Fashion People 'Heartless': Stella McCartney

Designers are tamed by recession fears

(NEWSER) - Thanks to the recession, “disciplined good taste” reigned on the Paris runways this week, leading Bloomingdale’s fashion director to dub the season “terrific, from a commercial point of view, but not so much so that it’s safe and boring.” Guy Trebay begs to differ. “If success is measured by distance traveled, then this has been the Paris season that ran the gamut—as Dorothy Parker once famously sniped about Katharine Hepburn's acting range—from A to B,” he writes in the New York Times. More»

Sure, Lindsay Lohan's collection was dissed—but really, this is how fashion should be

(NEWSER) - Lindsay Lohan’s fashion debut was “widely panned,” which came as “no surprise, of course.” But though “the looks were inelegant, off-trend, and styled with about as much je ne sais quois as a drunk teen let loose inside a Forever 21,” Erika Kawalek writes on DoubleX, “I loved this fashion show.” It brought fashion out of “the province of professional designers” and put it back into women’s hands. More»

Some collections reflect current industry inertia, but a few rise above

(NEWSER) - With economic stresses making it more difficult for designers to be creative—and the growing trend of manufacturing being outsourced to other countries—the Italian spring collections in Milan were somewhat “joyless,” but still offered a few standouts, writes Cathy Horyn for the New York Times. The good:

• Angela Missoni: Her “clothes merit attention” because “virtually every garment was a knit”—proving her willingness to ask how historical techniques “could be aired out.”

Cheerful, charming looks and fun, nostalgic designs are back for men and women

(NEWSER) - “Optimism is the new black,” with designers “laying on the charm” for the spring 2010 season, writes Booth Moore for the Los Angeles Times. The “colors are cheerful,” fun “prints are making a comeback,” and “florals are being re-imagined in a funkier way.” The light, sometimes “cutesy” women’s collections, ripe with nostalgia, seem to say, “Happy days are here again.” More»

Amidst global downturn, African designers poised to rise

(NEWSER) - The recession is taking a toll on demand for haute couture, but African designers are betting the youthfulness of their industry will trump the economy at the first pan-African fashion week. “We’re growing,” says a designer from Sierra Leone who trained in New York and Paris. "The excitement of youth is what African fashion really has to offer the industry right now." The event brings 50 designers from 20 countries together in Johannesburg, Reuters reports. More»