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The Fashion Statement: Top Ten Trends for Spring 2011

New York fashion week at Lincoln Center is a wrap and we've tallied up the results. In a word? '70s. Want more words? Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver.

Fashion weeks in London, Paris and Milan have yet to dictate the top ten trends of Spring of next year, but here's an early take.

SHORTS: Everyone, and we mean everyone, showed shorts in their spring collections. Whether short and roomy at Badgley Mischka or long and blouse-y at Thakoon or almost Capri-length at Ralph Lauren, shorts are going to be the get for spring.

STUDIO 54: There were so much '70s and early '80s references this week, I could hear Charlie commercials in my head. Halston, famed in that era, showed drape-y colorful maxi dresses and caftans that could have been lifted straight out of the archives. Marc Jacobs showed brightly colored pantsuits and full-length halter dresses.

PRINT MADNESS: Spring is traditionally all about florals. Jason Wu's breezy blouses had cut-out posies. DNKY had tiny flower prints on youthful dresses. Michael Angel went the painterly route with a collection of beautiful multi-colored frocks.

FEMININE VERSUS MASCULINE: Jill Stuart typified the feminine push/masculine pull with high-water tuxedos followed by flouncy, frilly dresses accessorized with masculine belts. The juxtaposition was stunning.

CANDY COLORS: Michael Kors trotted out fuchsia and green. Rebecca Taylor favored orange. Cynthia Rowley went for yellow. Candy colors ruled the day.

Tags: Cynthia Rowley, Derek Lam, DKNY, Edun, Halston, Jason Wu, Jill Stuart, L.A.M.B., Lincoln Center, Mackage, Marc Jacobs, Marchesa, Michael Angel, Michael Kors, New York Fashion Week, Ralph Lauren, Rebecca Taylor, Suno, Tommy Hilfiger

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The Fashion Statement: Who are the Greenest Designers?

by Kristin Young (RSS feed) —

Green. Sustainable. Recyclable. Not exactly the first words you use to describe luxury fashion, right? At the same time, numerous clothing companies have been founded on the principal of being eco-friendly.

I'll admit, the skeptic in me began to worry when giant brands like Guess, Inc. started producing lines purporting to be green. Green's big business and it made for great advertising and public relations. But how can you tell whether a line that claims to be green is really green?

I posed the question to Emma Grady, a contributing fashion writer at TreeHugger.com (a division of the Discovery Channel) who helps sort this out for consumers. "We do this by asking lots of questions to understand a garment's life cycle," she says. "Where are the fabrics sourced? How are they produced? How far does the product travel (shipping is a major source of pollution)? Is the cotton grown in Africa, weaved in India, then shipped to a store in California? What dyes are used in the process?"

Grady and her team at TreeHugger.com a number of designers' sustainable practices are the real deal. It's worth listing a few of them here. Not surprising, Stella McCartney is one. McCartney is well-known vegan and has long produced pleather shoes, belts and handbags to avoid the environmentally taxing tanning process.

Linda Loudermilk, a designer from Los Angeles, is another to watch. I interviewed Loudermilk a few years ago and she told me she spends countless hours researching and developing textiles that are not only made from certified eco-conscious materials, but suited for high design. I found this particularly impressive because the fashion design process is already grueling. And, no doubt, these steps added a lot of expense to production costs.

EDUN, founded in 2005 by Ali Hewson and Bono, promotes sustainable employment in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, reads its mission statement. The line's primary focus is trade but it's also working to use more organic materials in the collection.

Even small things like recycling zippers and buttons can make a big difference, says Grady. Props to Yves Saint Laurent for earlier this year unveiling an eco-friendly capsule collection called "New Vintage." The idea was to create classic YSL styles using fabrics from past collections.

If designers can't be innovative, who can?

Tags: blogactionday, EDUN, Linda Loudermilk, LindaLoudermilk, Stella McCartney, StellaMccartney, TreeHugger.com, Yves Saint Laurent, YvesSaintLaurent

LVMH Invests In Bono's Clothing Line

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Celebrity Design

The Wall Street Journal's sources say that Bono and his wife Ali Hewson may be close to inking a deal to sell a large stake of the Edun fashion line to LVMH. Per the perms of the deal Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy could soon own nearly 50 percent of the eco-conscious fashion line. Edun sells organic cotton fashion manufactured in countries including Peru, Kenya and Uganda.

Edun is a for-profit business that was founded in 2005 on the premise of trade versus aid as a means of building sustainable communities. An equity investment by LVMH would allow Edun to expand its reach by having the substantial marketing and production power of the world's largest luxury-goods firm at its disposal. The investment would be a bit of a shift for LVMH but definitely shows that luxury's growing move toward the sustainable is more than just a flash in the pan.

Source

Tags: ali hewson, AliHewson, bono, edun