At Mercedes-Benz Spring 2011 Fashion Week in Bryant Park, NY, designers debuted new pairings of classic pieces, from clean-cut pant suits, sleek a-lines, and simple geometric prints, to metallic flourishes, denim, and updates on long-popular florals and patterns. My top designers included old favorites like Rebecca Taylor, Tracy Reese, and Tibi, but the ranks also grew to include up-and-comers and long-established names that I have just recently acquired a taste for.
Popular trends included a country look, which played flowy frocks, floral prints, leather and denim together in an updated, sophisticated, and decidedly feminine manner. This folksy look featured new takes on big belts, denim shirts, fringe, and boots, putting a softer spin on a classic, all-American western pioneer motif.
In a transitional look, designers again turned to leather boots and belts and denim touches to mix up various lace dresses and blouses. Lace is a huge trend this season, making appearances in designer RTW apparel as well as in pieces by distributors like Urban Outfitters and Free People, and buttons, zippers, crochet, and other intricate design details accomplish similar goals, appealing to similar aesthetic sensibilities.
Other bohemian looks employed bright, geometric prints, from ikats to Aztec and Native American inspired designs. These tribal prints, as well as other tropical and ethnic prints, capture a trend of globalization that the fashion world has attempted to capture and develop in recent seasons. Gypsy skirts, bright hues, bold swatches of color and pattern, and more subdued earth tones are all mixed and matched together to develop this look.
Finally, clean, angular solids are used to compose sophisticated pantsuits and ensembles with stunningly crisp lines and sleek, trimming dimensions. Often, these angular cuts echo the geometric qualities of some of the bolder pieces, but with more sophistication and subtlety. These looks involve layering of classic and basic pieces that are cut with rich, luxurious material in a simplistic manner. The epitome of “understated elegance,” these looks are versatile, clean, and stunning, and the neutral colors, largely monochromes and whites, means that the pieces can be used in a variety of pairings and settings. Occasionally, designers gave these pieces metallic touches and hints of glinting gold and silver, in order to light up the pieces, but such touches are given sparingly and tastefully, so as not to overwhelm or undermine the integrity of the simplistic ensembles.
By using basic materials, updating prints, and pairing pieces in both unconventional and classic modes, the designers have given favorite design concepts a fresh face and underscored a carefree, globalized, yet sophisticated lifestyle. Below, I have assembled some of my favorite pieces and looks from both the runway and more conventional retailers.
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