In honor of tonight’s finale of Project Runway season 8, we feature Season 6 alum Althea Harper‘s latest collection for Spring-Summer 2011. Harper, who narrowly lost the win to designer Irina Shabeyeva, showed a much matured and polished version of her reality TV self at a presentation during New York Fashion Week in September.

Harper’s SS11 collection is characterized by modern feminity in a palette conducive to easy intergration into your current wardrobe. Learn more about the designer on her website. Click photo below for larger views.

When I saw the excessive, lopsided, and over-sized cuffs on the Viktor & Rolf runway they struck a chord somewhere deep in my nostalgia centers, and I started craving candy corn and Treehouse of Horror episodes (might be the weather, too). Then it hit me: “It’s tucked into my socks!” The wonky collars and cuffs look strikingly like the failed Gorden Gartrell knock-off made by Denise Huxtable for her younger brother Theo on a 1984 episode of “The Cosby Show.” A classic moment of an epic series. Watch the episode below.

I love that the resolution of the story is that Theo’s friends prefer the artsy, avant garde appeal of his homemade shirt over the flash of the designer label. Hopefully, though, they grew up to fuse that perspective with an appreciate for quality materials and craftsmanship. Amsterdam-based label Viktor & Rolf is the embodiment of this ideal and while there are wild looks in the Spring 2011 collection that indulge the artistic urges of designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, there are also several very smart, buyable pieces that even a safe fashion-lover might try.

photos: Viciously Sweet, YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW

Though the film seems like a decent way to streamline the task of showing a new collection, I wonder if it can ever really replace the visceral experience of seeing clothing moving on a real body right in front of you. These are textiles we’re talking about, after all. Pugh’s film is beautifully made, striking to look at, and evokes real emotion that will, no doubt, be inextricably tied to the garments. But in the end stills of veteran supermodel Kristen McMenamy and a male model looking as though they were walking the runway were taken anway. And good thing! Otherwise I might have missed how utterly amazing are the women’s trousers!

photos via WWD.com

Watch the video here courtesy of SHOWstudio.com, where you can also buy a limited edition scarf from the collection right now.

Ever wonder what Donatella Versace & Christopher Kane’s love child would look like? If you’re curious, look no further than the Versus Spring 2011 collection. Though it’s Versace’s second fiddle brand, some people are saying that the line – designed by British fashion star Christopher Kane – is outshining the main Versace line itself. It’s a pretty mighty assertion, and one I don’t altogether agree with, but it seems to be giving the little collection a set of sturdy legs. From what I can tell it seems like a true collaborative effort, and Donatella’s fondness of Kane speaks to that as well. She says that he “reminds her of her late brother, and could someday be in the running to design that exalted primary brand,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

“I never thought I’d find anybody I could trust like I trust Christopher,” Donatells told W magazine. “And now it’s so strange. I start to say a sentence and he (would) finish it – just like me and Gianni.”

An official statement from Christopher Kane on the Versus Spring 2011 that recently showed in Milan, followed by hi-res photos:

For this Versus SS11 collection I played with combining floral, tartan stripe prints from the Versus archive, to achieve twisted and drape mesh dresses. The colour palette is very bright and optimistic (yellow, green, purple, orange, red and blue). I have worked printed mesh into longer, leaner dresses, and knitwear for a more casual sporty/grungy approach. The core of the collection is multi drape stretch mesh dresses using layers of printed mesh. Short comes in multicoloured pop dresses. Shoes and bags feature print and brogue details.

This season’s Versace collection for women is all about a playful game of proportions and opposites: short vs. long, high vs. low, plain vs. patterned, dull vs. bright, and fabric vs. flesh.

High waisted skirts cut over the knee are combined with extremely short jackets that finish under the breast. The result: a look where a line of skin is visible between the skirt and the jacket, and where shoulders are rounded to give them a fresh emphasis.

Indeed, the shoulder achieves a new prominence within the collection and in many pieces is revealed, and framed, attaining the status of a new erogenous zone. This is often achieved through the use of decorative back-belts (martingales), which feature throughout the collection. These martingales, with decorative buttons, join, embroider and shape the padded shoulders of dresses and tops, breaking up the expanse of nude back and gently and elegantly referencing fetishistic straps.

The martingales, which also decorate high waisted skirts and the sides of dresses, are realized in contrasting materials – varnished and patent against non-shiny fabrics. And in our game of opposites, the idea of contrast is key. Many dresses feature inlays in PVC that break up the lines of the silhouette, making it look more sinuous and adding the impression of motion. Solid colours too – whites, red, splashes of turquoise, and blacks – are interrupted not only by revealed areas of flesh seen through PVC inlays or sculpted shapes cut into fabric, but also by prints, which appear in the splits of skirts and on fringes.

The basis of many of these prints is the Versace Greek fret motif, which is here used not as a logo device, but as a decorative pattern. The free and easy use of this graphic device, usually so rigid and geometric in its application, adds a sense of fluidity to the prints, with their playful use of colours.

The blitz of Italian fashion kicked off today and, unlike the schedule in New York and London, there’s no warming up with “emerging” designers before the heavy hitters take the stage. The likes of Alberta Ferreti and Gucci showed today, and both presented a departure from the sheer, non-color, wisp-of-a-show collections we’ve seen for Spring 2011 so far. Day two includes Sportmax, Fendi, D&G, and Prada. Whew! See the full Milan schedule here.

There’s much to be excited about from the spread that lies before us, but the festival (as it were) has not started without it’s share of controversy. Namely, a “plus-size” designer, who has opened Milan Fashion Week for the last 5 years was, despite packing its venue with press like the AFP, somehow excluded from the official program.

[Designer Elena Miro's] voluptuous models took to the catwalk flaunting their full figures, ample breasts and thighs, as well as their coquettish smiles, against the backdrop of a romantic black-and-white cafe scene decorated with real flowers.

The independent show was a riposte to the fashion house’s exclusion from the official programme of Milan Fashion Week after opening the event for the past five years.

It harked to the 1950s, “when the beauty of women, the round shapes and soft bodies” were de rigueur, the designer told AFP backstage before the show.

“Every kind of woman should be represented on the catwalk,” said the designer, whose real name is Elena Miroglio. “This kind of soft woman likes to dress like everyone else.”

Miroglio, who herself is diminutive and quite thin, recognises that designing for larger women is more challenging than for the more linear, but said that through her 25 years of experience she had developed the “know-how about proportions and shapes”. Read the rest here, spotted on Styleite

Frankly, I think it’s bizarre that we even still have this conversation in 2010. It’s like discussing whether blacks and whites should use the same water fountains…

On a lighter note, check this very cute video created by the maker of Darcel Disappoints in collaboration with Nowness.

Max Osterweis started Suno in 2008 after years of visiting Kenya and collecting textiles from the east African country. He later teamed with Erin Beatty to design collections in New York City and employ Kenyan artisans to produce the clothing, which is as of Fall 2010 was exclusively available in the U.S. The A/W 2010 collection included a great selection of dresses and jackets, but an online search of where to buy the brand produced just a smattering of items at Barney’s, Otte NY, and Opening Ceremony.

The label’s showing at New York Fashion Week this past Saturday, however, may have completely changed the scope of availability for the burgeoning company. According to an off-the-cuff tweet by Matches Fashion Director Bridget Cosgrove, the London-based fashion guidepost will stock pieces from the Spring/Summer 2011 collection. Cosgrove praised the “fabulous ethnic print combo’s with sophisticated twist colours” and womenswear buyer Georgina Gainza echoed the applause, calling the line “the new Dries.” If she means Dries van Noten, as I assume, that’s a pretty mighty compliment.

It will be interesting to see what ends up on the shelves (or the e-shelves for those of us with an ocean or so between us and London). See some of my favorites from the collection above and below.

via @BridgetCosgrove & @GeorginaGainza
photos: wwd.com

One of the most inescapable trends this season is the skintight jersey t-shirt mini dress. These will be found everywhere this spring – from the mass market bargain bins to the most overpriced ready-to-wear boutiques. These dresses have a wonderful simplicity that makes them easy to wear in a variety of ways. But as most are made without the benefite of lining, darts, or even a bit of ruching, they are certainly not so forgiving of figure flaws. So any attempts to wear this (without some strategic layering) should be preceeded by fashion-inspired fitness prep… else, plan to have a few pairs of Spanx on deck.

Above L to R: T by Alexander Wang, Theory, James Perse

HOW TO WEAR IT:

If your body’s up to the challenge (and the attention), keep it super simple. Wearing it with flats for flip-flops and accessorize with a statement necklace. Be careful wearing this look alone with heels. The line between sexy and trashy is razor thin here.

To hide love handles or back chub layer on a vest or a blazer. These pieces are also popular this eason and will be easy to find. Get something oversized to turn down the vamp factor and get more room to play with high heels.

For tomboy types throw on a denim jacket and some sneakers (Chuck Taylors are perfect). The jersey fabric is comfortable enough for a anyone still in girly training wheels.

Another season of Haute Couture has just closed and the fashion ultra-elite are placing their orders. The market for the highest form of fashion is smaller than ever these days, with a mere 200 women bestowed with the means and access to don the most honored vestments of the Fashion Cult. My how I wish other clergy would operate in this way: lead by example, not violent proselytizing. Above: a look from Zuhair Murad Couture.

Our Daily Bread: Everyday couture for the discerning young woman. Jean Paul Gaultier has always been one to push the limit of fashion into a realm of sartorial poetry. This year his metaphor evoked a feeling of armor meets vulnerability. I’m not sure if the hardness was meant to be coming or going, but the blue dress below, for example, is that perfect medium. A comfortable solution that would standout in its impeccable appropriateness for wherever the day takes you. Similarly, Thimister’s caped dress in military green is packed with structure but flows with the body so as not to distract the wearer from the mission at hand (groceries, bookstore, mani-pedi…). Thimister’s collection leaned heavily on the going trend of making us all into soldiers of one sort or another. If you’re among these troops, elegance is as honor on the list of priorities.

Jean Paul Gaultier & Thimister

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Power Dressing: Few of us marry the means to make couture a part of daily life; and even fewer are born into it. Rather, many a Priestess must use shrewd intellect and fierce intention to carve out a life of grace. Accordingly, the business meeting is an event (or skill, if you like) that must be approached with strategy and precision. John Galliano presented a Dior collection that will allow even the non-equestrian woman to enter the business domain on a steed of confidence. Paired with a black pencil skirt the jacket below is the best of business meets pleasure. The Armani Prive collection was the absolute embodiment of female power dressing and symbolized feminine virility with a series of moon shapes. The frock seen below utilizes a more subtle version of the shape, with strong shoulders and a daringly deep v neck. Divine. Remember ladies – it’s the boardroom, not the BORED room. Nip that waist in, powder your decolletage, and stride in to your spot at the head of the table – wiles and all

Christain Dior & Armani Prive

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A Social Calling: Like it or not, anointed ones, the World needs you. The Cult needs you. You may feel, sometimes, like shutting yourself away from most of the hustle, a majority of the bustle, and every bit of the falsity that is encountered with social duties. Still, the heavily blessed must in turn bless others – even if only by their presence. Elie Saab is a master at creating gowns perfect for the step and repeat. But the glamorous and sexy Saab-factor isn’t just for the red carpet. See yourself shining amongst a sea of floral shift dresses at your next luncheon or garden party wearing the adorable mini dress, below left. It has just enough coverage to be demure and day appropriate, without sacrificing a drop of glamour. Despite a largely disastrous collection (and since we prefer to focus on the positive, we’ll say nothing more of it), Valentino did muster one or two dresses that sparked some desire. The barely-there mini below is a fun and flirty alternative to ubiquitous cocktail party LBD.

Elie Saab & Valentino

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The Grand Occasion: There are times when a social call is more than just an event, it’s a Moment. On these grand occasions something extra special is required. We’ve been hard on Karl Lagerfeld in the past, but it can’t be denied that when the man is on, he’s dead on. The Chanel gown below is the type to make one draw in a quick, covetous, breath of surprise and awe. It’s quirky, yet supremely elegant; trendy, yet completely unique. For a gown like this I would organize some grand event just to wear it. Speaking of, the Alexis Mabille wedding gown below is similarly awe-inspiring. I would get married just to wear this dress. It is the ultimate in mysterious sexy. Despite yards and yards of fabric, the dress creates an illusion of lucious piece of wrapped fruit ripe for picking. I would wear it completely nude underneath – even barefoot – save a pair of silk, ribbon-tied panties. Hauteness.

Chanel & Alexis Mabille

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photos: Style.com

Pop superstar Rihanna ups her already soaring fashion cred with a cover for W February 2010. The singer is wearing a white dress from the Gucci S/S 2010 collection. This season designer Frida Giannini, who now owns the brand, has offered a line up of crisp silouettes with prints and embellishments that make me call them future classics. Though there is some color, the palette is far more subdued that last springs deep color suits and flowing dresses.

The collection is featured on another February cover – for Vogue China with models Shu Pei and Mirte Maas.

See Rihanna’s editorial from the W February 2010 issue in the gallery below.
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Photos: tarsha @tFS, style.com

See street style and red carpet in the Rihanna Style Gallery