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For most of us, the day of the first Spring blossoms is one of the best days of the year. It signifies an end to the bone-chilling temperatures & incessant layering-up, & beckons with a finger full of promise. The end of dumpling-wear! Rejoice! 
With this, of course, come the questions. What can we expect to see ourselves in this season? After all, no matter how little you like fashion, what is in style dictates what is available for purchase. 
The recent Spring 2010 collections shown in Paris are the best indication of where the industry is at. So, where is it at?

Chanel
Karl Lagerfeld’s “neon baroque” collection for Chanel will surely be a huge influence. He has taken what was already mid-revival — say, studded footwear & oversized hair-bows — & simply done it better than everyone else. While most of us have just been wearing a big floppy bow on the side of our heads, he has made them ornate & frothy, & placed them smack in the middle of a heart-shaped bouffant. He has combined a high-heeled bootie with a studded platform (two huge trends in & of themselves), but made the shoe entirely silver with an extravagant heel & jewel-encrusted buckles. While Chanel’s immaculate & easily identifiable cuts are still there, they’re in frosting hues: pastel pink & sweet lavender, with glittery silver & shimmering grey-blue.  Just like a couture cupcake.

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What do you do when you feel that your work has been ripped off — not by another artist, or even another store, but by one of fashion’s most influential houses?
If you’re Carmen Colle, you file a $3.7 million lawsuit. The social-worker-turned-seamstress started her business, World Tricot, in 1987, with nothing but a crochet hook. Her vision? To employ & establish a sense of pride in some of the illiterate female refugees in the small town in eastern France where she lived. Like a fairytale, it all came true. World Tricot is one of the many suppliers that the large couture houses use to provide them with the intricate handiwork they use in their garments. Called petites mains, these suppliers work with feathers, beads, lace & crochet which are then used by the likes of Dior, Givenchy & Chanel. In 2005, World Tricot’s profits exceeded almost 3 million dollars.

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2.92 (24 votes)

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