The New Louis Vuitton Handbag Collection

Check out what Louis Vuitton has in store for spring 2007. Fresh, young and fun and increasingly innovative, not to mention increasingly harder for the counterfeit trade to reproduce.


Photos: style.com

Paris Fashion Week Spring 2007: John Galliano

I figured I may catch glimpse of a true Galliano-themed show with his signature collection but as I sifted through the looks I realized his collection for spring 2007 was as reserved as Dior. That was until the last 12 looks paraded down the runway with gigantic chaotic fuss atop their heads. Yes, this is the John we all know and love. The collection was less than interesting but I just loved the headpieces.

Photos: style.com

Lagerfeld's Lacy Leg

First bare legs were the it accessory, then it was a fishnet outrage, now it's all about opaque leggings and soon it will be all about lace (if Karl Lagerfeld has anything to do with it that is). His spring 2007 collection was full of lacy delights as all 43 of his looks were paired with lace patterned hose (even under pants). Isn't enough that we must be of-the-minute in terms of hemlines, sleeve shapes, waist heights, pant lengths, bag sizes and shoe styles? No, of course not. Now we must make sure our tights (or should I say pantyhose/hose/leggings/shapers or any of the other synonyms for what I like to simply call leg wrappers) are au courant as well. At least keeping up with this trend won't break our trusty ‘ol piggy banks, then again I have seen $275 price tags attached to these nylons (another synonym). Whatever the case may be I loved how they looked on the Lagerfeld runway. Not so much in white though, as it reminds me of the late ’80s and my first communion and all the frills, flowers and pigtails that accompanied my little white lace stockings (yet another synonym). Oh how I so clearly remember them, they had a thick elastic waistband, I think I even had a pair in pink but of course not in black, as black lace was (according my mother) too vulgar for an 8-year-old girl. So now I can’t wait to jump into a sexy (yes mom, sexy) pair of black lacey leg wrappers. Thanks Karl for reviving this '80s trend and giving all grown up 8-year-olds a chance to don black lace legs!

I love how these lace nylons look under that sheer mauve dress - very seductive.

Photos:style.com

Paris Fashion Week Spring 2007: Dior

The softer side of Dior (according to John Galliano). If we were expecting (and of course we were) the usual madcap fanfare from Mr. Galliano we were surely stopped dead in our tracks (well at least I was) when we witnessed not one or two, but fifty classic infused (wearable) looks tramp down the runway. I loved that it was so unexpected and fresh (well for JG).

This are my absolutle favorite looks from the collection. They are just breathtaking. I am sure we will be seeing some of these beauties on the red carpet very soon.

Photos: style.com

Paris Fashion Week Spring 2007: Balenciaga

While most of the spring 2007 collections are referencing the past, Mr. Ghesquière, for Balenciaga, is referencing the future. How does one reference an era that has not yet occurred, you may ask. It takes a brilliant mind combined with the astute ability to transform a premature idea into a full-fledged byproduct. In short, it takes Nicolas Ghesquière. This collection that mixed references to the future with robotic warriors and perhaps space-age princesses has definitely turned a new leaf and has forced us to look, or at least think, about fashion in a totally new way. I absolutely loved the metallic bronze robot-like leggings. Would I wear them? Not a chance. But if you would have asked me 8 years ago if I would be wearing skinny jeans today I would have probably keeled with laughter. So who knows what will be gracing our gams in 2,920 days from now.

Photos: style.com

Strike from the Shows

I was going to cover another Paris show but decided not too. Oddly enough, I think I am tired and I haven't even physically been to any of these glorious presentations! I feel like these shows have been going on forever. Whilst they are the biggest thing happening right now in the fashion world, they aren't the only thing, are they? I think we all get so side-tracked by the shows that we just forget about everything else and then when they are over it feels like we have suffered a big loss and for a (brief) moment we don't know what to do. Hmm, almost like a break-up. A break-up after the first 3 months of bliss. Ah, yes the shows are equivalent to a sudden break-up with a fresh new lover. The joy and bliss of the first couple of months of a relationship is like the hype and excitement of fashion week. Its non-stop, always in your veins, day after day, almost like an addiction, you can't get enough. Then poof all of a sudden it comes to a dead stop. The only difference is with the shows we can all look forward to the next season, with a relationship all we look forward is to the hope of a phone call (which never happens of course). But I suppose each season is like a new romance. Full of promises and surprises but inevitably some disappointments as well. All we could do is learn from the present so we do not repeat the same mistakes in the future. In terms of a realtionship that means don't rush into anything too fast. In terms of the shows, that means bringing extra pairs of comfortable shoes.

Paris Fashion Week Spring 2007: Rick Owens

"Yes, yes the Paris shows have arrived," I thought to myself after viewing the Rick Owens show on style.com. If the shows would not be labeled by designer, I think that one would be able to categorize them, at the very least, by city, as I think there is such a sharp contrast of style from one city to the next. And after viewing Rick Owens, I would definitely, without a doubt, be able to put his show in the Paris category. You would not see these looks come down any New York or Milan runway. Though perhaps London but then again all the major players from the Square Mile migrate and land in Paris, don't they? And the ones who start in the tents soon find themselves across the Atlantic in the City of Light (as in Owens' case). My take on Rick Owens' spring 2007 collection: an acquired taste. However, I do absolutely love the skirts and the short dresses, I think they are brilliant.


Photos: style.com

Milan Fashion Week Spring 2007

Some of my favorite shows from Milan...

Roberto Cavalli

Blumarine

Alberta Ferretti

Luisa Beccaria

Can't wait for Paris!

Photos: style.com