Above: Pleats at Martin Grant, ruffles at Preen, bows at United Bamboo and straps at Narcisco Rodriguez..

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Spring 2009 fashion shows is how wearable, adaptable and timeless the majority of the pieces were. The designers kept the colors in the realm of practicality with bold blues, soft pinks and neutral grays and whites. Evening wear provided some punches of scarlet and gold but also stuck close to the basics. Solids were favored but the present prints brought forth florals, butterflies and bohemian ethnic prints.

Pleating was a hot trend, appearing in shirts, dresses and trousers at shows like Martin Grant. Ultra feminine tiered ruffles cascaded down the runways at Phillip Lim and Preen. Sheer fabric exposed the models at John Galliano but matched up with more conservative opaque fabrics at Rodarte and Alexander Wang. Continuing on with the celebration of femininity, large bows adorned garments at Lela Rose and United Bamboo.
The one misstep that plagued many designers was overly done trousers. Pleating was too heavy, puffy fabrics evoked the parachute pants of the M.C. Hammer era and jumpsuits have, unfortunately, not expired from the trend file yet.

Detailing is where the designers showed their edgy streaks. Narcisco Rodriguez and Herve Leger utilized straps that hinted at bondage without being inappropriate. Michael Kors and Diesel favored bold zippers on some of their pieces.

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Nicola Formichetti, supper cool & edgy up stylist, now adds fashion director of Vogue Hommes Japan to his repatwa. Nicola previews the new Hedi Slimane cover of the inaugural issue. Debuts September 10th.

Looks like an unappealing skinny skater guy playing dress up in a Japanese wardrobe in a generic poorly lit digital image. Perhaps that’s just my take on this.

Nicola Formichetti first appeared in Dazed & Confused as a model in 1999, but his early signature style of mixing sportswear with graphic and the slightly kitsch came to be the Alpha aesthetic of millennial menswear, a counterpoint Hedi Slimane darker look.

Nicola Formichetti and his list achievement read quite well if you would agree: Dazed & Confused creative director, Another Man senior fashion editor, Vogue Hommes Japan fashion director and so on. He also consults for Uniqlo, Prada, McQ, D&G, Kim Jones, Gareth Pugh, Levi’s and Romain Kremer. Quite an amazing career he got going there, well deserved I think.

• Editor in Chief: Kevin Ma
• Managing Editor: Eugene Kan
• Editor: Luis Ruano
• Photography: Hedi Slimane
• Model: Ash Stymest

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