Trends And Tribulations

Monday, 26 July 2010

I first came into contact with Stella McCartney some time last year when she caught my attention on some red carpet in this amazing sketch print floral shift. What attracted me to this dress in particular was the strength of its silhouette. It is not often you see a dress with such a defined outline and confident structure on the red carpet. This dress almost has the impact of a 'power-dress', a tailored feel in its shape and cut, and yet manages to entertain an elegance, perhaps even more gentle that that of a floor length gown. Perhaps it is the floral patterning, careful use of colour or detailing such as the bow cinch waist, which offer this femininity, yet there is something intriguingly female in this trademark structure, a careful softness to its edges, and it is this which excites me. Aside from her distinctive collections and the simple fact that she is a ridiculously beautiful woman, another thing I like about her as a designer is the fact that if you ever spot her on a red carpet or at a photographed event, she is always wearing HER OWN DESIGNS. The reason this pleases me is because I see this as her practising what she tries to preech. I believe her message is that a woman's wardrobe can both make a statement and be elegant and feminine at the same time, and by wearing her own designs she is proving that unlike a lot of catwalk fashion, her clothes are clothes, her pieces are WEARABLE and for real women as well as AMAZINNNNG. In my next post are three of my favourite pieces by Stella McCartney, I don't have a huge knowledge of her back catalogue or anything like that, these are just three designs which have come across over the past year and saved in my little folder of favourites because i thought they were so beautiful. It is really easy to recognise the Stella McCartney obsession with providing structure and silhouette in all three pieces. (The pink jumpsuit is my favourite.)

Stella McCartney Summer 2010.

So Stella McCartney is my favourite designer. I don't claim to know a lot of designers, a lot about designers, or even a lot about fashion, BUT, I do know what I like, and Stella McCartney's Spring/Summer collection 2010, I like.