Top Trends for Summer

Geometry Lessons:

This season, designers indulged their urge to bend, fold, twist, and otherwise manipulate fabric in ever bolder (and bigger) ways. The dresses at Calvin Klein gave new meaning to the term boxy, as Francisco Costa, just like Alber Elbaz did for Lanvin, experimented with the one-shoulder dress. Grecian draping made waves on the runways of John Galliano and Versace among many, making them a hit on the red carpet.

Calvin Klein, Lanvin

Versace, John Galliano

Go flat!:

One of the season's hottest trend were flat shoes in all their forms. Gladiators, sneackers, sandals ruled the runways. There's still plenty of wedges and heels for summer, but designers who target to a younger audience made of flats the shoe of the season.

Marc by Marc Jacobs, Lacoste

Anna Sui, Chloé

Androginous works:

Remember this: the boyfriend jacket is the new cardigan. Probably one of the hottest trend this season is the boyfriend jacket, which is basically what before we used to call a blazer. Stella McCartney made of it her main look, and presented a version of it in every colour. Rag & Bone remained in darker colours, so did Burberry, unlike Chloé who presented it as feminine as it could be. Without a doubt this is the must have piece for summer, and you can even use it later, as in fall 2009 and even spring 2010 the boyfriend jacket was stronger than ever on the catwalks.

Burberry Prorsum, Rag & Bone, Stella McCartney

Chloé, Rag & Bone, Erin Wasson X RVCA, Stella McCartney

Eighties are back:
Leave it to a new generation of designers—Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang, and London's Meadham Kirchhoff, included—to revitalize the eighties. The rebel feeling of that decade has ruled the catwalks of the most rebel designers. Either if it is for day wear or night, some of the trends of the eighties are present. Denim is hot! Denim shirts, jeans, jackets, anything denim can make your look be very eighties, but don't exagerate! Just use a denim piece per look. Big shoulders, like the ones on the Balmain jackets, are also a big trend, so are the shirts.

Meadham Kirchhoff, Alexander Wang

Balmain, Proenza Schouler

Spring 2009 Trend: Jumpsuits

Spring 2010 collections have just been shown on the fashion capitals of the world, and while Europe and USA are starting winter, here, on the southern hemisphere, summer is about to begin, which concordes with the spring 2009 collections. So from now on i'll be showing some of the hotest trends for the season. One of the biggest trends for summer are jumpsuits, and not only for this season, but they were also on the fall 2009 and even on spring 2010 runways, which means you can buy one and re-use it again, because they won't be going out of style soon. You can find them in any color or shape, there's one jumpsuit for every ocassion or personality, you just need to find the right one.
As i said, jumpsuits have been around for a while, and will prevale a lot more. Here are some jumpsuit fashion moments on past and future seasons:

Spring 2008: Limi Feu, Sonia Rykiel. Fall 2008: Dolce & Gabbana. Fall 2007: Sonia Rykiel

Fall 2009: Lanvin, Lacoste, Chloé, Paul & Joe

Resort 2010: Costume National, Matthew Williamson, Zero+Maria Cornejo, Stella McCartney

So now let's get back to what's important to this post, jumpsuits in spring 2009. You can literally find millions of different styles, so i tried to narrow them to a few so you can get ideas. I separated in categories thta show different looks, here are some of the best:

1. Too Cool for School:

Would you define your style as grounge? Then this is your sort of jumpsuit. Short but cool, simple but original, and very accesorized. Use belts, necklaces or sunglasses to make them 'your own'. Important: this kind of jumpsuits, all short, look good with flats, specially with gladiator sandals, they don't look good with heels, mainly because they are for daily wear, not evening.

Miss Sixty, Marc by Marc Jacobs (2), House Of Holland

2. Beach Wear:

Short jumpsuits are perfect for the day, and some of them look incredible on the beach. D&G showed several of them, all prepared for a day of sun, and can even be confused with swimwear, but they are actually jumpsuits.

All by D&G

3. Evening Shorts:

Some short jumpsuits are made for the evening. They are too formal for the day, but too casual for a fancy dinner, so they are perfect for a night on the town.

Salvatore Ferragamo, BCBG MaxAzria, Nanette Lepore, Dolce & Gabbana

Veronique Branquinho, Peter Som (2)

4. Stick to Classics:

You can never go wrong with Black or White. This two colors represent class and elegance. Wear a long jumpsuit to a dinner and you'll look perfect.

3.1 Phillip Lim, Ralph Lauren, Phi, Francesco Scognamiglio

MaxMara, Proenza Schouler, Hanii Y, Tibi

Anne Valérie Hash, Rachel Roy, Stella McCartney for Sonia Rykiel

Alessandro Dell'Acqua, BCBG MaxAzria, Collette Dinnigan, Derek Lam

Iceberg, Sophia Kokosalaki, Karl Lagerfeld, Lanvin

Chloé, Stella McCartney, Michael Kors, Chanel

5. Colour Me a Bit:

If you preffer to put on some colour, but want to play it safe, here are a bunch of beautiful jumpsuits that use one colour, but look incredibly chic.

Akris, Bottega Veneta, Docle & Gabbana, Givenchy

Roksanda Illinic, Stella McCartney (2), Richard Nicoll (Resort 2010)

Tommy Hilfiger, Francesco Scognamiglio, Chloé, Etro

6. Dare To Colour:

Then there's this group. Those who dare to take a risk. Here are very colorfull jumpsuits, with jewelry and mized with other trends, like denim or transparencys. None the less, they are amazing.

Hussein Chalayan (2), Topshop Unique, Danielle Scutt

Emilio Pucci, Emanuel Ungaro, Matthew Williamson, Lacoste

Louis Vuitton: Spring 2009

Sexy, saucy, and full-on Parisian, somewhere out of the forties and swizzled up with a dash of glitter and Josephine Baker African razzmatazz—Louis Vuitton came like a cathartic, mood-enhancing cocktail at the end of a long, grinding season. Or as Marc Jacobs, working slicked-back hair and a sharp-shouldered pinstripe suit, had it backstage, "Little Parisienne princess, no?"

Well, yes and no. As a piece of fashion defiance in the face of incoming depression, this densely worked, heavily accessorized collection held inspiration for far more women than just leggy teenagers. Where recent Louis Vuitton collections have fallen into either confusing high jinks or an exclusionary high style (like last season's eighties reprise), this one—with its multitude of tiny, flippy skirts; obi-cinched waists; glittery sweaters; padded-shoulder jackets; and elegant wide-leg pants—had something to seduce everyone.

What held it together was the pitch-perfect spirit of the will to dress up in tough times. It was a suggestion rather than a theme, but there was something here of the plucky glamour of women in wartime Paris: a Deco-era palette sparkled up with showgirl glints of metallic python and crystal; crepe kilts spliced with windows of dotted net in the rear for naughty jeune filles; sculpted-shoulder blazers and graceful high-waist pants for grown-up mesdames.

And then there was the mesmerizing sight of a zillion accessories. A slew of tribal-art references came in necklaces, earrings, and stacks of bangles and amazing shoes loaded with sproutings of feathers and plastic collages of abstract African faces. The bags were back in sumptuous array: tactile, poufy shapes glowing with mixed-material suedes and multicolored metallics, python, and leopard spots. Quite brilliant.

Stella McCartney: Spring 2009

A report out today says profits at Stella McCartney's company increased sixfold last year. Clearly, her feel-good formula is working, and all the elements were in place at her Spring show: the best soundtrack in Paris (this time including a song from papa, Sir Paul), an arty backdrop (inspired by coloring books and designed by the British artists Dinos and Jake Chapman), and clothes with her trademark mix of effortlessness and sex appeal.

She started by tweaking her beloved jumpsuits. They came tailored in makeup pink, with deep lapels that plunged to the navel. McCartney's kind of slouchy, slightly oversize tailoring has caught on in a major way: The longer boyfriend jacket with the strong shoulder and the pushed-up sleeve that she showed today over little cocktail dresses or with cropped pants has become a big trend. Her trench coveralls might not be adopted as readily—we don't all have legs like Natasha Poly's.

But the collection's sexy side came across in plenty of other, more real-world ways. Dévoré sweaters played a demure game of peekaboo, while silk dresses in steely gray took a provocative dip in back. For evening, she kept the silhouette short, sharp, and graphic in black and white. Simply put, she's got cool-girl style down to a science.

Complete collection: