Les Paradis Artificiels: Got the Blues for Red

It doesn't take a genius to realize that fashion is shifting towards new ideas and concepts as the social and financial situation crumbles, I mean, evolves. Living it one day at a time, this evolution seems natural, but think about it: long gone are the strapless backless low-cut V-neck silhouettes so popular with one time hip designers like Donatella Versace, Roberto Cavalli or Julien MacDonald. Long gone is the flamboyant luxury of Tom Ford's designs for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. And judging by fashion's goldfish-like memory span, long gone is John Galliano's bombastic drama. In a world in which financial panic, insecurity and bleak prospects are an everyday reality, it's not hard to see why fashion is less inspired by fairy tales than by... soviet aesthetics. This has been going on for several seasons already, but I think it's particularly noteworthy this winter. Fashion brands don't sell the way they used to, as people no longer shop Carrie Bradshaw-style (aka hysterically, compulsively and in a schizophrenic way). We don't want "lots and lots of different things" anymore, we want wearable products of a visible good quality, good fabrics and great cuts, clothes that won't look like Halloween costumes one year after we've purchased them. This newly found sense of practicality doesn't have to be boring; as a matter of fact, I find it quite refreshing to mix a rejection of capitalist excess with sartorial avant-garde.

Clean lines and minimal shapes are everywhere this winter, and there is a reverence for all things graphic. Why spoil a beautifully simple outfit with unnecessary baroque ornaments? This season less is definitely more.

Prada

Cacharel

Loewe

Miu Miu

Fendi

Acne

Fall's palettes mix dark versions of primary colours, resulting in looks remarkably similar to the marvelous paintings of Lyubov Popova.

Fendi

Céline

Fendi

This season's coats are all about warmth, comfort and protection. And they are all made of lovely thick, cocoon-like fabrics! Well, after having frozen to death for years thanks to a series of very decorative coats made out of materials similar to cigarette paper, I'm quite excited these last few years about the new coats (the moral of this story is "don't follow fashion too passionately, kids. You might catch a cold").

Hermès

Prada

Fendi

Loewe

Prada

Céline

And what about accessories? Oh yes, they might make the whole look, but now they look delightfully understated, almost as if the girl wearing them was too busy reading Pravda to actually waste time choosing something as trivial as a bag or a pair of shoes.
But yeah, they are irresistible. Talk about double standard.