Americana at the European shows

MANILA, Philippines - YStyle culls the latest trends from the recently-concluded Fashion Weeks.

Americana

Our last trend reports on the London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks mentioned Americana, and we saw a sweet version of it in the Alexis Mabille S/S 2013 show. Gingham prints were used in pants, shirts and dresses and evoked visions of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz in her own version. And then there was the long prairie skirt, but in Mabille’s hands it lost all associations with dowdy country life. In a tier of baby pink, prints and black, the prairie girl had turned into a sophisticated woman, styled with a hip printed sweater. Scallop-edged skirts and sleeves added to the pretty Mabille looks while touches of black added edge.

The East

It seems obvious to put two designers of Asian origin in the Eastern-influenced section but this season Junko Shimada’s collection was particularly inspired by the region. It was a celebration of her 30th year anniversary and she chose the occasion to show prints and headpieces inspired by the region. The result was anything but literal: the words “tribal,” “traveling nomad” and “hippie” all came to mind but the pieces were all extremely wearable, in loose silhouettes and forgiving cuts. The most obvious influences from the Far East were seen in metallic separates.

The Shiatzy Chen collection this season included the usual Chinese-inspired details such as Mandarin collars and embroidery. Silhouettes were A-line or boxy and the printed fabric from the Miao culture of last season was replaced by a more obscure techno-gadget print, in blue and silver metallics. White silk with splashes of black looked like a giant Chinese scroll and was the freshest piece of the collection. The handbags had less of the obvious Chinese influence but remained, as the brand’s collections do, luxurious; and instantly pairable with any ensemble.

Ruffles

Ruffles emerged this season in several houses. We liked Gucci’s best, where they first appeared as details on sleeves and then traveled up the neck and down the arm. With bare backs they looked light as batwings almost ready for flight. In a green blouse with a keyhole chest, paired with long trousers, we saw the prettiest reinterpretation of the sexy pantsuit silhouette associated with the ‘70s. The ruffle was also played with on a python blouse and its effect of sharply hanging edges was shown with interesting contrasts on the same technique in various materials.

Anne Valerie Hash’s ruffles were small and finished mini-bustiers, in a metallic and then a printed neon version. They also added a feminine touch to more rigidly cut dresses. In true Anne Valérie Hash style, there were inspirations from men’s tailoring: a man’s dress jacket, which if it were not then cut in an almost traditionally avant-garde manner (from the avant-garde of the ‘90s) — no shoulders and the pointy edges of a lapel — would not look to be inspired by men’s clothing and simply like a reinterpreted women’s jacket. The collection, however, seemed to lack the punch of other Paris shows where stronger themes add spice.