00:00Music
00:30Hello everyone, welcome to Essence.com's Front Row Backstage.
00:46Fashion Week is officially over and we're so excited.
00:48We saw almost every show.
00:49We can't wait to give you a little wrap up.
00:51Just so you know, I'm Tia Williams, your beauty editor, and this is the lovely Zanna Leblay,
00:55your fashion editor.
00:56Hey guys.
00:57I'm just going to talk a little bit about the trends that we saw for Spring 2012, okay?
01:00First of all, Michael Kors, as always, had a really major bronzer moment.
01:06Michael Kors loves bronzer.
01:07Have you ever catch him on Project Runway when he's judging, like, bronzer?
01:10I didn't notice that.
01:11Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:12But it was gorgeous.
01:13I mean, a lot of black women don't realize how good bronzer looks on us.
01:16It just really makes your skin pop and it makes you look glowy and like you've got a
01:21lot of sleep.
01:22So yeah, I was really into the bronzer at Michael Kors.
01:24What did you think?
01:25I don't share her enthusiasm.
01:27I thought the beauty was cute.
01:28I thought the clothes were cliché.
01:31If I could say that, if I could keep it real, could we keep it real?
01:33Yes.
01:34A little cliché.
01:35So it's not on my list of fives.
01:36Okay.
01:37What else did you love?
01:38I also really enjoyed Nanette Lepore.
01:41The statement lips were so much fun.
01:44It was pink, purple, and orange, depending on their skin tone, that's what the bottles
01:48were wearing.
01:49And everything else was pretty much bare but this big bright lip and that was a huge trend
01:54over the week.
01:55So here's where me and Tia meet because Nanette Lepore combined with Nicole Miller was my favorite
02:00collection, absolutely.
02:01Okay.
02:02Because I thought it gave spring realness.
02:03When you think of spring, you think of color, you think of lightness, and they give you exactly
02:08that in the cutest, knee-length, lady-like dresses that were still somehow super sexy.
02:14So I was into it.
02:16So kudos.
02:17Okay.
02:18All right.
02:19A hair that I was really into was Hervé Leger.
02:20It was kind of an updated twist on a ponytail.
02:24It was gathered into three different elastics going down the back of the model's heads and
02:28it just looked really modern and fun and fresh.
02:30I mean, anybody can throw their hair in a ponytail.
02:33So I was really into that.
02:34Hervé is, again, another brand that I loved as well.
02:37The stuff, I think me and Tia both gasped at so many turns.
02:41It was sexy.
02:42It was sultry.
02:43It was very, like, what was that movie, Gladiator.
02:46Yeah.
02:47You know?
02:48Oh, it was.
02:49Wasn't it?
02:50Sexy gladiator goddess.
02:51Yes.
02:52Okay.
02:53So I loved the hair at Bertie Mischka.
02:55It was really, really dramatic.
02:57It was, like, 80s decadence meets early 60s mad men prim.
03:02It was, like, a very dainty French twist in the back.
03:05But then the front was, like, curled and teased to oblivion and it was just, like, a souffle.
03:10Like, and they're, like, walking down the runway and the hair is bobbing.
03:13It was just so cute.
03:14I loved it.
03:15I mean, love the clothes.
03:16I think they're my favorite designers.
03:17But I just didn't get what they put forth this season.
03:20So what did?
03:21Naeem Khan.
03:22Oh.
03:23I thought that his clothes were absolutely exquisite.
03:27And there are a lot of celebrities who love him.
03:29Yeah.
03:30Holly Robinson-Pete, who's been by the office, swears by him.
03:33Mary J. Blige loves him.
03:35Halle Berry is his biggest fan.
03:37And it's because his stuff is so over-the-top glam and luxe.
03:40And that's exactly what he gave us this season.
03:42Beautiful, beautiful Swarovski-crystalled-out gown.
03:45I love the pops of yellow.
03:47It just was dainty and just glamorous.
03:49And he knows a black woman's body.
03:51He does, girl.
03:52It's clear.
03:53Okay, so to wrap up my top five, my favorite look might have been the top knot at Lamb.
03:59It was just so dramatic and so over-the-top.
04:02The hair was just slicked straight up into this, like, swirl.
04:06Like, I said in Front Row Backstage, like, it's like the fro-yo swirl.
04:10Yeah.
04:11Like, that's kind of what it looked like.
04:12And it was just, like, I didn't even really notice the collection.
04:16Like, I just wanted that hair.
04:17It was so pretty.
04:18And so easy, too.
04:19Like, I'm all about ease with a hairdo.
04:21What did work for me was the Arise Collective.
04:25Yeah.
04:26How lush was it?
04:27Guys, it was seven designers, all from the continent of Africa, showing us amazing interpretations of what African chic is.
04:34And it was so nice to see that from African people.
04:37And speaking of beautiful, we have to talk about the one collection you and I both loved, Carolina Herrera.
04:43Yes, stunning.
04:44It was just beautiful and just classic Carolina.
04:48She's a very graceful woman when you see her do her bows, but her clothes really reflected her sort of mature elegance.
04:55Yes.
04:56But the colors and the shapes had an energy that I think was so youthful and just so full of life.
05:02Yes.
05:03I remember the mustard print and the green combination just really turned me.
05:08Yeah.
05:09Gorgeous.
05:10I mean, we're going to be seeing those all over the red carpets for awards season.
05:12Oh, totally.
05:13Totally.
05:14So, other shows that we featured that we absolutely adored and we know you would, too, are Tracy Reese.
05:20As you know, she's one of the few black designers that showed during Fashion Week.
05:24And this season, she was in true form, wasn't she?
05:27Tracy was serving us her signature flowy feminine dresses, but adding a lot of bold graphic prints, adding a lot of beautiful chunky knitwear.
05:36And the silhouettes were just very, very easy.
05:38It looked like a very retail heavy collection in that everything we saw on that runway, I know you and I could wear tomorrow.
05:45It was absolutely gorgeous.
05:46But we cannot forget Rebecca Taylor.
05:49Rebecca, as you know, also did a lot of knits.
05:52I remember one piece in her collection which was just a bright neon yellow knit that just fell all over the model.
05:59It was so gorgeous.
06:00I don't know what kind of undergarments you'd wear with that, but we absolutely fell out for it.
06:06Let's not forget Monique Lillier.
06:08If you remember, she served nothing but sexy glam this season.
06:13When we saw those clothes come down the runway, am I right, Tia?
06:17We just fell out.
06:18I'm talking about skin-tight, sultry moments that were knee-length or a little bit mini.
06:23So different for Monique because Monique is a wedding designer.
06:27She's usually serving us very flowy, feminine wedding gowns.
06:30And this one was for the girl who wants to get engaged.
06:33So it was nothing but a good old-fashioned freak-em dress, and I died over it.
06:38But what really, really excited us was Michael Knight.
06:43You guys remember he was on Project Runway, and he was really almost the winner.
06:48And this season, he showed us why he made it that far.
06:52His collection was bold.
06:53It was imaginative.
06:54It was for any type of girl who wants to be chic, sexy, and have a custom piece.
06:59DVF was another show that gave us exactly what we expected.
07:03Really dramatic pieces.
07:05Diana Forsenberg served us what she usually does.
07:08What we loved about it, though, were her big, overblown florals that were very 70s-inspired.
07:13It just felt like the woman that she is.
07:16Sexy, easy-breezy, confident, and as beautiful as it was, in a lot of ways, totally not fussy.
07:22Rachel Roy did the same exact thing.
07:26When you look at Rachel's clothes, you're looking at Rachel's wardrobe, and she did that again this season.
07:31I'm talking really straight-lined pieces that are belted and cinched at the waist to sort of give you a more feminine effect.
07:38And she told us while we were there that her inspiration was menswear, and you saw it play just like she said.
07:45Absolutely wonderful show.
07:47So, ladies, that's basically Spring 2012 Fashion Week.
07:52We had a ball.
07:53We hope you enjoyed it, and we'll see you next season.
07:55Bye.
07:56Bye.
07:57Good luck, guys.
07:58See you.
07:59Bye.
08:00Bye.
08:01Bye-bye.
08:02Bye.
08:03Bye-bye.
08:05Bye.
08:06Bye-bye.
08:07Bye.
08:09Bye-bye.
08:21Bye-bye.
08:22Bye.
Comments