Volume Control

The message was clear for Pre-Fall 2011: coats with volume ballooned from nearly every collection. It's a fairly easy, playful look that works best with solid colours, clean lines and paired with sleek legs - extra points for a drop-dead statement shoe.


Giambattista Valli went for crimson drama...


...while Marco Zanini played with shapes in solid black at Rochas.


The effect can be emphasized by scorning sleeves and wearing the coat as a cape; I love the turned-in lapels on this piece from Maison Martin Margiela.


Lanvin: great coat, but whoever gave the green light to the cheesy taxidermied animals for this photo-shoot should be shot and stuffed.


The look doesn't have to be so formal. Dsquared showed a parka with the same dimensions.


No one does oversized like Stella McCartney. This was my favourite rendition of this trend for being unapologetically experimental and nailing it. Best of all, McCartney gave us a short version...


...and a long version. I can't decide which I like better.

Marni Menswear, Fall 2011

I tend not to enjoy Marni's casual garments for women. I find the proportions clownish, the colours dour and the silhouettes unflattering. But the exact same aesthetic is magic on men; it takes a certain rogue masculinity to make these shapes work - tomboys included.


With pieces that were slim cut...


...and oversized, Consuelo Castiglioni kept the Marni flavour strong.


The collection featured versatile knits...


...covetable accessories...


...and fashion-forward outerwear.