Chanel Bags Lover

RETAILERS are thrilled, reporters are raving and designers are breathing a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Milan is back on track again,” said Dan Katen of Dsquared2 after it took him more than half an hour in traffic to get to a benefit event last Monday, the closing day of the womenswear fashion week for spring/summer 2011.

After several grouchy seasons, when, feeling the effect of the economic crisis, designers seemed devoid of ideas and the fashion pack lost its love of Milan – “too dull and too expensive” went the refrain – the good vibes have returned.

Everybody liked the new schedule – top-billed shows spread out over six days – and the new venues – fancy downtown “palazzi” rather than the sterile fair grounds.

Skimpy two-piece with matching bag and footwear from Giorgio Armani.

Figures released by the Italian Fashion Chamber at the end of the week showed that Milan Fashion Week is alive and well. Fifteen thousand buyers from 40 countries attended the event, which included 178 collections, 78 shows and more than 100 presentations. The many fashionistas walking about town with big name shopping bags confirmed the upward move.

“Fashion is renewal, and it was time for us to renew ourselves,” said Beppe Modenese, founder of the Milan fashion event more than 30 years ago. Above all else, the upbeat mood was reflected in the ultra-colourful, cheerful styles, which drew inspiration from the fashion heydays of the 1970s.
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lanvin

Thanks to the collaborations between high-end designers and mass-market retailers, college students can wear the latest trends, hot off the runway, without emptying the piggy bank.

Target is one of the most popular budget friendly bargain retailers that has worked with the likes of Thakoon, Anna Sui, Alexander McQueen, and Liberty of London, just to name a few. These collections are typically released months away from each other, all highly anticipated by shoppers looking for unique yet affordable clothing.

For instance, Examiner.com has reported that shoppers can look forward to something new very soon; Target will unveil their latest collaboration with the British handbag label, Mulberry on Oct. 10.
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Pope Benedict XVI sported his trademark red loafers - and no, they aren't by Prada.

Unsurprisingly Benedict XVI opted to wear his favourite red leather loafers yesterday. And no, as the Vatican has tirelessly insisted over the past few years, they aren’t by Prada but by Adriano Stefanelli, a little-known Italian cobbler. They also clearly serve as a sartorial comfort blanket: when playing to an uncertain crowd, it’s often best to stick to a wardrobe you can count on.

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Paris Haute Couture Week: Chanel

Most people who follow fashion know the Chanel signatures very well: black, ivory, bouclé, suits, camellias, black, ivory. Rinse, repeat. Karl Lagerfeld’s Spring 2010 haute couture collection of graphic white and silver was a significant departure from the Chanel aesthetic that we have all come to expect, and his Chanel Fall/Winter 2010 Haute Couture collection is yet another giant step into new territory.

The most startling things about this collection were the surprising choices in color and proportion. Normally Chanel’s color palette is very predictable, but these clothes were rendered in the very un-Chanel shades of maroon, gold, navy and brown. Proportion was primarily at play in the collection’s suits and coats – abbreviated jackets were paired with below-the-knee flared skirts, coats were often boxy and straight or puffed to comical proportions. As always with Chanel couture, the real fireworks started after the show’s halfway point, where somewhat odd suits and jackets gave way to beading and embroidery so intricate and masterful that an in-person viewing would surely be required in order to appreciate the skill of the work in full. In the end, this collection should be counted as a bold achievement on the part of Lagerfeld and his team even if the suits and coats looked to hold it back at times.