It has been a remarkable year in the world of fashion; there have been moments of excitement, tension and beauty, and others of unbelievable sadness. We have mourned the loss of fashion game changers like Lee McQueen, and have celebrated the talents of women like Samantha Cameron, while oodles of glitter, latex, and er, meat ruled on the red carpet, courtesy of fashion renegades including Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Ke$ha.
As we bid farewell to the year that was 2010, we take a look at the biggest fashion stories to break over the past 12 months.
Style year in review 2010
Nothing shook the fashion world this year quite like the untimely death of 40-year-old designer and couturier, Lee Alexander McQueen, who committed suicide 11 Feb, just nine days after his beloved 75-year-old mother passed away. One of the most creative and innovative designers of our time, McQueen regularly combined expert tailoring skills with an ability to generate shock value in his beautifully executed collections. As Suzy Menkes of the International Tribune said at McQueen's memorial service in September, "He was an artist who just happened to work with clothing".
In May, Sarah Burton, McQueen's right-hand woman was named as his successor.
Granted, Michelle Obama's 2010 achievements were many: fighting childhood obesity, supporting military families, and promoting the arts and arts education. But when it comes to fashion, the first lady really made her mark. Already known for wearing up-and-comers such as Jason Wu, Thakoon and Peter Som, Obama has continued to diversify her closet. She wore an Alexander McQueen blouse during the week he passed away, and a dress by CFDA winner Sophie Theallet for a Barbara Walters interview. Also notable was the Rachel Roy brown blouse and long silver metallic skirt for a state dinner in India last month, and a bold-print Suno dress for sightseeing in Spain over the summer. It's impossible to name every designer Obama wore in 2010, but let's begin with Dries Van Noten, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Tracy Reese, Alaïa, J.Crew, Lanvin, Talbots, Byron Lars, Etro, Zero + Maria Cornejo, Clu, L'Wren Scott, Isaac Mizrahi, Prabal Gurung, Diane von Furstenberg, Talbots, Junya Watanabe... to name a few.
We get it: pop stars use fashion to snag our attention. But this year seemed especially rife with look-at-me garb. We saw Ke$ha's trashy-chic image take shape, Katy Perry and her whipped-cream-shooting bra, and Rhianna evolve from conservative sexy to downright cray-cray. Nobody this year, of course, could upstage Lady Gaga when she hit September's MTV Video Music Awards dressed entirely in raw meat. (Appropriately, she was accepting an award from Cher). At least some people enjoyed the look. Butchers nationwide anticipated an uptick in business as Halloweeners assembled Gaga costumes.
After 17 years in the tents at Bryant Park, New York Fashion Week packed its garment bags and headed uptown to a new venue at Lincoln Centre. The move, which became official with the Spring 2011 collections in September, brought tons more runway space and a much-needed technological upgrade, notably how show-goers could simply scan a barcode for seat assignments. Gone are the days of name-dropping or harassing security guards to gain entrée. While many were skeptical about the new digs, all ended well: many buyers and editors agreed that the Lincoln Centre space brought a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Who says America doesn't have royal weddings? Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton married longtime love Marc Mezvinsky in July in tiny Rhinebeck, N.Y. The media and curious onlookers lined the streets, hoping to discover anything related to the exclusive ceremony. Despite the bride's preference for privacy, details leaked out: who was on the (admirably non-glitzy) guest list, what was on the menu and all about the beautiful, chic Vera Wang gown. WWD basically confirmed Clinton's dress choice just days before the big day with a photo of Clinton entering Wang headquarters, shielded by a wide-brim straw hat. In the end, Clinton looked stunning in the strapless ivory silk organza gown, accented perfectly with a sparkly embroidered waistband.
Speaking of royal weddings, 2011 brings the big one: Prince William marries girlfriend of eight years Kate Middleton on 29 April. Just weeks old, their engagement already has the fashion biz abuzz. What will Middleton wear to the ceremony? Will she follow Princess Diana's footsteps in an Elizabeth Emanuel gown with a train stretching out to there? We predict not, even if she is wearing the late princess' sapphire-and-diamond engagement ring. Our bet: she will look elegant in whatever she chooses to wear down the aisle, and designer copycats will start sketching immediately in hopes of selling oodles of replicas. After all, Middleton's royal-blue Issa engagement-announcement dress sold out in mere hours, prompting a flood of look-alikes.
Sarah Jessica Parker appreciates fashion, and not just as Carrie Bradshaw. The Sex and the City star was once the face of Gap and later launched her own line, Bitten, for now-defunct Steve & Barry's. But in early 2010, S.J.P. got sartorially serious and inked a deal with iconic U.S. fashion house Halston, making her president and chief creative advisor for Halston Heritage, the brand's secondary, lower-priced line. While the collection is pretty much what we expected - deeply inspired by Halston's archives, with a dash modern swing - Parker has managed to bring something long absent from the storied fashion house: attention.
In the fashion business, mergers and acquisitions are de rigueur, but two major 2010 deals stood out. One, which just happened late last month, was the buyout of J.Crew by private-equity firms TPG Group and Leonard Green & Partners, which agreed to purchase the chain for almost $3 billion. The year's most shocking fashion investment, however, was when LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton took a significant (17.1 percent) stake in Hermès. While these deals are rarely felt on the consumer level, they can have quite an impact on a brand's longevity.
When Tom Ford left his design post at Gucci about six years ago, a void the size of a black hole entered the fashion force. After all, it was in his contract that he couldn't design women's clothing... until now! Sure, Ford had been making a living on men's fashion, fragrance, and even delving into some Oscar-worthy film-making, but women were craving the return of his super sexy attire.
Thankfully Ford held a super secret, under the radar fashion show in September at his Madison Avenue store in New York for 100 editors with celebrity catwalkers such as Julianne Moore and Beyoncé.
It was hard to decide what was more glamorous, the models or the spring 2011 collection of perfectly tailored suits and amazingly chic gowns that were marched down the catwalk.
Velour tracksuit as fashion staple? In the beginning, many were skeptical of Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor's mission. Now that they've achieved just that, while building Juicy Couture into a fashion empire, the BFFs and co-founders have stepped down as co-creative directors of the California-based brand, now owned by Liz Claiborne. In the hands of New York designer Erin Fetherston - who launched her first collection for the label recently - Juicy will surely take a new direction. At their departure in January, Skaist-Levy and Nash-Taylor indicated retirement is not in the cards. Stayed tuned for new projects in 2011.