Let’s face it, we’ve been living in very beige times. The last few years have been all about the very smoky eye and the nudish neutral pinkish lip – a look ushered in by Tom Ford at Gucci in the mid nineties, that’s held up for 15 years!!!!! Sure, it’s sexy and louche, but since clothes have stayed mostly in the neutral families for so long: black, white, camels, greys – that faces are kind of begging for color. The smoky eye and light lip combo is starting to look a little – dated. Which is fashionese for “old.”
Milan delivered strong red lips at Dolce & Gabbana and Bottega Veneta, and some of the early shows for Paris fall 09 have shown some very strong color, too. As usual, Lanvin (by Albert Elbaz) was one of the strongest shows, with forties style peplum suits front and center. And what works better for the 1940’s wartime look than bright red lips?  The eyes were washed with a gold/rust color, and altogether, the neutral clothes (Lanvin was mostly black or ecru) were really accented and flattered by the color on the models’ faces.
John Galliano for Dior never shows the average “natural” face – the Dior models had flushed heavy pink cheeks and deep deep purple burgundy mouths.  Oddly enough, Marc Jacobs showed dark purple lips in his very eighties fall collection in New York.
Yohji Yamamoto’s palette has always been all blacks and whites, with quiet makeup. But for fall, he had the models sport red orange lipstick, which matched red orange boots and shoes – it made the black dresses pop a lot more, and made the face come alive.
We have a feeling the beauty companies are going to go crazy for reds and purples for their fall makeup campaigns – since it would mean almost every woman would have to make purchases – a lot of purchases, to complete that kind of look. This could be its own little beauty economic stimulus package!!!

Coming this fall, two seemingly disparate brands are coming together to launch an unusual line of shoes – and they’re NOT stillettos or gladiators: Yohji Yamamoto, king of the Japanese avant garde, and Salvatore Ferragamo, makers of Audrey’s ballet flats, known for conservative ladylike shoes. Their new co-brand: SalvatoreFerragamo for Yohji Yamamoto – will be a limited edition of eight women’s shoe styles. These will be both comfortable AND cool, a rare combo, with very soft leather, and will be sold in Yohji boxes and bags, while the soul of the shoes are in Ferragamo red. These aren’t red carpet shoes – these are shoes to wear with real clothing – pants, long skirts, t shirts – that will make the rest of your clothes look more interesting. This is a true design collaboration.

It all started when Yohji visited the Ferragamo company’s base in Florence, and was struck by all the steps that go into building their shoes. It’s actually a real modern step for Ferragamo, which has been trying to re-brand itself as younger and more fashiony, while keeping its core audience. It took a year for the prototype to be complete, so this was not some fast branding project. The Salvatore Ferragamo for Yohji Yamamotocapsule-collection (its full and proper name) will be out this July at Yohji boutiques – which is unfortunate for Angelenos, because there isn’t one here – and selected Ferragamo stores. We have a feeling the Rodeo Drive Ferragamo will sell them – there will be too much interest in them not to. They are collector’s items for your feet.

We know how you love your Manolo’s, Louboutin’s, YSL shoes, Helmut Lang’s and – hello, Alaia shoes! Well, since the sales this Thanksgiving were so early and extreme, it’s hard to find any good shoes left in the stores, on sale – no joke, we’ve looked. But if you want to find a cache of great designer shoes on sale, and you happen to be a lucky size eight or eight and a half, check out Resurrection’s website, http://www.resurrectionvintage.com/. Both their LA and NY boutiques are displaying an enormous collection of designer shoes, barely worn or never worn, from the collection of Marcia Berger. She was an illusive fashion devotee, who after her death, left behind a collection of over 3,000 clothing pieces by Rick Owens, Romeo Gigli, Yohji Yamamoto, Helmug Lang, Commes des Garcons, Martin Margiela, etc. Resurrection will be selling off her collection of incredible shoes between December 4 and January 4 – and the prices are around half of the original, although some of the never worn Louboutins are running about $500.00. Check out the site and the stores – and we envy you size 8 and 8 1/2’s out there. – Merle Ginsberg

Two sporty-chic looks from the Yohji Yamamoto spring summer show at Paris Fashion Week spring summer 09.