WWD posted an article today entitled the Top Ten Collections of Fall 2010. Normally I’d say its too early to do something like this (or too late.) Either you do it straight after the shows, or you wait and see how these collections look once they are shot in editorials, they are in the retail spaces, and how they look in their advertising campaigns. But when I had a look at this list, without analyzing too deeply, I had to admit that they had compiled a very comprehensive list.

What’s sad of course is that all of the brands are very well-known, established brands, and there are no real newcomers on the list (unless you count Celine as a newcomer, who is more like a “returning” brand.) Someone should do a list of “Best Fall 2010 Collections from brands less than ten years old.” Anyway, here’s their list:

Balenciaga

Burberry Prorsum

Celine

Chanel

Christian Dior

Dolce & Gabbana

Donna Karan

Marc Jacobs

Michael Kors

Prada

Well, maybe Christian Dior and Chanel were not SO deserving this season, but if you are a major publication, you probably can’t leave them out. Also, I feel that Louis Vuitton should have been on this list. Here are two of my favourite images from each of these collections.

Balenciaga Fall Winter 2010: I love the uncomfortable colour combinations in the knits.

Balenciaga Fall Winter 2010: Beautiful deconstructed tailoring.

Burberry Prorsum Fall Winter 2010: The best jackets of the season.

Burberry Prorsum Fall Winter 2010: And an incredible colour palette.

Céline Fall Winter 2010: Minimal leather pieces.

Céline Fall Winter 2010: Perfect coats.

Chanel Fall Winter 2010: An amazing backdrop for a rich collection.

Chanel Fall Winter 2010: Karl Lagerfeld's incredible ability to constantly re-invent the Chanel suit.

Christian Dior Fall Winter 2010: I love the use of fur in this collection, these delicate strips.

Christian Dior Fall Winter 2010: Beautiful tailoring.

Dolce & Gabbana Fall Winter 2010: Going back to the Sicilian roots of the brand.

Dolce & Gabbana Fall Winter 2010: Using their fantastic archives as inspiration.

Donna Karan Fall Winter 2010: One of my favourite collections, beautifully simple with stunning silhouettes.

Donna Karan Fall Winter 2010: Every piece in this collection is a winner.

Marc Jacobs Fall Winter 2010: The new matronly silhouette.

Marc Jacobs Fall Winter 2010: a new definition of sexy.

Michael Kors Fall Winter 2010: The king of camel coats.

Michael Kors Fall Winter 2010: Beautifully cosy knits.

Prada Fall Winter 2010: Going retro.

Prada Fall Winter 2010: A new, rounder silhouette.

My friend Michaela pointed out to me recently that everyone has just sort of been ignoring the fact that we are about to enter a new decade. Well, I wouldn’t say it has been ignored, but I agree we aren’t really making a very big deal of it. Maybe we had millenium overload ten years ago, but no one can deny that a lot has happened since 2000.

I have been working on this post for a while, looking through other websites’ and newspapers’ “summaries of the decade” and trying to think what I felt was really important from the last ten years. I have combined it all under a few categories, and I am probably forgetting loads of important things, but here I go. Also, I don’t agree with Time Magazine, who has called the 00s “The Decade from Hell”, I prefer just using the term The Noughties. Nought means zero in British English. Maybe we can call it The Decade Nought to be Forgotten? Ok, that sounds cheesy. Lets just call it The Noughties.

It is a very long post, so I have broken it down into 3 parts. Here is Part 1. Enjoy!

The Politics of the Stars and Stripes really took over the world stage in the past ten years. First, the Americans had the disastrous Bush era, whose ignorance, terrible international relations, and poor leadership led to the US being the most hated country in the world. That pissed some people off so much that they flew planes into the World Trade Centre towers, which led to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and very long line ups to get through security in airports. Things started to look up at the end of the decade, when Barack Obama was elected the first African American president of the United States. He hasn’t been around long enough for us to feel the effect of his good deeds, but it definitely brought hope to the world, and has calmed down their enemies… a little. And his wife is the best dressed first lady ever…she deserves mega kudos for showing off her arms, supporting young American designers, and wearing affordable clothing.

Yay!

These images from are from The Cut’s Michelle Obama Lookbook, they have been documenting all of her outfits. Definitely worth a look.

A Shift of Power took place in the fashion industry, as we saw established designers disappear, famous retirements, celebrities taking over the industry, and revived brands making headlines.

Valentino retires, and so we say goodbye to the man known for red dresses, animal prints, and perma tan.

Emanuel Ungaro also retired in 2004, which resulted in turmoil in the house for several years, leading up the current disastrous state which sees Lindsay Lohan as Artistic Director. The above images are from her first collection for the house, which was bought by only two stores.

Things are not looking good for Christian Lacroix, who has had to suspend his Haute Couture and Pret-a-porter because of financial difficulties.

The Ferre brand is also unstable, since the death of the founder, Gianfranco Ferre, in 2007. Image source.

And some very old brands have been reinvented…

Alber Elbaz is now the Creative Director behind Lanvin.

Nicolas Ghesquière is the Creative Director for Balenciaga.

and Christophe Decarnin is the Creative Director for Balmain.

Luxury Made Accessible by the high street retailers collaborating with big names. Owning a piece by Karl was no longer unattainable, as long as you were willing to wait in a line up.

H&M were the pioneers of the designer high street collaboration.

H&M designer collaborations. Clockwise from top left: Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf, Matthew Williamson, Sonia Rykiel, Comme des Garcons, Jimmy Choo, and Roberto Cavalli.

Christopher Kane for Topshop, the famous crocodile print.

Target launched collections with McQ Alexander McQueen, Anna Sui and Rodarte (shown above.)

New Media changed the way we consumed news and information. Time Magazine summed it up in 2006 when they named “You” as person of the year. Web 2.0 changed the way we consumed the web, making users the new contributors. Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, and Myspace changed the way we searched, researched, communicated and socialized.

The computer screen was a mirror...

This image of bloggers Bryanboy and Tommy Ton (from Jak & Jil Blog) sitting front row at the Dolce and Gabanna Spring Summer 2010 show with Anna Wintour, Hamish Bowles, Suzy Menkes and other big player fashion journalists showed that blogging was being taken seriously in the fashion industry.

Scoot Schulman’s street style blog, The Sartorialist, is known for his well-chosen photographs of men and women of all ages on the streets of the world’s fashion capitals.

Websites like Vogue’s Style.com has allowed us to view fashion catwalk images hours after the runway show itself, changing the way we consume fashion. Years ago, fashionistas would wait until the magazines published the new season’s collections, usually months after the show itself. Now we see the shows immediately after they happen, and hear about them on Twitter as they are happening.

Catch Part 2 of 3 “Remembering the Noughties” posts tomorrow!

All images from the brand’s or person’s website, except all catwalk images from style.com, unless otherwise noted.

Before I write this, I should explain that my purpose for writing a blog is not so I can get front row invitations to Dolce & Gabanna, although I would probably accept if the offer came up. I am writing this to educate, guide, and inspire fellow Canadians (particularly Vancouverites) about fashion. Basically, to help make this country become a bit more stylish.

But this photo, seen on Bryanboy’s blog, says a lot about how bloggers have been accepted into the fashion industry. Its pretty phenomenal that two bloggers, who were unknown a few years ago are sitting front row at Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring Summer 2010 fashion show, amongst THE fashion heavyweights. I’m also glad there aren’t any celebrities in this photo, but I am sure they are there, sitting further along.

From left to right: Suzy Menkes, Michael Roberts (Vanity Fair), Bryanboy, Sally Singer (US Vogue), Anna Wintour, Hamish Bowles, and Tommy Ton (Jak and Jil). Image from bryanboy.com