#spring 09

This look is from the Marni Fall 2009 collection. Make sure to check out our article about Vassar's take on plaid in the Contrast Spring 2009 issue coming out soon!

the magazine is coming the magazine is coming the magazine is coming...

Other than the fact that this palette is vaguely reminiscent of medical dressing gowns or sanitary napkin wrappers, the reason I detest this palette so much is that it’s completely unnatural.. Mimosa (on the lower right corner) is, according to Pantone, the color of 2009 (who called that two weeks ago? Woot!). It’s a perfectly elegant color and, unlike the rest of the palette, can be found in nature. Meanwhile, the other colors, like Salmon Rose and Lucite Green, are grey, dull, and muddy variations of much nicer pastels. It’s not like I think that everything we wear should be made with natural dyes. It’s just that these colors are supposed to represent the optimism of spring in light of the recession/ depression, but all I see is a vision of a very muddy, artificial, and dystopian future. These colors do not say spring to me. And it’s not like these colors are new. Mimosa was quite popular this season. Bright Lapis and Dark Citron were popular last year and, like zombies or a staph infection, they just won’t go away. So what do you think? Do you, like me, think the New Pastels are a disaster? Or do you think they’re perfectly lovely and, what’s more, wearable? -Ceci Cholst

Pierre Cardin introduced some interesting concepts into his Spring/Summer 2009 collection. Did anyone else play with Zolo blocks as a kid? It seems like they may have inspired some of Cardin's wackier looks. A slideshow of his looks is here.

Emma Maclaren - Donna Karan S/S 09

Check out the rest of Hussein Chalayans work. This was from spring 09