Spring 2010: Ports 1961

photos courtesy of style.com


At New York Fashion Week, Ports 1961 will be among the first group of designers showing their Fall 2010 collections. Though the new Ports collection debuts tomorrow at 3pm, let us not forget about the luxury label's current season.


Highlights of the Ports 1961 Spring 2010 collection include effortless t-shirt dresses in a variety of creamsicle shades, flyaway organza dresses, and belted tulip dresses. The color palette and fabric patterns were a bold choice perhaps only passable for Spring: pastel shades of peach and pink, bright reds, cool shimmering blues and browns, and several kaleidoscopic prints including a couple of tie-dye selections.

This time, the label, whose head Tia Cibani has in the past relied heavily on geographic influences, takes us to Japan. And the influences are not difficult to spot; passing on the runway was one obi belt after another, as well as a multitude dresses with blush-pink cherry blossom patterns. It is this global focus that defines the Ports 1961 customer so clearly, that of a multinational jetsetter. And who wouldn't want to be that girl?

Spotlight: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

photos courtesy of vanity fair

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, 42, has once again emerged as a fashion icon - almost, it seems, by accident. Despite her heiress status (Bruni's legal parents are the wealthy Marisa Borini, pianist, and Alberto Bruni Tedeschi, composer; she is the lovechild of businessman Maurizio Remmert) and fashion model background, Carla Bruni claims to have a laissez-faire fashion attitude. "There are things that give me no pleasure: objects, clothes, jewelry. I've worn them all, but all that stuff interferes with my daily life," Bruni told Vogue in 2009.

This however, hasn't prevented Mrs. Bruni-Sarkozy from wearing the very best. Bruni's enviable wardrobe, which consists mostly of Dior and Chanel, is heavy on the classics. Sheath dresses and well-tailored suits dominate her wardrobe - except, of course, when the singer is out playing her guitar (then she opts for blazers and denim). It is this appreciation of the classics that transcends time, and it is no surprise that Bruni continues to turn heads.

Evolution: Chloé

Between Spring '06 and Spring '09, Chloé was run by three different designers. The rise and fall—and rise, of Chloé, lends itself no doubt an interesting story of brand evolution.


Below are notable looks from Chloé's Spring '06, Fall '06, and Spring '10 collections, designed by Phoebe Philo, interim designers, and its current head Hannah McGibbon, respectively. Not pictured are the three collections designed between Fall '07 and Fall '08 by former house designer Paulo Melim Andersson. Andersson was let go from the house after exhibiting an inability to merge his harder aesthetic with Chloé's women-friendly cult status which had been established by Philo.


photos courtesy of style.com

In this past collection, it appears that McGibbon has delivered Chloé back to its signature aesthetic—chic, Parisian, and ultrafeminine. Although the Fall '06 collection doesn't appear so distinctly Chloé, with its uncharacteristic heaviness, between its unique (albeit not exactly flattering) shapes and hodgepodge styles there still exist several items to covet.

Chloé is the designer to watch at Fashion Week in terms of brand evolution. It will be a spectacle to see how the house continues to evolve in light of its recent changes.

Spring Trench Coats

Finally the dreary winter has been giving way to hints of spring; cold, windy days are followed by days of sunshine - even if in Portland this only means a slight break in the clouds. Nevertheless, it's obvious that people are beginning to dress hopefully, while still heeding utility.


Trench coats are a spring necessity, and luckily designers have provided us with many variations of the classic in their Spring '10 collections. Even though I'd be afraid to wear a $1500 Chloé out on a rainy day, they provide a stylish and practical way to keep covered. Just one more reason to look forward to the coming season.


photos courtesy of style.com