Asian Designer Spotlight: Tadashi Shoji Fall 2012

Japanese designer Tadashi Shoji showed at New York Fashion Week yesterday and here are some notable looks from his collection (influenced by the Golden Age of Shanghai); featuring plenty of lace, chiffon and velvet fabrics perfect for the fall season.

Dark emerald greens were featured in three of my top favorite looks from this collection. I especially loved the scalloped trim lace dress (center).

 Lace embroidery give a classic elegance to collection and the high collars of the two photos are reminiscent of the cheongsams from Shanghai.

Velvet makes a small appearance in the collection but he ties them in with the on going color scheme of emerald greens and dark reds

Though I see the Asian influence of the florals, I found that this print mixed with the colors and drop waists that Shoji decided to go with, aged the models by an extra 10 years.  And no woman wants to look older than they already are...

I think Tadashi made the "Golden Age of Shanghai" a lot more glamourous than it really was. I like to judge a collection by how wearable it is and while I find the designs to be beautiful, it would be difficult for most girls to pull off the drop waist dresses. It could be blamed on the models for being thin, but found that most of the dresses to looked really baggy. It made me miss his past collections of simple pastel dresses with soft ruffles and florals, but of course no designer can design the same thing for every collection.

I give this collection a 2/5, I just liked his past collections more...

Click here to see the entire collection and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Asian Designers Spotlight: Best of NY Fashion Week F/W 2011

NY Fashion Week is officially over and just like all Fall/Winter collections, it was not short of any black or fur. Last season I did individual designer spotlights but I've been a bit busy this month, so I decided to do one big post highlighting my favorite looks from the hottest Asian designers in the industry that showed in NY last week.

Zang Toi

Toi Trends: Camel tones and black; fur; menswear as womenswear; bold necklines
and floor length coats.

Yeoh Lee

Lee Trends: Large cozy knits; blacks, whites, greys; structured jackets and capes and capri trousers.

Vivienne Tam

Tam Trends: Tweed outerwear and dresses; fringe and crochet dresses.

Vera Wang

Wang Trends: Black; coats adorned with long haired furs and sheer chiffon gowns.

Thakoon

Thakoon Trends: Print mixing, plaid, long vests and more than just black.

Tadashi Shoji

Shoji Trends: Fluffy chic chiffon dresses, assymetricals and feathers.

Son Jung Wan

Wan Trends: Tweeds, furs, metallics and v-necklines.

Richard Chai

Chai Trends: Sporty-chic in grays and blacks, layered maxi dresses and cozy coats.

Prabal Gurung

Gurung Trends: Reds, greys and blacks, Textured knits, sophisticated fitted coats and trousers, and lace details.

Jason Wu

Wu Trends: Reds, grays and blacks, Menswear as womenswear, lace details and feathers.

Derek Lam

Lam trends: Reds, grays and blue solid pieces, sleeveless oversized coats and menswear style jackets.

Anna Sui

Sui Trends: Bold prints, chunky fur pieces, and Anna's signature hippie style florals.

Alexander Wang

Wang Trends: Menswear as womenswear, fur pieces, metallics and chunky tunics.

Phillip Lim

Lim Trends: Black, gray and green solids, leather and funky prints.

Looks like a lot of girls will be stealing clothes from their boyfriend's closets ;P I absolutely loved Thakoon's collection, completely caught me by surprise as he brought over spring inspired pieces into fall. I loved all the colors and textures he used and the design was very fresh and perfect for a city girl. Thakoon's got my vote for best F/W 2011 collection at NY Fashion Week!

Who's got your vote? Let me know in the comments below!

Designer Spotlight: Tadashi Shoji S/S 2011 Collection

And the nude/neutral tones have returned! Japanese Designer Tadashi Shoji presented his S/S 2011 collection of evening gowns sans runway on Friday.

Simple, sophisticated and sexy is how I would describe this collection.

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I can never say no to beautiful and elegant ruffling. The muted tones with pops of gold and lilac create a very soft palette that would look great under the summer sun (kind of wish his stage had better lighting, it doesn't seem to do his collection any justice). The dresses and gowns were all classic and sleek and would be perfect for celebs to wear to parties or premieres. I have a feeling many of these will end up on a red carpet somewhere in Hollywood!

Photo credits go to Zimbio/Getty Images, Click here for more pictures of the collection.

I rate this 4/5 runways...er...presentation stages?