Top 10 Fall Collections @ Style.Com

Style.com picked their Top 10 Fall-Winter collections for 2008 and here are their choices in alphabetical order, along with their own comments:

Alexander McQueen

Fashion's dream maker concocted his most magical collection yet, one that began with rigorously tailored pantsuits and ended with a royal parade of party frocks that took the audience's breath away.

Balenciaga

Melding classic French chic with his sci-fi sensibilities, Nicolas Ghesquière delivered another hit. The standouts: a trio of the season's fiercest L.B.D.'s, and hand-painted latex samurai jackets that will be instant collector's items.

Bottega Veneta

The go-to designer for understated, effortless luxury, Tomas Maier turned out Fall's most elegant day dresses in draped jersey with matching monochromatic tights and shoes. His pieced jackets and pleated pants scored points, too.

Givenchi

Everything clicked on Riccardo Tisci's runway: The dark, Spanish-inflected mood was in step with the season; likewise, the gotta-have-'em sexy black pantsuits and frilly blouses. He also keyed into the costume jewelry revival with masses of gold chains and crosses.

Lanvin

Alber Elbaz's technical accomplishments always deserve high praise—this season, he wound ribbon strips around the body to create tops, skirts, and dresses. But what really impressed was the chic wearability of his mostly black and navy collection.

Marc Jacobs

With their structured volumes, the coats, dresses, and pants with which Marc Jacobs closed New York fashion week were a radical departure from the sexy dishabille of his Spring line. Then, of course, the 1980's became a Fall touchstone, and Jacobs once again was in the lead.

Narciso Rodriguez

Doing his part for the new minimalism, Narciso Rodriguez focused on suits with a fresh, new roundness in the shoulders and sleeves, or "grand exit" evening dresses that were spare at the front, cleverly detailed at the back.

Nina Ricci

Olivier Theyskens gave us Fall's most delicately luminous palette—dusty yellows, greens, and browns mixed with chalky pinks, peaches, and mauves. Along with that came a new, softly constructed jacket with built-out shoulders, and more of his fabulous drapey evening gowns.

Rick Owens

Nobody cuts a statement-making coat quite like Rick Owens, and he outdid himself for Fall. Taking cues from Lee Bontecou's menacing sculptures, he used leather, suede, and denim to patch together jackets fit for urban warriors. On the softer side: lush, languid furs.

Rodarte

Japanese slasher flicks, of all things, gave birth to Rodarte's webby knitwear; shaggy, pieced suits; and wispy party dresses. That's quite a heavy starting point for what turned out to be some of this season's most ethereal clothes.

Via Style.Com

FIERCE! Christian Wins Project Runway

I was at the edge of my seat (literally!) last night watching the season finale of Project Runway. I had tears in my eyes (cry baby!) as Heidi Klum announced Christian Siriano as the winner of Season 4. I was so rooting for Christian to win and I really got touched by his sincere tears right before the announcement. His collection was fierce - to paraphrase his overused jargon - as he put out incredible show pieces, my favorite being his last number, a dramatic feathered couture gown that sashayed down the runway in perfect flow. I would say that it would have been a perfect fit in any European catwalk and his talent and vision in undeniable, specially when you consider that is only 21 years old! His model choices - mostly gorgeous black and dark skinned girls - were perfect for his exotic looks and the girls could walk, not to be said for some other designer's picks. The cherry on top was guest judge Victoria Beckham that came across very well spoken with constructive input and was clearly enamored with Christian's design view. Victoria looked beautiful in an orange jersey dress and even cracked a smile - something that as she puts it "is not easily done" - when watching his runway presentation.

Christian you rocked! Congratulations!!!!

Junya Watanabe Fall Winter 2008 Preview

This season the words were "geometric sculpture"—but as gnomic as that sounds, the amazing collection of draped gray jersey Junya Watanabe assembled actually needs no further explanation. There's a level at which intellectual justifications for clothing become tedious, and there was nothing difficult to understand about the beautiful complexities of the charcoal- and marled-gray knits Watanabe wound and rewound about the body in a zillion inventive ways.

This is probably my favorite collection so far! Simply fab!

Via Style.com

Rihanna Does Paris!

Rihanna @ Chanel

Rihanna @ Sonia Rykiel

Rihanna @ Fendi Party

Rihanna @ John Galliano

Rihanna @ Swarovski Party

A brief round-up of Rihanna's European fashion show circuit, combined with her on-going series of concerts throughout the continent. Though no Dita Von Teese, she still looks as fab as always, though those gray suede shoes she wore at the Galliano show are an eyesore. They look like native-American moccasins!

Via HotCelebsHome

Comme des Garcons Fall Winter 2008 Preview

Rei Kawakubo is an Amy Winehouse fan—who knew? The multiple Grammy award winner's Back to Black played solidly throughout the Comme des Garçons Fall show, and such was the funny sideways take on trashy fifties net petticoats, dance dresses, and underwear. Seriously, though, this was Kawakubo in one of her more skittish moods. As she put it, "There's value in bad taste, too. This is Comme des Garçons bad taste." That included puffballs of tulle in red and cotton-candy pink, hairnet veils, leopard-spot hats, and lattices of elasticized satin-frilled garter straps connecting the gaps between chopped-up garments. Cheesy lip and heart motifs came into play as well, the mouths opening as suggestive frilled portholes on coats, and the love-hearts as embroideries. Still, despite Kawakubo's best efforts to confound the tyranny of "good" taste, she couldn't help but end up with a few items that might just look unironically pretty on the right girl. The black satin bra-topped velvet and chiffon negligee dress, the red circle-skirted polka-dot dance dress, and the white tulle ballet dress caged in black tape.

Via Style.com

Viktor & Rolf Fall Winter 2008 Preview

Viktor & Rolf expressed their frustration with the fashion system on their last runway effort shown in Paris this week.

"We love fashion, but it's going so fast. We wanted to say 'No' this season."

They started their show with a sharp gray trench coat adorned with a 3-D "No" popping out on the model's chest. The word was recurrent also on the models' faces with bold No's used as eye make-up. With their characteristic irony they used metal staples to finish off hems, cuffs and seams. I love their conceptual fashions and once stripped of most gimmicks are beautifully tailored and dramatically original.

Via Style.com