The perfect contradictions: dominant styles for spring 2011
Fashion styles are always full of contradictions. There are those who have explosions of ideas that exude the brilliance of craftsmanship and tradition. There are those who move to the path of functionality, yet luxurious chic, with pieces that are spare, yet uses some brilliant materials. This makes fashion styles so much more fun to analyze. It only means that there is a great diversity of inspirations and point of views and even if you can label one as minimalist and one exuberant, you can still see the direction that they want the people to see in fashion. It is a path to individualism. Because at the end of the day, a person is not always all about function and sometimes they want to let loose. It is fair to say that the diverse market will find a lot of amazing pieces that they can work on and play on.

The spare minimalistic path

When thinking of minimalism, you are thinking of pieces that can stand the test of time, will look good, and will never look dated and something that you can bank on for a very long time. Phoebe Philo for Celine has created looks that are spare and simple. However, she also took indigenous fabrics and stripped them down to mere materials that create that sort of nonchalance but with that artisanal flair. The all white collection by Alexander Wang was done in amazing precision. The clothes are designed with amazing brilliance and energy. They are very confident fashion styles that really set the bar for this young designer. For Raf Simons at Jil Sander, he created a woman who likes to play with a bit of couture vibe. She created magnificent skirts with couture-like vibe but the simplicity is still there with the subtle addition of a jacket or paring down the skirt with a simple T-shirt. Those little details create the most evocative statements and they are designed to create real lasting effects to modern women of today.

The bold and daring path

Fashion is not just about wearing clothes. It is also about dreaming, being inspired and creating something out of fashion and not out of utility. It is difficult to be simple but it is difficult to create a real chic and modern elegance. Some already have innate skills to create luxurious designs. John Galliano took his fluttery couture collections last time and turned his ladies to luxurious South Pacific ladies. At his namesake show, Galliano's fashion styles transcend fashion, theater and art. He manifested them in an unforgettable extravaganza of impeccably finished and otherworldly glamour that is still very timely. Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel designed this magnificent dream and created the scene to one unforgettable event. Women dressed in impeccable suits, dresses and gowns all created by the hands of the house of Chanel. Marc Jacobs went camp with his oriental luxury that really evokes the excess of Paris and the artificiality of it all in terms. One of the loudest fashion styles is Miuccia Prada's Prada and Miu Miu Collection that utilizes banana prints, monkeys, and American Idol.