Clear Thinking

Louis Vuitton; Marc Jacobs

While the city of New York is busily preparing itself for another frantic holiday shopping season, inside the W offices the fashion team is well entrenched in the spring 2008 trends and how best to deliver them to our readers. One of the themes we saw from many of our favorite designers was the idea of transparency. Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton employed transparent mesh chiffon to create volume, and in his own collection a bit of sheer paneling suggested skin without the vulgarity of baring it all. Maxmara and BCBG showed transparent jackets and trench coats. Jean Paul Gaultier sent brides down the catwalk in dresses that left little to the groom’s imagination, while John Galliano’s muse stomped down his fantasy boardwalk quite in danger of sunburn. Dolce & Gabbana wrapped their girls in the lightest of light fabrics giving us a new gentler take on bandaging (or is it bondaging?).

Max Mara, BCBG

John Galliano; Jean Paul Gaultier

Dolce & Gabbana

We’re in the midst of culling all of these looks (and more!) into our office for a shoot in our nation’s capitol, which will be styled by Camilla Nickerson and shot by Juergan Teller. If all goes according to plan (the spirit of whimsy has more than once propelled our shoots in another direction), this will be one of the magical stories in our February issue.

Dolce & Gabbana by Davide Maestri; MaxMara by Mauricio Miranda; Marc Jacobs by Talaya Centeno; Max Azria by Robert Mitra; all others by Giovanni Giannoni