NYFW: Sporty meets lux at Beckham and Lam

Victoria Beckham S/S '15; image source: nowfashion.com

Victoria Beckham is on top of her game right now and it has very little to do with the fact that she is still married to one of the world's hottest men. The collection she showed yesterday morning during New York fashion week is undeniably her best work so far, which really shouldn't come as a surprise given the fact that the designer has
been evolving fast with each passing season.

For spring, Beckham was thinking in a more mili-tary direction while still allowing the semi-rigid silhouettes to breathe. The impeccably tailored outerwear came with an asymmetrical twist and the light knitted sweaters got over-sized silk laces in matching colors that tied either in the front or down the sides. The striped midi skirts were a fun addition to the story but she should have stopped there as the pastel watercolor prints towards the end felt a bit too girly and not in sync with the rest of the story.

Derek Lam's collection was also an equal succ-ess. Following the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' motto, the designer continued cherishing his
love for color-blocking, leather and all things American. The 70s mood was determined right away with the opening outfit which consisted of a plum top and a tri-colored skirt, both made from high quality suede and adorned with orange top stitching. The rest of the color palette included beautiful shades of pink, aquamarine and purple which were neutralized with the addition of white and beige.

Derek Lam S/S 15; image source: buro247.ru

Towards the end things got a bit more rough (in a very positive context) as a parade of studded midi-dresses made their way onto the runway, only to end with four achromatic looks - two of them being a relaxed version of the peplum gown that is sure to find its way on the red carpet.

For more photos of the collections go to Style.com and don't forget to follow me on Twitter!

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Who run the (fashion) world? Boys.

Raf Simons taking his last bow at Jil Sander

Exactly 12 seasons ago, Raf Simons moved from Jil Sander to Dior and almost instantly removed every bit of Galliano's presence at the house, whether we like it or not. Everyone was rather hesitant at first, slamming the designer for creating 'non couture' gar-ments - like anyone has a definition of haute couture anymore - and disrespecting the real aesthetic of the brand, but over the last two years we have all grown - more or less - accustomed to the designer's fresh take on Christian Dior's legacy.

Around the same time another incident happened. Fashion's darling Nicolas Ghesquiere was let off from Balenciaga and had nowhere to go, but all that was sorted out half a year ago when he got a gig at Louis Vuitton after the house ended its contract with long-time designer Marc Jacobs. Unlike Simons, Ghes-quiere was accepted straightaway by all the key parties - press, buyers, fans and all - and managed to successfully establish a new look for the French brand with only two collections.

What no one realized until now - and by no one I mean us ordinary people who hadn't calculated the costs and benefits of hiring these two designers - is exactly how influential their positions are. And the answer to that is very. The latest collections for Resort, as always, gave us a sneak-peek at which di-rections the brands are going to and the truth is that they are going to France.

Take Oscar de la Renta for example. The legendary New York-based designer has been trying to rein-vent the brand for seasons past, injecting trendiness and youth into the garments in order to attract a more junior clientele. For Resort, he decided to use a few of Simons' tricks and introduce a black bar jacket that vastly resembles the ones at Dior and structured rompers that look like they've come out
of the French house's archives. Another obvious influence can be seen at Balenciaga as this season Alexander Wang decided to go 'all Raf' and created a number of asymmetrical tops in colors favored
by the Belgian designer.

Left: Christian Dior S/S '13 vs. Balenciaga Resort '15; Right: Christian Dior Resort '15 vs. Calvin Klein Resort '15

Ghesquiere's work for Louis Vuitton also serves as an open source of inspiration for a lot of young de-signers. Both Derek Lam and Fausto Puglisi have done their own versions of the color-blocked A-line dress with a frontal zipper and defined waist, while Francisco Costa played around with the color pa-lette used in Ghesquiere's debut collection for Vuitton. The Calvin Klein designer also drew inspiration from Christian Dior's Resort '15 show as can be seen in the photo above.

The big question that we should be asking, though, is 'Why these two?' Well for one, Raf Simons and Nicolas Ghesquiere are two of the most talented visionaries out there who are not only extraordinary designers, but also understand the need for profit. However, the more believable reason is this: Chris-tian Dior and Louis Vuitton are some of the largest mega-brands in today's fashion and they both be-long to the LVMH group, meaning twice as much influence. And at the end of the day, no matter who
is at the helm of a house, what makes a designer relevant and influential is the money behind him.