Carolina Herrera Spring 2012 – New York Fashion Week

The popular Venezuelan-born designer, Carolina Herrera, sent down her amazing spring 2012 collection at New York Fashion Week on September 12, 2011, offering a bit of elegance and femininity with flowing dresses, simple silhouettes and bare shoulders. She “provided springtime ease for the ladylike set” with her incredible show and managed to win a well-deserved place among the best collections, presented on the fifth day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

For the upcoming warm season, the renowned designer decided to stay true to the style elements that characterized her previous collections, without trying to bring a retro vibe: “It’s not Thirties”. She went on to explain that for this collection she has more opted for modern fashion elements and it’s Bauhaus that inspired her: “I love everything they did — in art, in fashion, in interiors, the colors.”
Far from the excessive detailing or too simple looks, Carolina Herrera has chosen the perfect middle, using the layering technique to get a more structured look. Diverging from the ever-present floral trend, Carolina has given preference to geometric vibes as a way to create some interest and emphasize the classy touches the elegant looks are endowed with. But the star pieces in the entire collection were the ones with small birds prints, pecking as patterns in grass green and canary yellow.
The ‘30s glamour, pussy bow blouses, long lengths and geometric prints are some of the characteristic features of the collection. Color-wise the designer has used lots of green tones, from emerald to lemon grass, also red, white, black and yellow tones. Famous for her white shirt, Carolina brought some impressive designs featuring this pure color, teaming it up with black and red. The most impressive looks to this end, were the simple, colorblocked pieces in black and white, tied together with a unique red patent leather belt.
For daytime wear, the designer offered elegant mid-length skirts and dresses, spiced up with stylish accessories, such as scarfs, belts, sunglasses or simple sandals with minimalistic designs.
As far as evening wear is concerned, Carolina used simplicity as the main concept, paying a great attention to subtle textural details and perfectly balanced proportions. With monochrome dresses being the epitome of elegance and sophistication, Carolina brought sleeveless or strapless body-skimming gowns in shimmering silver, eye-popping yellow or emerald green.
“I love the idea of elegance and intricacy, but whether it is in a piece of clothing or a fragrance, the intricacy must appear as simplicity,” the Venezuela-born Herrera has said.

 

Photo courtesy of WWD.com

Stella Arsenis

One day when I was looking at the A Shoe a Day site I came across Stella’s work. Ms. Arsenis recently graduated from Cordwainers with a First Class BA Honors degree. Stella who is from London, created this collection by using unique designs, oxidized materials and lustrous leathers. The inspiration for her final collection came from the Old West and Stella loves to create heels that fuses feminine designs with aggressive materials. Look for Stella’s work in the years to come.

Mark Charles Boot Company

A friend recommended that I read The Fashion Designer Guide by Mark Charles and I also came across his boot collection. Mr. Charles who is from Harlesden, North West London always loved artistic design and graduated in 2004 with a degree in Graphic Design. After this Mark created his company Orgill-La’Touche, a luxury drinks company and then traveled to Sweden to work with Zuidam distillery. Family obligations brought Charles back to London and while working as a creative recruitment consultant in June 2007 discovered his passion for shoe design. In order to pursue this new course of action he quit his job and began working with a bespoke designer in East London. Traveling to Italy enabled Mark to enhance his shoe knowledge and in 2008 began working on his boot collection. Factory issues which is the enemy of most new shoe designers reared its ugly head and caused the collection to be delayed for nearly two years. Overcoming this problem was not easy and in 2011 the collection was finally launched. After looking at the collection below I hope all of you will want to take a trip to Mark’s World, I am sure it will be an interesting one. Please go to Mr. Charles’s website to order one of these beauties.


Zuri


Camy


Shea


Kayo


Afina

Gaetano Perrone Spring 2012 Collection

Lilac suede peep-toe pump with flowers

Black leather peep-toe pump with flowers

Pink and green sequined peep-toe pump

Dark silver leather peep-toe pump with ruffles

Beige leather d’orsay with ruffles

Beige leather sandal with sculpted wedge heel

Silver multi-strapped sandal

Beige watersnake sandal with sculpted heel

Multicolored python pump

Gaetano finds inspiration from nature for his collections and this season is no exception. For Fall Perrone was inspired by insects and this season finds Gaetano inspired by flowers. Mr. Perrone’s floral influence can be seen in the colors he uses for Spring and even the heels which are sculpted to look like carnations. I hope everyone appreciates this ethereal collection from Gaetano Perrone.

Gaetano trova ispirazione dalla natura per le sue collezioni e questa stagione non fa eccezione. Per caduta Perrone è stato ispirato da insetti e questa stagione trova Gaetano ispirato da fiori. Influenza floreale di Mr Perrone può essere visto nei colori che lui usa per la primavera e anche i tacchi che sono scolpiti a guardare come i garofani. Spero che tutti apprezza questa collezione eterea da Gaetano Perrone.

Stephane Rolland Spring 2012 Haute Couture Show

Red suede t-bar platforms

White leather t-bar platforms

Black suede t-bar platforms

Roberto Cavalli Man Spring Summer 2012 Fashion Show

Roberto Cavalli evolves the elegance and tailoring of the last collection, freeing the man from the rigour of Winter and dressing him with the freshness and positivity of Summer.

Italian tailoring is enriched with colour, embroidered thread and embellishments.

The jacket is rigorously cut with a close-fitting back, a narrow front with generously proportioned, embroidered lapels.

The shirt is also tailored, made in cotton and enriched with details that give it a less formal, intriguing edge, the pants harmoniously follow the line of the leg. The casual tuxedo suits are illuminated with sashes of embroidered silk. The silhouette enhances the long line of the body.

Authentic masculine tailoring fabrics, such as mohair, grain de poudre and linen/silk, are interpreted through the use of colour and specialised weaving techniques.

The colour palette includes a gradient scale of blue that declines into a purple, and a strong presence of white, with sprinklings of colour that evoke the earth and the sun.

Prints are present as all-over micro-designs, vertical graphics and photographic reinterpretations of specialised leather processing from the archives of Cavalli.

Leather is the protagonist for much of the collection: American inspiration for blazers and jackets made in suede and python with precious tassles, paired with denim and linen in bright, bold colours.