Dries van Noten Spring Summer 2012 Review

 Why u so sad gurl? U be wearin Dries

 The sandals. Quite beautiful but distracting. 

A visual journey. It would seem digital printing has advanced in the last two years and now many designers are throwing in their two cents. I’m really over seeing these types of prints as so often they do little to lift the design but for Dries van Noten he used his prints to take us on a journey from the forest, through meadows then to the big city, maybe Vegas (I think it turned out to be New York). There were echoes of old couture from the 50’s like Cristobal Balenciaga in the duster ruffles and proportion of some coats. The ankle tie sandals and platforms were a bit distracting and made things a bit clunky in a similar way to what happened at Missoni.

Womanly Shapes at Dries Van Noten

An often sober looking collection for Dries Van Noten and felt like a bit of a reality check despite flourishes of colour towards the end of the show.

There were safari and military touches which is quite a safe theme to choose for a collection but I suppose these are tough times for a lot of designers and it didn’t matter anyway. What I found more interesting were the womanly silhouettes and the way the clothes were cut.

There was a sort of post-war Digby Morton look to some of the full skirts and curve-defining jackets but it didn’t feel old or nostalgic. The jackets had some beautifully constructed darts that gave a look of ease to a perhaps otherwise imposing look.

With Prada sparking a lot of discussion about women’s bodies (real women’s bodies) and Francisco Costa casting ‘older’ models for Calvin Klein it’s quite funny to see Van Noten do it too. There’s going to be a whirlwind of articles and blog discussions about this by the end of the week.