By Jackie Brown
As the leaves are falling in our backyard, Parisians are viewing the newest designs that will be in our shops come Spring 2014. It’s a great time to be re-energized with fresh designs and begin to evaluate your closets needs.
What did we see trotting down the runways?
For me, I have noticed that last Fall colors were more soft and pastel and that trend of blurring the seasons continued. We see deep reds and dark blacks in firm fabrics that are acceptable for Winter but presented for Spring. We still had some traditional tonal colors but the bold hues stole the spotlight.
While Mui Mui and GIAMBATTISTA VALLI gave us a few floral prints, the runways were more heavily laddered with geometric s and abstract prints.
Valentino, Chloe, and Celine all showed us prints with a bit of an art nouveau vibe; having a bit of organic feeling in the repeats motifs
Kenzo, and Chanel used fast-paced striping as texture but with really very little traditional stripe expression.
Carvan even used an enlarged camo print in Spring hues to bring some movement in prints.
Another repetition to note, was in the shoulder treatment. Peaked shoulders, rounded shoulders, bare shoulders, even ruffled shoulders all played a role in the Spring show. A carry over from Fall that women have loved and designers were more than happy to oblige us for Spring.
For texture, many mini pleats were in play. Here Dior takes the Fortuni pleating to an edgy level with a firm, crossover top. The wide band “lacing” was also seen in several other design houses.
Though Paris speaks volumes for the note Spring will sing, there are still other shows to be seen…London, New York, Milan, Tokyo…so much to anticipate as our Autumn leaves fall.
