Spring 11: Mesh, Lace, and Sheer

Proenza Schouler, Erdem, Thakoon, Jonathan Saunders

Vivienne Tam, Alberta Ferreti, Erdem, Marchesa

Alberta Feretti, Emilio de la Moreno, Louise Gray, Nicole Farhi

Mesh, lace, and sheer fabrics are all over the runways this season. The lace trend shows no signs of tapering off, and we're mostly seeing traditional lace patterns with lots of feminine whites. For a more modern, sportier look, mesh appears on necklines, sleeves and all over garments. Especially beautiful is Thakoon's white mesh and see-through fabrics together. Sheer textiles appear as layers that soften and add dimension to prints behind them, and as scrims that just subtly (and sometimes not so subtley) reveal the skin behind it. The nice thing about all this sheer-ness is how skin is not just covered by the outfit, but becomes part of it.