PARIS TRENDSPOTTING

Trendspotting / Asymmetrical

One of the recurring motifs for the Fall 09 fashion collections that launched in Paris yesterday is the asymmetrical form. There were many soft cotton draped constructions that matched the bare shoulder demonstrated by Christian Lacroix (left), with thebow tied to one side, while the other is enveloped with a drooping sleeve. Givenchy also used a similar concept (bottom left) with the peaking nakedness of one shoulder, while equidistant to a festooned feathered shoulder. The asymmetric technique seemed to play a vibrant role to the finishing apotheosis of each piece. These outfits enlivened each collection to propose a festive cheer that will surely dress every woman out of any depression, as shown by Ungaro (bottom right) in this energetic pink dress with escalating tears angled all the way up to a protruding flare above the right sleeve and surpassing the neck.

Trendspotting / Balloon Skirts

Continuing on with the decadent tone of the Fall 09 Paris Fashion Week, is the pervasive balloon skirt. The shapes of these skirts that waltzed down the runways, reiterated a celebratory inclination that the designers want us to transform our sorrows intopartying our economic woes away.Ungaro’s Estaban Coltazar showed us (left) his ultra heightened sense ofjubilation with thesepolka dot multi-colored patterns, splattered all over the inflated skirts. These eye popping pieces can certainly evoke to his audience that his muse is all puffed up and ready to glow.

Givenchy also gave us his rendering of the puffy look with this white lacy balloon skirt that projected more of a royal interpretation (right). This regal flared skirt, is also complimented by a matching prominent shoulder to go along with its blue shoulder pads seen beneath the white lace. Lacroix on the other hand, exhibited a much more tamed version in his idea of the inflamed balloon–using neutral colors (below). He tends to capture women in an intensely powerful frame in keeping with his familiar take (echoed from past seasons) on the QueenElizabeth demeanor.

So there you have it trend seekers, fashion is looking back to the decadent methodology as it was in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s1930’s debauchery scenes from The Great Gatsby, when designers also believed that dressing up to forget the economic low, might be THE instant fix any designer can offer with their artistic wand. If only it can last longer than an evening of soiree. Et alors, c’est la mode de Paris!