The colour of a Madrid winter

FOR THE 53RD TIME, Madrid became one of the most fashionable places in Europe. More than 40 designers showed their works at Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week, with designs destined for Spanish streets for autumn and winter 2011–12. The event, held at Feria de Madrid, welcomed c. 50,000 fashionistas, making it one of the biggest fashion weeks in the world.

For a couple of days, Spanish designers presented their collections at two well prepared catwalks. A full audience surprisingly clapped their hands to honour some looks—a very southern European habit. Besides the Spanish fashion design stars, on the catwalk we could see, for example, Jon Kortajarena, Iris Strubegger, or Tomasz Szczukiecki, star models who make the catwalks look even better.

Jesús del Pozo show inaugurated this edition. His belle époque tribute was interesting. The very nice feminine silhouettes took you to the nineteenth century very easily. The greys, and black were very autumn-like but stayed fresh. Besides that, every model wore a Baker-boy cap, something that didn’t sit well with our own sense of style.

The highlight of the first day was Duyos’s collection. The perfect textures and materials. Wool, thick mohair, muslins, and satin make the clothes very desirable. The long gloves look like a must-have for next season. The collection, inspired by the Spanish couture style of the end of ’60s, talks loud and proud, making you love the collection almost in every way.

Angel Schlesser

Angel Schlesser showed something completely different than last seasons: there was nothing minimalistic in this one. The designer put a lot of furs, leather, even animal prints all together. But the collection was one of the best.

Victorio & Lucchino

The second day started with the bohe­mian gypsy look by Victorio & Luc­chino; then there was Hanni­bal Laguna with his sophis­ticated classic Spanish women; and, after­wards, the mini­malistic Amaya Arzuaga. Then, the colourful people started to take places in front rows, and all over the place. Heart-shaped garments started to appear and only one thing could happen next: Agatha Ruiz de la Prada with her always pink, orange and whatever clothes. You just cannot not love it: it’s so positive that it has to be appreciated, and the collection for was great. But not worn from the top to the toes, of course.

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Agatha Ruiz de la Prada

A resurgent Berlin
Vicki Matias gives her round-up of Berlin’s autumn–winter 2011–12 collections, with confidence the underlying theme
photographed by Maurice Luckett/Fashion Aviator and Anna-Priska Hübsch