Fall Trend Report from the 2008 EDFF winners

Fall 2008 fashion tips from the designers who represent the future of fashion.

Lyell

TREND: Sophisticated, Somber Style
After Spring 08's casual styles and easy, colorful prints, I felt that the time was right for more sophisticated, somber, and restrained styles. This collection is entirely black and ivory, with a touch of blue. It feels slightly strict and has a subversive sexuality.

Alexander Wang

TREND: Embrace Flaws
I am drawn to anything slightly flawed, scratched, scuffed, ripped, torn or dirty; embracing the flaws for both day and night. For Fall 2008's eveningwear, I drew inspiration from bad boys, rebels and graffiti artists.

WAYNE

TREND: Female Adventurer
Androgynous, menswear-inspired pieces are punctuated by soft, feminine fabrications meant to invoke the feeling of flying. Silhouettes have been eased; coats are padded and intentionally boxy. Feminine dresses have been loosened to give a carefree, airy feel.

Réyes

TREND: Boy Meets Girl
Women's jackets and trousers constructed out of traditional menswear fabrications. Also shown by pairing a "boyfriend" fit oversized jacket worn over dresses - both mini and maxi.

Elise Øverland

TREND: Rock and Rococo
The collection is about a mix of hard and feminine. Call it Rock and Rococo. The message is conveyed by mixing thin, layered silk-chiffon dresses and edgy, shrunken leather jackets.

Loden Dager

TREND: Masculine Fabrics with a Soft Touch
For fall, we went for three-piece suits in a buttery, fine corduroy; cotton moleskin coats with a moss-like finish; traditional bouclé Scottish cashmere sweaters and cotton parkas with quilted Bemberg linings.

September 17, 2008

ARGAN OIL/(are-gan oil)/n./ 1. The extraction from the pulp and seed of nuts from the argan tree, found in Morocco and Algeria; /n./ 2. Typically harvested by women’s cooperatives and high in vitamin E content, argan oil has exceptional moisturizing properties and has been proven to have age-defying and skin-healing capabilities, e.g., “Do something good for your skin—and your sisters in agribusiness—and seek out products rich in argan oil.”

Try it: Kiehl’s Superbly Restorative Skin Salve with Fairly-Traded Argan Oil, $25, www.kiehls.com

Photo: Inga Spence / GettyImages

September 17, 2008

September 17, 2008  5:03 pm

What mortgage meltdown? It was business as usual Tuesday afternoon on the fourth floor at Barneys. Call it the last hurrah—the feast before the famine. Actually, scratch that, call it L’Wren Scott. The leggy stylist-turned-designer hosted her first-ever trunk show for a cadre of dedicated and deep-pocketed fans, who, international economic crisis be damned, put some serious mileage on their charge cards. “I wanted to do this right after my show so the customers could have a chance to order the clothes straightaway,” Scott explained. On offer were staples like the Headmistress dress as well as diaphanous looks from the Spring collection, which was inspired by Zephyr, the Greek god of wind. “Everything has the spirit of movement to it,” the designer summed up. Speaking of movement, the 6′ 4″ Scott zipped between clients in a pair of Louboutin heels. “I’ve always said, if you’re going to be tall, why not be taller,” she shrugged of her footwear choice. “I mean, at this point it’s not making a big difference.”