Stuart Vevers has unearthed a Hollywood heroine in Loewe’s Madrid archive. “We recently found a visitor’s book signed by Ava Gardner,” he said backstage. “That’s been a bit special.” It explained why Old Blue Eyes was on the soundtrack of the Fall Winter 2010 2011presentation.

Gardner fled to live in Madrid when her marriage to Frank Sinatra was on the rocks, in 1955, after filming The Barefoot Contessa in Europe. While amusing herself with, among other things, a virile bullfighter, she also found time to pick up the occasional handmade leather item in Loewe’s Gran Via store.

More about fashion 2011:

Fashion 2011 | DKNY
Fashion 2011 | Ralph Lauren

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John Galliano infused an equestrian theme with light floaty mini dresses and ruffled chiffon gowns in his Christian Dior collection fall winter 2010 2011.

These gowns were everything we’ve come to expect from the house of Dior: romantic and oozing with French femininity. They were sheer showing off the beautiful lingerie underneath.

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Dresses Chanel 2011
Dresses Valentino 2011

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Lagerfeld had erected a huge iceberg in the middle of the glass-domed Grand Palais to mark his chilly theme for Chanel fall winter 2010 2011 collection, dressing models in fake fur trousers and yeti boots to prepare them for the coming ice age.

Chanel’s classic tweed suit was reinforced with fur-trimmed sleeves and hems. The tweed itself was lightened up as Lagerfeld used wool-embroidered organza instead of classic heavy tweed.

“There wasn’t any real fur, it’s all fake. The word ’synthetic’ is horrible, fake fur used to be hideous but there’s been enormous progress,” he said.

Within the context of a season of innovative knitwear, Chanel’s was some of the most outstanding. A group of three short angora sweater dresses, tinted iceberg blue in the center, was an amazing follow-up from something Lagerfeld did with dégradé pastel embroidery in couture.

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Dresses Valentino 2011
Dresses & Clothes Louis Vuitton Winter 2011

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It was all about ruffles in Valentino fall winter 2010 2011 dresses collection: curved ruffles, tiered ruffles, scalloped ruffles, delicate ruffles and dramatic ruffles, in a colour palette of nudes, black, red and white.

More dresses for 2011:

Dresses & Clothes Louis Vuitton Winter 2011
BCBG Dresses 2011

It was all very 1950s heroine chic in fall winter 2010 2011 collection of Louis Vuitton. “Feminine heroines felt right for now. I don’t worry about why it feels right, it just does. I am never afraid,” said Jacobs. “Doris Day, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, and I could mention others,” he explained, referring to his influences.

What worked best was a series of remarkable skirts in three different cuts, the largest a dimple A-line, most brilliantly in hard leather. “We wanted from dowdy to sexy in the skirts and we achieved that,” said Jacobs.

The designer also sent out lots of curvy, big-button jackets cut with peplum hems that were the epitome of feminine gentility, wide A-line coats in boucle wool and some very charming printed floral organza dresses.

More about fashion 2011:

Fashion 2011 | DKNY
BCBG Dresses 2011

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The overall look in DKNY fall winter 2010 2011 collection was sixties schoolgirl. Nearly every skirt on these side-ponytailed lasses was mini and pleated, some in wool and others in a thick leather that pushed the vibe out of decades past (tasseled loafers, now transformed into aggressive platforms, did the same).

Those kicky skirts were worn with long, oversize wool coats—a notch more outsize than the boyfriend blazer—little tailored jackets, or cardigans and turtlenecks. To finish off, there were long scarves, astrakhan newsboys, and ankle socks or woolen tights. The outerwear was especially strong. Highlights: a gray hooded toggle coat and boyfriend-tailored vest coats that kept the layering polished and cool.

More about fashion 2011:

BCBG Dresses 2011
Fashion 2011 | Ralph Lauren
Evening Dresses 2011 | Marchesa

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Fall Winter 2010 2011 found the Azrias in practical mode. Backstage, Mrs. Azria explained that the Fall collection was her answer to the recession. “It’s made us realists,” she said. “It’s not about our fantasy. It’s about the customer.”

On the runway, there were endless variations of a simple, sellable, and yes, chic idea: color-blocked silks in clean geometric silhouettes layered with whisper-thin black knit tops. BCBG dresses had a T-shirt-level ease and often came cinched with wide elastic belts. The layering of lightweight pieces was another customer-centric strategy. These dresses, as Mrs. Azria explained, can be worn right away when the Fall delivery goes into stores—i.e., in high summer—and then can transition into chillier months.

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Fashion 2011 | Ralph Lauren
Evening Dresses 2011 | Marchesa

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Lauren tapped into a huge trend in New York Fashion Week fall winter 2010 2011, the revival of velvet, showing antique velvet jackets in amethyst and a series of great jodhpurs in a mossy green or faded brown. Though, these were jodhpurs with a twist, lovingly cut and finished at the ankle with studs.

His sharpest look was a brown cashmere coat, hand knitted to give it a luxurious softness, worn by Polish beauty Magdalena Frackowiak over slim boyish trousers, that the program notes described as “newsboy pants.”

More about fashion 2011:

Evening Dresses 2011 | Marchesa
Formal Dresses 2011 | Oscar de la Renta

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There will be lace. And sculpted organza, floaty feathers, beading, and draped tulle in the evening dresses. For a few seasons now, queen of the red carpet Georgina Chapman has refined Marchesa’s signatures in fall winter 2010 2011 collection to a flawlessly executed fine point.

That’s not to say that the label remains at a standstill, however. Fall was inspired by the performer and courtesan Lola Montez and her travels and quest for love, Chapman said.

Take a look at other evening dresses 2011:

Formal Dresses 2011 | Oscar de la Renta
Prom Dresses 2011 | Oscar de la Renta

Source| Style

There was a subtle knee-length stunner in beaded lace jacquard and a black double-faced coat embroidered in a similar Art Deco style, as well as a rather cool-looking matador’s organza blouse and high-waisted black pants with fans embroidered down the sides.

But Oscar de la Renta focused most of his after-dark efforts on glamour formal dresses in his fall winter 2010 2011 collection. The highlights of the bunch were a silvery cowl-neck column with a lamé skirt and a dove-gray organza long-sleeve style with touches here and there of glittery beads and scads of fluttering ruffles at the hem. A black faille number bustled in the back was made for grand exits.

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Prom Dresses 2011 | Oscar de la Renta

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