By Lauren Zazzara
Features Assignment Editor
With the wind chill reaching below minus 30 last weekend, it’s hard to imagine spring ever coming.
But the fashion world is ahead, and from Feb. 11 to 19, New York City hosted the biannual Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, where designers showcased their spring and fall 2015 collections.
Trends for the following seasons included bold colors, athletic touches, bohemian details and monochrome.
Carolina Herrera’s runway consisted of dresses and top-and-skirt combinations in pale, sherbet-y colors like yellow and orange. Some of her white pieces were accented with pops of graphic and bold floral patterns. She experimented with boxy cuts in her loose, cropped jackets and tops paired with pencil skirts.
In contrast to Herrera’s feminine collection, Lacoste, known for its sporty vibe, featured an athletic-inspired collection. The women wore jerseys with numbers, hoodies, and pinny-inspired mesh dresses. Long, sleeveless suit-inspired coats also gave the women an androgynous look. The male models wore T-shirts with graphic, geometric prints, monochrome three-piece outfits featuring pants, coat and shirts inspired by jerseys.
BCBG (bon chic, bon genre- French for good style, good attitude) Max Azria showcased a fall collection with a beatnik touch due to embroidered capes, jackets and tunic-dresses. The looks combined neutrals such as white, tan and gray with deep jewel-tones like navy blue, burgundy and orange. Models also wore looks with cascades of feathers. Leather thigh-high boots finished off the ensembles.
Prabal Gurung chose to play with shapes rather than colors or embellishments for his fall collection which debuted on Sunday. Many of his looks were in white, cream, black and gray. He created some dresses with deep v-necks and others with slitted skirts. One look consisted of a sleek jumpsuit. Chunky coats with fur warmed up many of the looks.
The best part of fashion week is the onslaught of fresh inspiration and trends that affordable stores such as Forever 21 and H&M will use to allow the masses to indulge in high fashion. Or, because trends come and go, thrift stores are a great place to find cheap pieces that are trending now but may not be in a few months. College students can indulge in new trends without spending all of their money.
It is possible to incorporate high fashion, which is often impractical, into real life outfits by taking one statement or trendy item and downplaying it with simpler and timeless pieces like jeans or solid colored skirts or dresses. By doing so, students can take high fashion to class.
zazzarlm13@bonaventure.edu
