Style points from the Paris runways
We’ll always have Paris.
Or rather, shoppers have the fall couture shows, which ended Thursday, to study fashion’s trickle down economics — and what could end up in stores, without the astronomical pricetags.
There are said to be fewer than 100 clients who buy couture worldwide. But designer’s ideas can filter from the elaborate embroidery on a high-end gown last year to this summer’s Navajo-print inspired tops found in H&M and Zara.
We talked to New York-based fashion designer Sachin Ahluwalia of Sachin + Babi and got his take on what will last:
• Exaggerated collars won’t last. “Covers too much of women’s body — the focus is cleavage and collarbones,” Ahluwalia said.
• “Midnight blue is and always has been the new black,” Ahluwalia said. Thomas Padilla Add plumes to your accessories rather than your ensemble.
• Add plumes to your accessories rather than your ensemble. Raf Simons showed his first collection for Dior this week, and Ahluwalia said Simons’ vision works for everyone. “Elegance, that is what is on everyone’s mind now. Workmanship speaks volumes. I don’t think you need gimmicks.”
• Short is back: “Short always works, it’s a universal theme. I think you’re going to see hemlines going shorter.”
Originally published in the Chicago Sun Times on July 6, 2012.
• To corset, to corset: It’s not the biggest fashion statement, but it always shows up on the runway. “I do see it being relevant now, especially for spring,” Ahluwalia said.