Marike Le Roux, Marique Schimmel, Polina Kasina, Esme Wissels, Caroline Barsch Nielsen, Kristina Romanova, Sigrid Agren, Lindsey Wixson, Frida Gustavsson, Partricia van der Vliet, Karlie Kloss, Mirte Maas.

Out of every Spring 2011 collection, Alexander McQueen would have to have impressed me the most, it was amazing, like no words. As the show went on I think I died, came back to life, stopped breathing, fainted, hyperventilated, died again, fell off my chair, got back on my chair, and probably came back to life again some where inbetween, unless I was just looking at heaven! 

Sarah Burton would have to be the perfect candidate to take on McQueen’s legacy, she did everything right, in this collection alone she: reinvented the classic McQueen Tail Coat, ‘softened’ the edges to where Alexander McQueen left off and created something that is already becoming iconic (Orange Butterfly Dress! <3) and yet she still stayed amazingly true to Alexander McQueen’s name.

The details in this collection are just so incredible, like you would not believe. You could just stare at each look for hours and marvel at how much time and effort and brilliant thought went in to each minute part of it - I know I did.

I just need to put a mention out there about the hair and the set. The weaving in the hair was just beautiful, and it just looked like classic Alexander McQueen. The set was so close to nature, which is the complete opposite of what McQueen would usually do, he would always go on the dark and technological side of things. This kind of goes to show the new ‘era’ of Alexander McQueen - the same… but different and refreshing. 

R.I.P Alexander ‘Lee’ McQueen

xxx —Fiona

Kristina Salinovic, Jeneil Williams, Lindsey Wixon, Aline Weber, Anja Rubik, Kasia Struss, Daiane Conterato, Danni Le, Caroline Barsch Neilsen, Joan Smalls, Karlie Kloss, Julia Saner, Masha Kirsanova, Suvi Koponen, Jac, Frida Gustavsson.

Let me just start by saying that out of every designer brand Louis Vuitton has always been my favourite, I don’t really know why though, there is just something about it that touches me, and makes me feel better, like a comforting part of childhood (I am starting to sound silly, moving on…) so I guess this is why this Spring 2011 collection has been the most disappointing to me.

This season, I’d say that Marc Jacobs was focusing on party dresses and artsy, oriental and eclectic vibes. He used sequins, satin, tiny little see-thorugh LV monograms, glittery fabrics, very thin tassels, brights and zebra prints. 

My biggest criticism for this collection is that it just didn’t flow together, I mean, random colours and patterns and shades just popped out of no where, and this just made it look tacky and messy. I mean I get Marc’s idea about going completely against minimalism and really going out there, but that doesn’t mean chuck random fabrics together to see what looks different. 

Despite this I can still find some real keepers in there, pieces which catch your eyes and then they look brilliant when you examine the extent of the details. Did I hear someone say LV Paper Fan? And another pro, the accessories were just adorable. That little Louis Vuitton ball clutch, the shoulder bags, and the bright purses with ‘Vuitton’ embroidered on them were admirable. 

I guess this collection kind of grows on you the more you look at it, because I really do see Marc’s vision and maybe he just didn’t execute it as well as he could have. So overall? Lots of glamour, lots of colour, lots of prints, lots of colour blocking, lots of details, but maybe too much. 

xxx —Fiona

Anna Selezneva, Lily Donaldson, Mirte Mass, Patricia van der Vliet 

In Paris on Octobor 6, 2009 Anna Selezneva opened Valetino’s show drifting on to the runway in beat with Thom Yorke’s song All For the Best (I really like Thom Yorke, so this was an excellent opening). So, one thing that Valentino is trademarked for is their lust-worthy red gowns, like usually you will find at least one in all Valentino collections, and who is complaining with that because they are unbelievably beautiful and luxurious. But when Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli presented this Spring show, there was not one red dress in the entire show and this was surprising to me, but the duo explained it as ‘wanting to create a new fairytale”… And when I finished watching this show, it was definitely a happily ever after (… was that a bad pun? Did I go too far? Eh, anyway).

Chiuri and Piccioli released a total of 34 stunning and adorable cocktail dresses and 4 orgasmic (I went there, I used that word) gowns. They used soft, romantic colours like rose, pale yellow, grey, nude and soft gold in floaty, flamboyant and perfect fabrics. The dresses look quite young, probably because of their length, and they are just to die for, I am just in awe of them. I think it is the way they sit on the body, perfectly, like they could not be moved, and they make the models look really delicate too, but not in a bad way - in a sweet way. 

I adore the ruffles, the swirls, the BOWS, and the lace. My lord! The lace shoes! They started with a simple, black stiletto, and then turned them into beautiful petite, fancy, little heels with lace wings and minute details. There is only one way to summarise this collection without overdoing it - IT’S PRETTY! 

Valentino is in good hands, sir. 

—Fiona

Jac, Shu Pei Qin

This season at Fendi, Karl Lagerfeld played with the art of what lies beneath. Using transparent, feathery, wispy, light and white fabrics he put a twist in Parisian lingerie and luxurious feminine looks. Fendi bought beauty to simplicities - and I keep say that a lot of collections for this season have been simple, but that is probably because I reviewed McQueen first and I got scared when I saw Gareth Pugh’s (but I wasn’t surprised), anyway I am going off topic. The collection was very classically beautiful, and very ‘ready-to-wear’. But just one harsh negative point…

This season kind of looks like clothes that you can buy from Forever 21, and not that there is anything wrong with that but if you are paying the designer price tag you’d expect to receive designer clothes. But then again, it could be the other way around, that Forever 21 drew from Karl’s designs… I guess if I considered this ‘flaw’ in the collection I would be a bit undecided about how I feel about it but nonetheless I still like it, and it was obvious lovely to look at and who can argue at that. 

Karl Lagerfeld did this well.

—Fiona

Anna de Rijk, Anna Selezneva

I have never thought Burberry could be boring because it is such a classic brand, but others have, and with this show Christopher Bailey bought out lively beauty in every garment that was present on the runway. He used the most beautiful draping I have seen to create magnificent trenches and dresses that were aimed at youth which were found in soft hues and pastels that didn’t sway too much away from the original military coat. The twists, the zips, the belts, and the above-the-knee simplicities were just glamourous and *sigh*. Purely this collection was a stunning reinvention of the trench coat for young people, and it worked I just want every single thing in there!

—Fiona

Kamila Filipcikova, Lindsey Wixson 

For Miu Miu, Miuccia Prada was ‘questioning the innocence and youth’ and ‘what youth mean today in a world that is the opposite’. How did she do this you ask? She combined naked lady prints and a bare torso with gorgeous childish, Lolita dresses and innocent animal prints. The collection took some time for a lot of people to warm up to but now after nearly 9 months have passed since it was first opened it is one of most highly talked about and loved collections for Spring/Summer ‘10. What I thought was most great about it was really just the quirky innocence that couldn’t really be shown properly by any other designer without going against everything they knew about fashion; and the shoes are incredible.

—Fiona

Abbey Lee Kershaw, Kamila Filipcikova

Alber Elbaz’s primary goal for this collection was to impress the female psyche and he did this amazingly. With the use of sweet colours like pink, salmon, peach and vermillion (and a bit of black) in dresses that pleated, draped, ruffled and spiraled in the most unbelievably beautiful ways. His dresses were all very simple when compared to some more extreme others but they were absolutely crushable. And according to Vogue, “Alber Elbaz nearly reduced the audience to tears of joy”, but hey, I would be crying too if I got to see a runway show, and even more if it was as special as Lanvin’s Spring collection was.

—Fiona