A new 1970s-style fashion muse, who means business during the day but can disco the night away, dominated the recent runway trends in the world’s fashion capitals.
Gone from the spring 2011 collections previewed in New York, London, Paris and Milan, Italy, was the aggressive, tough woman designers had sent out to do battle with the recession. But, it seems, the fashion world isn’t quite ready to embrace a full, floaty free-spirit, either.
The vision falls somewhere in between, which is the way most people live and dress.
Starting this fall, there already is movement toward high-waisted, trouser-style pants, bow blouses and longer hemlines. The fabric moves away from the body instead of cinching it. Still, you can find skinny jeans and a short biker jacket if you want them.
That will be a harder task in the coming months, and fashion insiders say women are ready for the change.
With the looser silhouettes, white and tropical-hue colors, and a relaxed vibe, designers were showing both an optimistic attitude and a willingness to invest in design instead of gimmicks, they say.
"This comes after many seasons of maximalism and decoration, but no one wants to go back to ’90s minimalism," says Stefano Tonchi, editor-in-chief of W magazine. "This is romantic minimalism."
He adds: "When you look at fashion the last 20 years, there’s a lot of backward movement. You can’t find too many meanings in why you’re going back - last year was the ’80s - but, in the end, this season has a contemporary attitude to simplify and take away the ornamentalism and give freedom and romance to clothes."
Catherine Moellering, executive vice president of the Tobe Report, a fashion retail trend consultancy, sees a little more purpose to the historical reference, though.
"What was happening in society then is similar to many of the global issues we’re facing right now: It was a difficult economy, we were involved in an unpopular war, there were environmental issues," Moellering observes.
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