Mercedes Benz Fashion Week 9/8/07- Twinkle by Wenlan Runway Show

For Fall 2000, Taipei native, designer Wenlan Chia launched Twinkle's first collection of cute and colorful, hand-knit sweaters and accessories, followd by a runway show at the February 2003 Gen Art Fresh Faces Fashion Show. Success quickly followed, and I remember the very first show I ever saw at my very first Fashion Week was, in fact, a Fall collection of her signature look: youthful, colorful, chunky knit sweaters (in that collection, with oversized buttons and shapes) and other accessories. The backdrop for the runway was a striking, delicate, almost tribal design in shades of brilliant blue and black (photo) that was carried through on the invitation and press information, which called the Spring 2008 collection: "playful, sportif, and full of energy--from the drama of seascapes and the beauty of nature to the razor sharp edge of graphic prints and sculpted etails, a renewed sense of easy, relaxed glamour and sophistication emerges."

Well, from my vantage point in the Bryant Park Salon, I might not have categorized the collection quite that way, but unlike many of the shows, whose clients are red-carpet focused, this collection will offer Twinkle by Wenlan fans the option to wear her designs any day of the week, for virtually any occasion.

While Twinkle's Spring 2008 collection did have some sweaters, and even some pastel sweater dresses (photo on the left) with a dominant color theme of creamy peach and creamy gray with taupe and white, there were tons of cute, sassy, for play and for day clothes, as well as some short party dresses for evening (photos below):

It's hard to see from my photos, but the models also wore Twinkle-designed Manolo Blahnick footwear featuring flats in suede and patent, tiny mini-straps, peep toes, and of course, glam high heels.

Now that fashion week is in full swing, I'm beginning to see some dominant trends appearing. As you can see from this photo, loose, long hair is coming back into fashion again, but for Spring it isn't glossy and stick-straight anymore. The runways are full of long, loose, bouncy hairstyles with texture in them in the form of loose waves. It looks fresh and modern and slightly edgy, and definitely not as "girly" as in season's past. You can re-create these looks with curling irons and crimpers, or with rag curls brushed out as Johnnie Sapong for Redken did at the Cynthia Rowley show earlier in the week. Thomas Hintermeier for Redken did this hair look for the Twinkle show. Textured hair is important for short styles as well, which I suspect we'll be seeing cropping up (pun intended) in the Spring, as well.

Many of the casual clothes were playful and loose, with cropped pants and swing-y tops, and although the fashion press is raving about the end of the balloon dress and loose clothing, I am happy that there are still options for women who don't want to scrape themselves into tight, super-body-conscious clothes (especially in hot weather, when the proper undergarmets are a must-have). Scarves seem to be a trend for next season. So far I've seen this often forgotten fashion item cropping up in shows as everything from headwraps to cover-ups, to belts, to around-the-neck accessories. At the Twinkle show, a scarf was playfully wrapped through belt loops of shorts, and tied in a bow in the back--adorable! Get out those mothballed long scarves from decades past and do the look at home, cute with jeans, for Fall! Another trend that will not die are super-short minis. These look sweet on the runway, but in reality, you couldn't bend or sit down in them. I am guessing that slightly longer lengths will make it into the stores, or the more modest of us will be wearing the minis with some sort of leggings or pants under them.


The manicures were done by Creative Nail Design. The makeup look that featured pink lips (all I could really see) was created by Charlie Green with the MAC Pro Team. I will get the details of products used and let you know how to do the look, in the more AdviceSisters detailed fashion features I'll be creating after this crazy week is over. Check the AdviceSisters FEATURES page at: http://www.advicesisters.net/Features/Features.html in mid-September, where I will be listing all the Fashion Week Spring 2008 features as they are posted.

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