Fashion is a living, breathing, evolving animal that is constantly changing, but it isn’t just about following trends blindly.
Trends are meant to be transferred from the runway to people’s everyday wardrobes. Individuality is a main component of fashion, despite people always trying to predict the next trends and designers constantly pushing themselves to be more creative with their collections.
This season was no different at the New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which was held from Feb. 11-19 and saw designers present their fall and winter 2015-16 collections. But when Style.com Editor-at-Large Tim Blanks asked Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour what she thought the trends would be this upcoming season, she responded that trend was a dirty word.
Instead, what Wintour liked about this season’s collections was that they were more based on individuality and identity, she said to Style.com.
Alexander Wang always has that sports luxe feel to his collections. This season, he presented a collection that maintained his status quo, but with a grunge edge to it.
Models were sent down the runway in studded jacks with four-inch platform boots to match. The collection also included clean-cut military jackets edged with chains. Wang finished off the collection with a series of sheer evening dresses, which were made to look like chainmail, successfully executing the grunge feel, but still keeping his tailored roots.
Going from sports luxe to sports-like wear, comes Lacoste. The brand always has the preppy, sportive feel in its clothes, specifically with its signature polo shirts.
However, Creative Manager Felipe Oliveira Baptista, wanted to add a little edge to the Lacoste design while staying in the same sportive vein.
“A mix of bourgeois and street kid,” was the inspiration for Bapistra’s tennis theme collection, according to Style. The collection could have also been inspired by the 2001 Wes Anderson film “The Royal Tenenbaums,” based on the cut on the tracksuits and the sweatbands some of the models donned on the runway.
In the midst of the 1970s fashion in the collection, some of the looks were fairly modern. Pleated mid-thigh tennis skirts had a flirty appeal, alongside the graphic-printed sweatshirts that some of the men wore on the runway.
When bandage dresses come to mind, Hervé Léger by Max Azria quickly follows. Bandage dresses are usually shown in solid colors, sometimes with contrasting colors.
However, for their fall 2015 collection, designers Max and Lubov Azria tried to revamp the ultra sexy dress with different combinations of fabrics. With inspiration coming from a family trip to the La Sagrada Família church in Barcelona, Spain, Lubov Azria was inspired by the colors and detailing of said cathedral.
The runway was filled with different colors of leather, lace, sequins and studded bodices that glimmered on the runway. Multicolored fabrics wrapped around the body revamped how the bandage dress looks.
Diane von Furstenberg reinvented the wrap dress in the early 1970s, and from then on many women have had the wrap dress in their closet. This season, Furstenberg wanted to recreate the working women, but in a sexier, more powerful tone. Throughout the collection, the wrap dress was still a staple, but in a sheer, barely there kind of way.
Similar to Hervé Léger, lace also had its place on the runway. Whether it was in a trim, side panel or on the whole garment, lace gave each piece of clothing its own sexy, sophisticated vibe.
To give the collection a more forceful feel, Furstenberg also used the simple pinstriped pattern not only on a fitted vest with matching pants, but also on a sheer chiffon sleeve on and above the knee dress.
Richard Nguyen is available at [email protected].
