011 Collection show, things were calm, but still mobile in preparation for the start of the show. Lead hairstylist Renato Campora was intensely focusing on procuring the perfect coif on the mane of a skinny blonde model, but other leading hair stylist Marshall Lin (whom can also be found at the Frederic Fekkai Salon in Soho) was free to discuss the Spanish Flamenco Dancer’s Chignon-inspired hairdo. “There are two textures we are creating in the hair here – tight in the front, and messy in the back,” Lin offered.

Prepping the hair with Fekkai COIFF Bouffant Lifting & Texturizing Spray Gel the hair was then sectioned off and pinned using an old fashioned pin set, then iron pressed to create a dreadlock-like texture at the ends. Once the pins were taken out, the hair was back-combed to create even more texture and volume, pulled into a simple, low bun (dry shampoo was used to emphasize the dry texture look) and pushed back in to create a look of fullness and texture on the sides, the Fekkai Classic Brush and Fekkai Sheer Hold Hairspray (all Fekkai products available at Fekkai.com, Fekkai salons, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue) were also used during the styling, and after to finish off the look.

In the end, the front was flat and clean (like a dancer’s), but messy and voluminous in the back – combining two opposing textures in one hair-do that is both sleek and dramatic.

From makeup end, make-up artist Talia Shobrook drew inspiration from a deconstructed yet still elegant look, as if the girl had just emerged from the attic. Utilizing the products from Le Métier De Beauté, Shobrook rubbed a combination of Peachy Keen, Innocence, and Fire Lily onto the top and sides of the eyelids to create a light but layered red eyeshadow and used Magic to change the powders into more of a cream, finishing the eyes off with Mulberry (a silver eye shadow) and coated the eyelashes with Anamorphic brown mascara.

Brow pencils were used to enhance the eyebrows, and the same Fire Lily red used on the eyes were literally rubbed into the lips, also used with Magic to give it a creamier effect. Foundation mixed with moisturizer was used on the majority of the face to create a light fluidity to the canvas of the skin and Canvas (a nude color) was used under the eyes as a brightener. A dusty-pink rouge was used and brushed onto the cheekbones in a downward motion, lightly over-layed with a matte finishing powder, allowing for the blush to just creep through from underneath. To Shobrook, she imagines “a lady with style, a Marchesa fashion lady still clinging onto couture” as her main visual for the woman who is created via the artistry of this makeup design.

-Rose Lou