Fade to white

For SS11, the Dries Van Noten woman finds a relaxed elegance through light and colour. The designer was mainly inspired by the work of Belgian painter Jef Verhenyen by and old Chinese ceramics. Verhenyen's unique way of capturing light in his paintings translated onto the clothes in the shape of degradés that made it seem as if colour had ran out halfway through production. Chinese ceramic motifs, a recurrent theme for Van Noten, flooded silk tops, dresses and trousers. Opposite these very feminine effects we saw an almost boyish approach to the tailoring —boyfriend blazers, oversized tuxedo jackets and shirt dresses. The surprise of the show were the few paillete-embelished pieces and the shiny flower-embroidered jacket, which strongly contrasted with the season's dominant white.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]