Contemporary fashion, seen through a historic lens: Italy, France, Belgium.

While traveling through Italy this semester I visited the Fortuny Palace in Venice. It was here that I was enlightened by the timeless work of Mariano Fortuny. Of his designs, the Delphos gown stood out to me the most. As I admired the effortless shape of the garment it reminded me of a current trend in the fashion world today, the slip dress. Seen down the runway, promoted by celebrities and praised by fashion bloggers, this trend is currently soaring. I must say, its resemblance to the Delphos gown makes me enjoy the trend even more. Both gowns have a very natural shape which is created by the curves of the wearer. They are composed of a silk which clings to the body to further accentuate the wearer's feminine shape and emulates a beautiful shine when light hits the fabric. The pleated qualities of the Delphos gown are also immensely relevant to today's fashion. Especially seen in high fashion garments, ruching and ruffling has been used throughout multiple 2017 spring/summer runway shows.

When I visited the museum of Fashion & Textiles in Paris I learned about the history of a very popular fashion trend, faux fur. Although the real fur trend came with immense controversy in the past, today faux fur is embraced as a fashion-must-have.

The the fashion tradition of 18th century floral motifs are also coming back into the light. I first spotted the abundance of these patterns popping up around Europe as winter turned into spring. However, following further research I quickly realized numerous designers are already dominating the trend. Designers such as Alexander McQueen, Jasper Conran and Carolina Herrera have embraced the revival of these beautiful patterns in their 2017 spring/summer runway collections.

In Antwerp, Belgium I learned about Martin Margiela’s collaboration with Hermès. His designs had a consistent monocromatic color scheme and minimalist garment shape. Both of these aspects of his designs can be seen in today's fashion trends. For example, single colored long coats are very popular today. Camel colored coats, such as the one designed by Margiela below, are especially popular. Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, Fendi, along with many other designer featured similar camel coats in their 2017 fall/winter shows.

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