Douglas Hannant Bridal Spring 2010

We have to admit that were not big fans of the bridal season so when the dates showed up on the fashion calendar little interest was shown except for one show, Douglas Hannant. We had gone to the debut collection which consisted of fourteen looks. For Spring it's 12 looks and Mr. Hannant has covered all the bases for his clients. The first few looks where strapless and had a feel of second time bride in her late thirties, forties but still very elegant. The silhouette is slim and form fitting and could easily be dubbed a "destination" dress for a wedding in the Bahamas.

Further down the collection the looks became more poof in style and filled out for a first time bride. Some dressed were adorned with jewels around the next line, something we have been seeing in ready-to-wear for about two seasons now. Our favorite looks were the white tulle veiled sequin racerback gown this dress done in a different color could easily be worn on a red carpet for the Oscars! The other one we loved was the ivory satin faced organza spiral gown which has a "sex and the city" feel to it, yes think Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big.

Once again Mr. Hannant has proved that less is indeed more with only showing twelve looks at the Plaza. In our opinion seeing any bridal collection where the looks get into the thirties and forties is overkill and editors get lost and lose focus. As for Douglas he makes it short and sweet and to the point. If wedding bells are ringing ladies this is what you want to be wearing!

Post show we had the chance to interview Mr. Hannant's business partner Frederick Anderson the interview can be heard at www.thefashionmarketreport.com

Dulce De Leche Resort 2009

With Miami being a year round warm climate destination we had the opportunity to to view the latest collection from designer Luis Torro's "Ducle De Leche" men's line. This being our first viewing, we had no idea what to expect but were treated to a vast selection of swimwear from this well established local designer. According to Mr. Torro's press release" The men's beachwear resort line for Spring 2009 is the most cohesive in a marriage of sexiness and elegance the we, as a label, have produced to date". Furthermore he adds "male beauty and masculinity are to be celebrated and there is an openness to the bold silhouettes in this line which show our vision".

As for what we saw there were well over forty looks with a very heavy lean on the swim trunks with a scant selection of separates which included some very nice t-shirt tops and pants. The color range is broad-based with enough selection for everybody. Overall this collection is "one for the boys" in South Beach and is sure to make heads turn. More information can be found at their site www.dulcedeleche.com

Ports 1961 Fall 2009

First off we'd like to thank whomever yet again for giving us a seventh row seat (the last row) for this show. We got the same row and same seat last season, and when your in the last row you can't see anything at all, so we walked out of the show. But thanks to the wonder of images we can give comment on the Ports 1961 fall collection. According to our other editorial colleges this was a collection inspired by India and the color that celebrate the country and looks which where over 45 pieces, a little to much for our taste. But back at the showroom we would bet that there is well over one hundred.

The collection has it's strong points which are the solids and the slacks, this was the main focus years ago used to get fashion editor gaga over this line, their first show which was a presentation only showed fifteen pieces and made us wanting more, but that was years ago and this is 2009.

Designer Tia Cibani has the ability to produce wonderful clothing which we have seen time and time again over the years but at times we feel that she has faced intense pressure from the owners of Ports 1961. The Spring collection last season in total was 350 pieces, know any designers who crank out those numbers? In short we feel Tia Cibani tries to hard to drive her design direction and she does not need to. We feel the strongest pieces are in her solid fabrics and colorways, the prints might be your thing but in the final analysis a designer has to know their customer.

Photos: Dan Lecca for Mercedes~Benz

Zimmermann Swim 2009

“life is so strange when you don’t know. How can you tell where your going to?”~Missing Persons

Zimmermann’s 2009 swim collection seemed like a shot in the dark design wise. Once again we see that they are still trying to find the zimmermann girl offering many choices in their suits. As for the styling of the models the jewlery was way to heavy and seemed thrown on. We feel that no woman would go out to the pool with 10 pounds of necklaces and heavy stones.

The one suit we did like was look #23 a Black Kaleidoscope 1 piece. But with only leaning on this one piece it seems like this collection is destination unknown.

Photos: Corinna Lecca Mercedes Benz

Vix Swim 2009

We had never heard of vix swim wear before but for a first time on the Miami runway this design company is certainly one to watch. There seems to be nothing outlandish going on here but just really well constructed suits done in simple patterns. The white enamel details on a few of the suits adds a touch of class not seen by other designers. The color choices as well are vast, allowing a wide degree of selection, the one piece black suit we loved. Yet again we see another swim suit line playing it safe and delivering a great collection for 2009.

Photos: Corinna Lecca for Mercedes Benz