Stefano Pilati had a tough act to follow a few years ago: Tom Ford. And the original Yves St. Laurent wasn’t an easy act to follow, either. But Pilati’s sharp as a tack cuts have already made him a European and American classic: nobody cuts a jacket or a coat like he does – they are tight, but never overtly sexy – ‘shapely’ and ‘sharp’ are the right words. This almost-all black collection, with a touch of white or grey, is what women really want to wear – no runway theatrics here. These are just gorgeous killer basics, with more shape than forward style – which is just what we want in these shakey times. The clothes are flattering and real, but also, chic chic chic. The bright red lips made it all look new and hip –
as did the clean look of almost no jewelry. This is the new post-recession chic: a wardrobe in black and white or grey, flattering and shapely, with a killer leather trenchcoat to toss over everything.
OVERWHELMING TRENDS: Extended shoulders, man tailoring, leather trenchcoats, leather motorcycle jackets,, leather coats with tight little waists and belts with pinstripe grey and white trousers, tight leather pants with a pouf sleeved white shirt, a leather jumpsuit that was NOT flattering (the exception), a grey pinstripe skirtsuit shown with a black leather corset bodysuit. It looks simple: soft floaty trousers with tight jacket shapes – but in fact, the cut of the clothes makes them highly flattering, without any embellishment. The good news – most of these clothes could be worn throughout your whole life. They’
re ageless.
FABRICS: Shiney black leather, gray flannel, white cotton shirts, velvet evening dresses with metallic thread.
COLORS: Black, white, pale grey – the black in a number of different textures and fabrications, some shiney –
some matter.
ACCESSORIES: New style tights with opalescent sheen or fishnet sheen. Little black Fez hats, like the ones the original YSL did. Tight black gloves.
BEAUTY TRENDS: Bright red lips, hair shined up and slicked into a tight top knot.
RELEVANCE TO HOLLYWOOD: That black leather corset style bodysuit is one hot number – that looks like THE piece to add to any fall wardrobe, to sex it up and hip it up. Plop that under any jacket, or match it up with any skirt – even a long black goth skirt – and you’ve got a red carpet look or movie premier look.. The chic little grey dresses are great for lunches or Hollywood dinner parties – so are the black short shifts. But the jumpsuits are a little too Parisian for LA – that “le smoking” look never really caught on in Hollywood – it’s just too masculine. We love the white flutter sleeve dress with wide black belt. Actually, we’d like to see almost this entire collection on Kate Winslet. And the black satin “Le Smoking” long sleeved tuxedo dress at the end is a great Meryl Streep dress –
for when she gets nominated for her new movie with Nancy Meyer. It’s for a woman with class who wants to look like a grown up – a rather European one. A woman, not a girl.
