Best offer of the month

BUY luxury, buy quality, buy something that will become an iconic piece in your wardrobe – from Miuccia’s Prada’s chandelier dresses, to Jil Sander’s raw and ripped chiffon, to Dolce’s knickers or McQueen’s metallic snakeskin marvels, to Lanvin’s most beautiful dresses ever, to Peter Pilotto’s prints, to Burberry’s trench dresses, if you buy one thing for spring/summer, make it a big story. If the recession isn’t letting up yet, buy one thing and the thrill will last.

If hemlines are to be believed as the rule of all things financial, though, things are certainly looking up – skirts are creeping up the thigh and bottom-revealing bloomers, henceforth known as hotpantaloons, first appeared in New York and bred across the fashion cities fast.

While there was a touch of sparkle in the front row of every single show, it’s a trend that is built to last and whether you wear it on your tights, on lamé socks with high heels, around your neck, woven into your chiffon evening gowns or tied to your handbag, a little bit of glitter always does a girl good. Shoes are still big statements but heels are coming down too; kitten heels have even been mentioned and so have clogs (Chanel, Celine, Louis Vuitton).

The big story for summer though, is nudity – the vast majority of shows opened with nude, ice-cream colours, making cut and drapery the big style statements as opposed to eye-popping colours. Where last summer we obsessed about colour blocking, next will be about subtleties of tone: nude with peach with washed out nutmeg, or grey with icy blue. A general lack of clothing will be approved of too – your underwear must look its best next summer because if it’s not on show it’s not worth wearing – only to be covered by swathes of knotted and ruffled sheer chiffon – and a touch of lace will keep things interesting (Stella McCartney, Fendi).

White is always a trend for summer, but 2010 is expecting a full washout – bleached cotton came tailored and masculine or bulging and ruffled. And if you want colour, make it a check (Christopher Kane, Louis Vuitton).

So what to buy, if you will be shopping? Party dresses – lots of them, to be worn day and night: with interesting (and forgiving) folds around the hip for added shape. A jumpsuit – single shouldered or strapless if you dare. Loose trousers that taper to the ankle, preferably in silk. Bring shoes down a level or two, and if you venture from the washed out palette, make it a bold, tribal or ethnic print (Dries Van Noten). A trench coat, long or short (or turned into a party dress at Burberry). A belt – skinny ribbons or wide leather versions; the waist intends to allow you to show off your curves next summer. And if your curves are that good, swimwear is teeny weeny as can be.

And everybody’s new favourite model? Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw appeared in all the key shows, surely with plenty of ad campaigns to follow. Certainly no recession hangover for her.

What was already suggested last year clearly continues this year – people are focusing on the essential. This is evident from their living and design expectations. Longevity and authenticity are the buzzwords for the season ahead. Every year, Ambiente in Frankfurt presents the latest tabletop, kitchen, houseware, living, furnishing and gift trends. With around 4,300 exhibitors, it is the biggest consumer-goods fair in the world.

Home sweet Home
We have not yet overcome the stressful times. The homing trend continues with home sweet home providing the protection needed. People are looking for somewhere peaceful, are staying at home more and transferring their activities into their own four walls. Inviting friends round, communal cooking and eating is more popular than ever before which is why the home needs to be cosy. This is evident above all from the demand for emotional products, which convey tradition and a sense of home. What is important here is that it is about high-quality, durable products. This also applies to cooking, eating and indulging, where attention is paid not only to the high quality of the products but most importantly to their functionality and sustainability.

And even guests have to think about what present would give the host the most pleasure. Currently, gifts for use in the home are extremely popular, especially all kinds of gourmet gifts. Trendy, stylish home accessories made of fabric, porcelain or glass are also likely to be well-received.

Inspiring Interior
This season, use is also made of natural materials, like wood, bamboo, wool, felt and glass. Matte surfaces, fine-glaze china – high quality down to the last detail. Floral motifs on fabrics and wallpapers and knitted-look textiles. Marbling, reminiscent of natural stone, engravings and delicate graphic designs. These can be found in furniture design, on walls and floors as well as on glassware and china.

Colour palette – strong and warm
The colours of the season are warm and high energy – from dark brown, camel and saffron to a luminous red – create an ultra dynamic colour palette. Lilac and berry tones in every nuance are still popular trend colours. Various blues and washed-out-look pastel shades provide the contrast to this. The new colours adorn not just furniture and home textiles but also crop up again on cooking pots, kitchen and homewares.

Tradition reinterpreted
Putting a new gloss on the tried and trusted is extremely popular. In line with this, classic trousseaus, for example, are given a totally new meaning, insofar as they are humorously jazzed up. Products are still monogrammed and consequently reminiscent of a traditional trousseau albeit with a broader function. A new kind of tea towel, which can be tied around the body and used as an apron and cooking spoons which fit onto the pot rim thanks to the addition of a groove.

A poetically nocturnal palettes with deep black, slate gray, inky blue and deep purple completed by flaming garnet, blushing pink and hallucinogenic green.
Flashes of copper and gold.

Sumptuous materials are deteriorated to evoke the wear of time. Accent on natural mixing “patched” effect. Some ultra feminine materials: dobby silks, quivering acetate etc.

New parade jackets, Rock spirit, Patchwork grunge.

Nocturnal, muffled colors from night blue, cold brown and Cyprus green all
the way to grayed parma and intenser touch of oxblood. Base color remain in the somber register of deep blue, almost black.

Emphasis on sophisticated, warm, light, soft-touch fabris like wool and cashmere blends or brushed and sanded suitings.
Mat or slightly shiny looks for synthetics. Knits are thin and generous.

Wool shawl-collared, dark and strange prints, product focus on bloomer and punk style jacket.

When the CW’s Gossip Girl premiered in 2007, the rich-kids-gone-wild drama used its hallway as a runway, making private-school plaid and appliqué headbands instantly covetable (even designer Anna Sui is hooked: she based her entire Target collection on the nighttime soap). But in the show’s third season, now airing on Monday nights, Blair, Serena, and Vanessa are headed to college (while Jenny rules the school as a junior), which means bye-bye jumpers and hello, well, what? “There will definitely be more of an adult allure to the wardrobe,” says costume designer Eric Daman, a former model who once worked as an assistant to Patricia Field on Sex and The City.

It was used by many armies during the First and Second World War.
Above all, do not be confused with dust (Duster in English) which is a shelter, usually brown or cream with a layer of the sword, or so long that used to bring the cow-boys in the Far West United States.
The origin of the word is not any mystery: trench is in English.

150 years with the trench
The honourable house “made in England” knows his classics are … And what a classic!

Founded in 1856, the house Burberry is due mainly to Thomas Burberry, a couple of unique touches and a great idea to say the least.

Go back in time…. In 1879, Thomas Burberry was looking for a unique material that allows the creation of a garment comfortable and resistant to rain. His studies were the result gabardine.
A fabric composed of threads so thick that they were able to resist moisture. Thomas Burberry created the impetus to find the secret formula of his first coats.

The success of this was real tight. Orders fell from the sky, until the army itself became one. Thomas Burberry recovered design of old coats of British officers that he had designed was thirteen years for the Ministry of War. Added metal rings and shoulder and go: thus was born the trench!
From the trenches to the street.

At the turn of the front, the soldiers held the trench, thus introducing them into civilian life. The years went by and the trench was still retaining its original form. It consists of 26 pieces of varying size raincoat, plus a belt with loops.
Composite double buttoning, the trench is declined in the traditional colours such as khaki, beige or black. The trench keeps bands of fabric inside the seam, which originally planned to be fixed to the legs better and better adapted to the body.

Fall’s wear-everywhere piece comes every-which-way, from basic slimming black to kooky rock ‘n’ roll prints. Jump in ‘em, run in ‘em, live in ‘em. What did we use pants for, again?