Trendy Fashion Week Spotlight - Luella

One of my favorite eras was beautifully recalled on the London Runway when British designer Luella Bartley showcased her candy girls for all the world to see. The Sixties are alive and chic again! Puffy party dresses were featured, some sporting polka dots and sweetheart necklines while others looked like they were dipped in a sugary syrupy mix as they sashayed down the catwalk boasting effortless chic. The girls all had the adorable bow detail in a variety of colors implanted in a their hair. To offset all the prettiness was the dramatic use of bold statements with the black rose print dress and a healthy mixture of graphic and diagonal fabrics and cuts. It was purely magical fun!

Trendy Fashion Week Spotlight - Matthew Williamson

It was an absolute scrumptious delight witnessing the mouthwatering confections on display presented by English designer Matthew Williamson. Every design highlighted Williamson's appetite for the perfect cocktail dress. He is the master of tailored perfection. And he also knows how to recruit the right utensils to complete his masterpiece. There was no shortage sequins and sparkles to help up the ante. It was full on decadence! He also hyped his trademark futuristic mod-look with looks that featured cutouts and ruched details. Any woman lucky enough to don a Matthew Williamson number will most likely get spotted in a crowd. And thats why this beloved designer is likely to be around for a long time to come.

Trendy Fashion Week Spotlight - Doo.Ri

Once again we are dazzled by the subtle elegance that seems to be designer Doo-Ri Chung's trademark. Her 2010 collection echoed her desire to re-affirm the fact that the woman should wear the clothes and not the other way round. She didn't stray very far from her muted color scheme. The cuts were precise enough to allow room for well pressed pleats. And her use of tulle added a soft and delicate texture mixed in with the right level of sexiness to the cobalt blue bondage dress which proved to be the crowd pleaser of the show. It was an awfully pretty and elegant display of simplicity at its finest.

Trendy Fashion Week Spotlight - Narciso Rodriguez

Narciso Rodriguez has always been a lover of the female form. Celebrities have raved about the famed designer's uncanny ability to enhance and accentuate a woman's curves. He absolutely did not disappoint his legion of fans on the Runway Wednesday night. Aside from his usual flirty and free-flowing gowns that have been his standards, he followed the body-conscious craze that has gripped most of the Spring 2010 shows by putting his own spin on the tapered look. Nicely fitted silhouettes gripping mostly the top section matched with a looser almost balloon-like bottom. His skirts had pockets giving them a boxy shape but the cuts were specific enough to allow them to cascade in an elegant manner. The hues were bold and neutral and the complex mix of fabrics included silk, linen and jacquard. The goal of the show was to present a collection that was alive, refined and worthy of attention. Once again Narciso Rodriguez more than delivered.

Trendy Fashion Week Spotlight - 3.1 Phillip Lim

Continuing his everlasting theme and loyalty to the arts, Phillip Lim allowed two art shows he particularly enjoyed this summer inspire his latest creations. The London exhibition of Guy Bourdin's work helped birth the breathtaking lipstick red suit that opened his show and the "Picasso:Mosqueteros" display at the Gagosian Gallery in New York helped guide him in the right direction when it came to his unique mix of patchwork and deconstructed patterns. The colors were futuristic in their texture but yet soft and feminine which is generally hard to pull off. Maybe thats due to the fact that he made good use of rich fabrics like organza and lace among others. It was a pretty lineup that no doubt satisfied the appetite of all his fans.

Trendy Fashion Week Spotlight - Badgley Mischka

The designing duo of Mark Badgley and James Mischka have always been able to consistently deliver their own heightened brand of glamour. For their Spring 2010 runway show, they managed to honor that beloved tradition. The looks were transitional, from nicely contoured tweed suits and dresses that oozed feminine charm to lovely flashy gowns drowned in splashy hues of pink and lavender among others. The designers admitted being inspired by the club scene of the Fifties Cuban era and the heated nights of Palm Beach. And this is demonstrated in their dominant use of the white ruffling detail, silk shantung fabric and the detailed beading work that highlighted a lot of their looks. There were no real surprises here but there is no question that this well respected designing team passed this test with flying colors.

Trendy Fashion Week Spotlight - Carolina Herrera

"I feel pretty, Oh so pretty". Those lyrics from the musical West Side Story could accurately describe the emotions that may possess you when you don one of Carolina Herrera's lovely confections. Her collection was the height of modernity and chic while still recalling the level of sophistication she has always been respected for. But this time around she vacated her comfort zone for a startling twist on the Japanese themed woven basket look that was heavily displayed in almost every look on the runway. Her use of particular fabrics from raffia to open weaves seemed to reveal the texturized complexity of the woven "Japanese basket look" and only Herrera with her unique ability of interpretation could make such a "unique" statement work so elegantly. But she did go back to the standards with some of her looks hindering on the more softer side with moveable and flowy dresses with just a hint of the evening's primary motif. The colors were coppery, satiny, bright and lucid. And she proved once again why she is still the Queen of Chic.