Christian Dior Beauty Fall 2009 Campaign

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Chanel Fall 2009 Couture Colection

Before rating Chanel's Fall couture, let's consider what Karl Lagerfeld has already done for the house in the last six months. There was the indelible, incredible high of his all-white couture show in January. Then, a matter of weeks ago, the staging of an unforgettably glamorous Resort collection on the beach at the Venice Lido. All this supremely heart-lifting fashion, delivered in a year that is technically the most depressing in living memory. Back in Paris again, was it going to be humanly possible to top that for a third time? As it turned out, not quite. The Chanel couture for Fall, shown in the Grand Palais on a stage set with giant white N° 5 bottles, had a comparatively toned-down atmosphere. Lagerfeld's single conceit was a play on graphic proportion—suits and dresses with a longer flyaway panel in the back, all shown with lace tights and stiletto-heeled booties. As the show progressed, he offered up some remarkable looks: a "smoking" redingote with a ruffle-necked blouse; a crinolined dance dress; pretty, light chiffon dresses in nude or midnight blue with ruffled trains. The outstanding look, though, was the one where the panel device was the least evident: a superchic spiral-cut dark blue dress with an asymmetric "tail" lined in red. All the Chanel craftsmanship was there, of course, and impeccably achieved. For all that, Lagerfeld didn't manage to outstrip the genius of those previous two shows. That's the annoying thing when you're competing against yourself.

SARAH MOWER

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Glastonbury 2009 Street Style

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Luella Fall 2009

"Cute utilitarianism" is the tag Luella Bartley gave her punk-y, schoolgirl-y, military look, which was marched out by a gang of girls who seemed to be going to the prom via junior cadet corps. If it was less clashingly bright than her outstanding Summer collection, it was just as assured and detailed (this time with lots of gold zips, buttons, and hook-and-eye fastenings), and essentially based around the same template of short dresses and neat little suits that won her British Designer of the Year last November.

"Building a brand" can sound like a dull and onerous mission these days, especially for a junior-focused designer who came out of London's free and easy years. Yet that's exactly what Bartley is proving herself capable of now. There's value for money in each of her outfits, from all the patchworking of contrasting fabrics that goes on in a single piece (a dress might be made up of a polka-dot top fused to a draped bustier, connected to a wool skirt) down to the Confederate caps and fur pompoms on the toes of her pumps. The sense of continuity shows an impressive business focus, but even better, somehow, is the way Bartley will also break into a bit of gold lamé to keep things "up."


SARAH MOWER

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Betsey Johnson Fall 2009

There were no cartwheels from Betsey Johnson for the first time in what feels like forever…because there was no catwalk. Instead, she invited a smaller crowd to "Betsey Crocker's Kitchen" in her showroom. Yes, folks, the designer who played Peter Pan for Spring reinvented herself as Julia Child. "It's a happy, eating/drinking show with hot waiter guys," Johnson said with typical zaniness.

Fashion's most playful designer (who recently sold part of her company and is working with some new people) is having a moment. A new generation, too young to have Betseyed in the nineties, much less the eighties, is discovering her charms. There were rumors aloft that she might do a collaboration with Target, and it's known for sure that she is about to debut an archive collection with Opening Ceremony (the groovy store/showroom/gallery) this fall.

Looking either like extras from a raunchy Ellen von Unwerth shoot or like Cyndi Lauper, the models wore rose prints, lace, and petticoats. Forced to think more commercially, too—as are most of her colleagues—Johnson also showed T-shirts from her soon-to-launch tee line as well as sweat suit separates. "It's artsy yet very real," she said, unsinkably, in a preshow interview. "It's a trip, trip, trip, trip." Some girls, come what may, will always just want to have fun.


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Tracy Reese Fall 2009

Tracy Reese worked a schoolgirl vibe for Fall, adding nerdy specs (one of this season's mini trends), knit caps, and kneesocks to most of her looks. Dresses—fun, flirty, and uncomplicated—came in shades of saffron, mauve, and rose, and could be styled just as easily for a campus as for a beach resort during winter break. That adaptability is one of the strengths of Reese's brand; she may not be forging new territory, but her pieces have a wear-anywhere quality and enough thoughtful details to make them appealing.


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Marc by Marc Jacobs Fall 2009

The twentysomethings and teens that the Marc by Marc Jacobs collection targets are perfect candidates for the sort of eighties Danceteria redux the designer pulled off so brilliantly at his "big sister" show. After all, they were either in diapers or missed the decade entirely the first time around. But Jacobs took a sharp turn off the island of Manhattan circa 1984 for his kid-sister line.

That's not to say that it wasn't fun. It's just that in their hiking boots and woolly socks, striped tights, blanket scarves, and felt Molly Ringwald hats, his models looked more like junior mountaineers than they did club-hoppers. They were the good twins to his signature line's hellions in neon.

As always, it was a mad mix. The components this time around were argyle or intarsia sweaters, belted oversize herringbone sports jackets, baggy wide-wale corduroy shorts, union suits, and a striking red windowpane-plaid dress with pointy shoulders that hinted at the proportions seen on his runway last night. But in the end, vintage-feel shirtwaist dresses, one or two shot through with Lurex, are as rocking as the M.M.J. girl will get this season.


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Diane Von Furstenberg Fall 2009

Sober and serious is one way to respond to the dismal economic outlook, but it's not the Diane Von Furstenberg way. Let other designers lay on the black; she dubbed her Fall collection "Nomad," and sent out a melting pot's worth of fabrics, embroideries, and patterns—from leopards to camouflages to tapestry prints. Von Furstenberg is betting that in "times like these," what a girl really wants is a little pizzazz. But comfort counts, too, so accompanying almost all of her wrap dresses, sacks, bubbles, and tunic-miniskirt combos were generous, slouchy cardigans or cocoon coats, as well as knit tights or leggings—some in leather, others in prints that should come in at a very nice price point. Oh, and don't forget the pompom-covered knit hats. Come evening, though, von Furstenberg left cozy behind, and moved into full-on glamour mode, channeling her own Studio 54 days with the show's closing number, a metallic ombré liquid jersey gown, which appeared on the runway as Diana Ross' hit "Upside Down" played on the soundtrack. The ageless diva was in the audience and gave von Furstenberg a big hug as the designer made her victory lap.


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Anna Sui Fall 2009

"If you're going to have a show, then have a show," said Anna Sui, gearing up in her office about a week before her Belle Époque extravaganza. It was obvious how much the designer—happy among her stacks of books, inspiration boards, and piles of 1890's-inspired jewelry from Erickson Beamon—enjoyed the process. Not that Sui wasn't mindful of the economy. She noted that she had made careful fabric choices to ensure that everything remained at a comfortable price point. But Sui, and the girl she dresses, does like to have fun. As front-row guest Taylor Momsen, an ideal member of the Sui demographic, put it: She has "a different kind of spark."

What lit Sui's imagination was Proust and the Paris of the Gay Nineties. She looked at pictures of its grandes horizontales and its art, as well as of Yves Saint Laurent's country retreat, where every room was named after a character in Remembrance of Things Past. The research resulted in a demimondaine's boudoir vibe (rose prints and velvet trims) with accents of more sober Rive Droite propriety (black velvet and soutache trim).

There was a lot of black—enlivened by lots of pattern, naturally—in a collection that was overlong and not without its heavy-handed moments. There was also a splashy saffron cardigan with rhinestone trim, a relatively tame brushed-wool plaid coat for the fainter of heart, and some great boots. It will be hard to decide between the colorful over-the-knee style and Sui's amazingly chic challenge to the Ugg boot. Way to kick it, Anna.


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An Inspiration That Truly Inspired Me...

“For FW09, FORM takes inspiration from the curvature, hue, and texture of the freshwater oyster.”- Jerry Tam, Designer


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Tracy Reese Fall 2009 Sneak Peek

“This season the fascinating work of post-impressionist artists Vuillard, Van Gogh and Modigliani and their expressive use of color inspires an eclectic fall 2009 collection of understated glamour and romance; mixing menswear-influenced patterns with floral prints in rich color combinations to complete the look.” - Tracy Resse

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