H&M Fall/Winter 2011 Collection - the shoes

We're in the middle of summer and most of you are probably off vacationing and having fun. Well, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for what your favourite brands will sell next season. So lets start with H&M's fall/winter collection, focusing on their shoes, of course.

The shoes featured in next season's collection have a huge retro vibe with those curved chunky heels, peter pan collar and autumnish colours. The inspiration is clearly Prada and Miu Miu, but in their own budget-friendly way. The colours they come in are nude, grey or brown, but also lots of red and crimson. 

The star of the collection is the ankle boot in crimson leather and grey mesh. They have that curved heel I was telling you about and they close off with a zipper. They look good, but I'm not that into that mesh. However, I will save my verdict for that moment when I'll be able to see them live and decide if it's love or "meah".

There are also some more classic ankle boots, with a chunky high heel, which come in red suede. They're the perfect autumn shoes, if you ask me. These and those electric blue poney hair ankle boots from Lust of Creation you might remember.

Actually, they might be my favourite pair featured in this collection. I know they don't have anything spectacular, but sometimes less is more and the classical approach is more safe. Also, they're easier to pair and you could wear them with pants, jeans and all sorts of skirts. Also, they'll make a good colour accent in all your autumn outfits. Shall I go on?

For those of you who preffer comfort over fashion, the fall/winter collection from H&M has some cute winter boots you can trust to keep your feet warm in those cold days that are to come. They still have something of eschimo boots, but I'm glad they're nothing like Ugg boots. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of seeing them on everybody's feet. These are really a good alternative.

Next up, some cowboy boots in black. They are slip-ons, but don't worry, the elastic bands on each side of the boots will ease the process. You might like them if you're into country accesories and comfy shoes. I personally don't like them, but I think they look good on tall girls, worn with jeans and a checkered shirt.

Here's the lookbok video too, featuring Karlie Kloss, so you can see the shoes in movement and get a better look:




So, which one do you like? Ar you eager for this collection to hit stores?

P.S. The SALE in H&M and all other stores has just begun. Good luck with finding great deals!

Ecco Walk in Style Awards: the donation and the fashion show

 

Tuesday the 1st of February at the Copehagen townhall, Ecco opened the Copenhagen Fashion Week with their Walk in Style show, which reached edition number 4 this year. 

Walk in Style is a show that celebrates women who inspire through their courage and dedication for several humanitarian projects.

Renée Toft Simonsen, a Dutch writer and philantropist, was awarded this year by Ecco in front of 300 international personalities and journalists from all over the world, including our very own Andreea Raicu and Miruna Micşan from Viva. 

 Andreea Raicu and Renée Toft Simonsen

Ole Henriksen, Renée Toft Simonsen and Dieter Kasprzak

The jury consisting of 5 editor-in-chiefs from 5 major publications weighed in the activity of the nominees:  Renée Toft Simonsen (Danemarca), Hanna Verboom (Olanda), Emma Sjöberg Wiklund (Suedia), Cornelia Poletto (Germania) şi Cecilie Skog (Norvegia), and finally decided to award Renée for her wonderful work. Her amazing work includes educating young people from tough environments, donating large amounts of money for kids in subdeveloped countries and promoting charity, writing books on divorce, religion, emigration and their impact on kids (four of her books were transformed into films). This lovely lady, who by the way is an ex model, is also co-founder of the danish branch of Plan organization, which deals with children development; her activity also includes a website for divorced parents. She is definiely a wonder woman and she entirely deserves this award. 

According to her speech the 33.500 euro prize she received will be donated to Plan organization and will be spent on educating the young girls in Zimbabwe.

 Apart the donation ceremony, the evening consisted of a fashion show which basically opened not only the night, but Copenhagen fashion week too. Ecco presented their fall winter 2011 collection, which celebrates the scandinavian tradition in design. The audience was presented three new trends as far as shoes are concerned: Red Passion, Forest Future and Nordic Grunge.

The new collection cherishes the Ecco tradition in shoe making, which means that the designers have used as inspiration danish design, nature and their very own archives. The shoes presented in this show are one of a kind and are only an extension of the main fall winter 2011 Ecco collection.

"The fashion show can be interpreted as a starting point to observe the trends that Ecco will use from now on" said Nikki Tæstensen, coordinator of the women line for Ecco.

Ecco, whose motto is "Our shoes must follow the foot" which means that shoes should adapt to the foot and not the other way around, has 400 stores throughout 90 countries. In Romania, they have 12 stores so far: Bucharest (Feeria Shopping Center, Baneasa Shopping City, Fashion House Outlet Center, Sun Plaza, Afi Palace Cotroceni and Orhideea Shopping Center), Cluj Napoca (Iulius Mall and Polus Center), Iasi (Felicia Shopping Center), Constanta (City Park and Tomis Mall) and Timisoara (Iulius Mall).

And here's a sample of the special Ecco fall winter 2011 collection:

 These are just the shoes I wear in winter time, because, sadly, I can't do high heels on ice and snow. So Ecco's collection is not only very practical and fun, but also very true to reality. They would make the perfect every day shoes you would wear in winter, when you're not attending an event or fancy meeting.

I also appreciate the way they styled the models so that the shoes get full attention, no distractions like pretty faces and celebrity models.

What do you think about these shoes and about this brand? Also, do you like their award and the fact that they chose to reward the impressive work of some women?

Berlin Fashion Week: Romanian Designers Going International (again)

Fashion weeks are just around the corner so you'd better prepare for the thrill and madness that will follow.

First up this season is Berlin Fashion Week, organised by Mercedez Benz in the German capital between the 19th and the 22nd of January. 

But this is not the only reason of joy for us, Romanians. One of our very best 7 designers will be attending the show, presenting their fall/winter 2011/2012 collections. Papucei, Andreea Musat, Irina Schrotter, Lucian Broscatean, Mihaela Glavan, Alina Botea are grouped in what the organizers called Romanian Designers, while Stephan Pelger will be presenting separately, since he's already made a name for himself and since he has european education and formation. 

The downside is the fact that our Romanian Designers will be presenting their collections on the first day, at 10PM. Stephan Pelger on the other hand is programmed for the last day, the 22nd, at 4.30 PM.

However, what brings me much joy is the fact that we have not only one, but two romanian shoe brands who will be showing in front of the international press, buyers and specialists their creative and competitive products. 

Mihaela Glavan is my favourite Romanian shoe designer (as you may already know) and I'm sure this participation will do her good since she already has an online shop which europeans could use too and since buyers and editors will surely be interested in her Mihaela Glavan line, which contains the more daring  and "articstic" pieces.  I've been waiting to see her go international with a fashion show or collaboration so I couldn't be happier about this! She deserves it and I'm sure this is only the beginning, great things will follow!

Papucei is a brand I've been following for a while now, since 2006. The designer, Angela Vasiliu has been designing shoes since 1990, but success came once they launched the website which made the brand more popular and accessible. They're one of the first custom made boutiques here in Romania, so their word and vision is something to be considered. What I appreciate about their website is the funny names they give to the shoes and their creativity.

Let's wish them all luck and stay tunned, I'll keep you posted on the shows!

 What do you think? Excited? Which designer's collection are you more interested in?

photo source: www.mercedes-benzfashionweek.com