Paris Review: Spring 2010

Oh my...I just love Paris! The energy and the lights create the perfect background to all of the fashion that happens this time of year. This Paris fashion week was no exception to its predecessors, stunning from beginning to end. Here are some snippets of the trends I picked up on:

Color

Color on the runways seems to sway between minimal or absolutely exuberant. There were no in-betweens. For Color Anne Valérie Hash is a must see. She nailed it on the head, check it out:

What can I say? Wonderful! Amazing! Tres manifique! This was by far my favorite collection. It took Phoebe Philo's phenomenal collection for Celine from two seasons ago and brought it further into fashion's current direction. It was minimal, but soft, and large on skill and craftsmanship. It was above all things how a woman is going to want to look next season. Color and cut were both right. and were simply exquisite. Please note the color focused on what was aptly described as "make-up tones" on Style.com. Powder beige, blush, and slate completed a soft, focused palette.

Now, on the exuberant end (and in this case I don't mean just color), please note the following designers:

Manish Arora

Limi Feu

Zac Posen

I questioned not just the palettes these designer chose, but their overly exaggerated shapes. Seriously? I thought the 80's had come and gone. Twice now. Designers: y'all need to quit all your clowning around. No one wants to leave the house feeling like they're heading for the circus, and that's how these girls look. I was also disappointed in Limi Feu's decision to just create a strict palette of just black and whites. When they say "austerity measure" in Europe, I don't think anyone meant to take it quite that far. Otherwise from her a strong collection.

Print

Prints were almost non-existent on the French runways. The few exceptions included bits of graphic plaids here and there, and some snippets of snakeskin by Barbara Bui (the perfect evolution from last years leopard).

Overall I felt as if the cries for beauty and subtlety (Anne Valérie Hash, Barbara Bui) were right on the mark. The party dresses (from Zac Posen, Manish Arora) had a bit too much 80's attitude which has been done so many seasons now. They felt quite passé. Those looks need to walk right of that runway and walk far far away.