TREND I-SPY

It's as if Dolce & Gabbana read my mind, my obsession with all things Medieval is their obsession too. For Fall 13 they used the golden mosaics of Sicily's Cathedral of Monreale as a starting point. It's an ancient view of womanhood, regal, powerful, queenly, saintly even, that feels thoroughly modern too.

Derek Lam S2010 This post is for those of you who think that directional runway trends don't make it on to the street. Here in New York City we were barely into the warmer weeks of Spring when the streets started to swarm with young women who had seemingly forgotten to wear pants. Of course, followers-of-fashion and trend-know-it-alls knew what was up as this no-pants look has been shown on many runways over the past few seasons. Dolce & Gabbana S2010 Chanel S2010 Last November, Carine Roitfeld's son, Vladimir Restoin Roitfield, presented artist Nicolas Pol's exhibition, The Martus Maw . Not to be upstaged, even by her own flesh and blood, the French Vogue doyenne went to the opening sans culotte. If Vladimir was mortified at the sight of his mother showing up in something resembling Spanx under see-through black lace I guess we'll never know. Carine Roitfeld in Dolce & Gabbana, Nov 09 And then of course there's GaGa, who never misses an opport...

Architectural minimalism, body-conscious bell shapes, innerwear-as-outwear, tartan and plaid, sparkle and shine: All recently popular trends, all seen first on the runway of Balenciaga. Certain designers are known for having a signature style, while others seem to spearhead whatever is the most important trend of the season. In the case of Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, he is more often than not ahead of the curve. I found some great examples when I scoured through Style.com. Francisco Costa was lauded in S2009 for his architecturally-biased collection for Calvin Klein. Three years before, a very similar dress appeared in the S2006 Balenciaga show. The innerwear-on-the-outside trend was the overwhelming success of the S2010 Collections. Balenciaga showed a version with an exposed bra back in Spring 2006! For Pre-Fall 10 Vera Wang twinned a sparkling shift with a fine knit cardigan resembling a dress with a similar feel from Balenciaga's Spring 06 show. Balenciaga's collect...

US Vogue January 10 US Vogue's featured designers for this decade Alexander McQueen , Balmain (Christophe Decarnin) , Calvin Klein (Francisco Costa), Celine (Phoebe Philo), Dior (John Galliano), Dior Homme ( Hedy Slimane), Dolce & Gabbana, Dries Van Noten, Gucci (Tom Ford), Helmut Lang , Lanvin (Alber Elbaz), Marc Jacobs , Marni , Oscar de la Renta, Prada, Proenza Schouler, Rick Owens. Rocha ( Olivier Theyskens), Rodarte , Versace (Donatella Versace ), YSL (Tom Ford), YSL ( Stefano Pilati) . Just one GLARING omission, naturally I am referring to Nicolas Ghesquière's work for Balenciaga where he has been since 1997. More to come ...

While Lady GaGa pushes each trend to the extreme, Gwen Stefani can often be relied upon to bring it into reality. Both celebrities were out Saturday night at a party to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Gwen rocked the red carpet in one of the corsets from Dolce & Gabbana's S10 collection. Instead of the lacy ra-ra skirt shown on the runway, Gwen contrasted the elaborate piece with sober-yet-sophisticated pants and strappy sandals.

American Vogue January 2010 Dolce & Gabbana S2010 As you might have guessed, I'm more than a little obsessed by intimate apparel at the moment. Luckily, many r-t-w designers feel the same way for Spring 2010 so there's lots of fashion to discuss. Great show from Dolce & Gabbana who celebrated the female form with many lingerie-inspired styles including shapely corseted looks that work to create a curvy hourglass figure. Just imagine that Vivienne Westwood was designing the precursor to that look over 20 years ago! While many of the other well-known designers had jumped onto the band-wagon of the Grunge movement (flannel shirts! flowery vintage dresses!) on models with super-skinny boyish bodies (the waifs) Vivienne was showing a modernized version of the hourglass silhouette with a variety of structured corsets in luxury materials like velvet and lace, often with gold metallic decoration or even romantic portraits. Red Velvet Corset 1987, Corset with photographic print...