From Barcelona with love...

Leaving Barcelona yesterday felt like leaving home to go somewhere new and in a way, it was. As my boyfriend drove into airport to drop me off on his way to practice a sudden wave of emotions just rushed over my body and I couldn't stop myself from crying. We kissed, hugged and I shoved my face into his chest and cried like a child when you drop him off at the kindergarten for the first time and he is begging you not to leave him at this strange new place. He squeezed me tightly and took a deep deep breath.

An hour later, drowning my sorrow in the venti-cup of cafe late and September issue of British Vogue I could not help but wonder why are we putting ourselves through all this. We are both young, capable and successful. Could there be an easier way to all this?

At about page 115 reading about Sicilian baroque trend I got a bit more optimistic and realistic, so I took a break from Vogue and browsed through my last several photos from days spent together and realised how strong and how much we grew as a couple in last couple of weeks. That has to count for something. All at its own time I concluded.

Bellow I am sharing photos from our last couple of days spent together, my short shopping visit for some make up and cosmetics basics at El Corte Ingles where I got lovely Bobbi Brown oil free foundation - natural 4 and sheer finish powder - warm natural 6. I also got some Effaclar face wash and renovating serum.

Later in the day, few hours before departure, I carefully packed my valued jewelry and delicate garment pieces and "death-march" walked to the car.

Denim trends 2012.

Mavi Jeans by Hussein Chalayan 

Inspired by the article I read in today's edition of WWD I decided to dedicate this post to current trends in denim business. The article was about recently held Bread&Butter trade fair in Berlin where many companies came to present and retailers and brands to make orders for fabrics for upcoming seasons. 


Many denim company representatives talked about this ever more-challenging European business climate, a need to diversify out of their signature products to meet and anticipate consumers demand.


While denim color more or less remains pervasive there are other trends which have shown to be a key diversifiers in denim Premium market (read jeans which cost more then $150) are: 


- customary themes: color, pattern and sustainability
-  highlighting pattern and texture
- softer denim, whether it be stonewashed, dyed or lasere
- tribal print jeans
- gold and silver metallic jeans
- jeans with 
- snake patterns and velvet prints
- the embellished pocket

Overall the new trend is "soft and light" jeans in terms of fabrication. 

Here are some ways the leading denim companies are trying to stand out in the crowd and bring in more consumers.

PAPER DENIM & CLOTH

Paper Denim & Cloth is back in business, their new designs will be available for purchase via their website in September, 2012. with a few basic styles, which will expand to the full spring assortments in December. For spring, the men’s denim assortment includes three fits and the women’s includes six fits, with each in six to 10 washes. These new lines will retail from $165 to $240. 

G-STAR RAW

                                                                          G-Star Raw Lookbook


the bulk of G-Star's sales is men’s, and now the brand is determined to take its women’s denim into new areas, showcasing a full collection of women’s shorts, dresses, jackets and shirts, along with accessories and shoes.
I have never purchased a pair of G-star jeans, but I remember from the stores that they are a good quality jeans and a good fit, their price was not a fit for me however so I ended up buying Salsa jeans instead. What I liked on the other hand was a clean look and pocket design.

HUDSON JEANS

                                                           Georgia May Jagger for Hudson Jeans


Hudson Jeans is a well known British denim brand loved by many celebrities like the face of their most recent campaign Fall 2011.with Georgia May Jagger in the main role. 

Hudson's signature detail is a flip pocket but they are certainly scanning the market well and following the trends and producing multi-color and metallic stretch jeans.

Multi-color Hudson jeans

Hudson metallic jeans

MAVI
Turkish denim brand Mavi Jeans has differentiated by partnering with Turkish-Cypriot designer Hussein Chalayan who created a jeans wear line exclusively for women geared to the premium customer. Chalayan Mavi jeans, now in its third season, retails for $179 to $369.

Mavi jeans lookbook SS 2012.

DIESEL
Diesel has been for years my favorite denim company. Although their jeans is quite expensive (at least here in Croatia) and in terms of customer service sales ladies in their stores are not really nice, I love that they have skinny jeans in tall sizes. I have really long legs and was always able to find a great quality denim jeans in Diesel which lasted for more then 3 years a pair.


Iconic fashion photographer Steven Meisel creates the series of modern Screen Tests, featuring some of top models like: Karen Elson, Hanne Gaby Odiele, Jamie Bochart, Fei Fei Sun, Coco Rocha, Mirte Maas, Sid Ellisdon, Ethan James, Yuri Pleskun, Sallieu Jalloh and Dae Na.

Diesel Fall/Winter 2012. lookbook by Steven Meisel

CITIZENS OF HUMANITY
Citizens of humanity is not just a brand, it is actually a concept of living, a learning of how to be a good citizen. This brand is quite complex in its simplicity actually.My favorite are the bellow selected jeans from Fall 2012. collection with various patterns and textures, I particularly love the lipstic red high-wasted jeans, but all of these can be worn casual and dressy. 

Editorial - Citizens of Humanity

I loved loved loved their amazing editorial (not jeans) which you can check out on my Tumblr blog here.


SALSA JEANS
I already listed Salsa Jeans as one of my top 10 fashion brands, and it truly is, and this is why...I first discovered Salsa jeans a year or so ago when I started to frequent to Spain as my boyfriend lives there. Salsa is a Portuguese brand sold now all over the world and what I like about their jeans is an amazing but fit they have. Indeed, Salsa jeans has a unique technology of tailoring in which jeans hug your curves, especially your butt and it lifts it up to look amazing! I got a skinny black jeans (they did fade in color a bit) and a straight leg dark jeans which I still wear and adore. They have a bit of a stretch in them and they do not relax after couple of wears which is great.

Salsa lookbook Fall/Winter 2012.

Smaller jeans brands seem to be slowly taking over the market piece by piece, some of these are: Mother, Current/Elliott, Big Star, Agave Denim, Genetic Denim and AG Adriano Goldschmied, Miss Me, Rock &Revival, 3x1, Paige Denim etc.


What are your favorite denim brand lovelies and why?

My top 10 fashion brands: Salsa jeans.

All photos from: www.salsajeans.com 

Salsa is the main woman & man Jeanswear brand of the IVN Group from Portugal, founded in 1994. Today, the brand is sold in more than 35 countries. The brands states its mission to be „your second skin and empower your constant renewal!“ meaning that Salsa wants to inspire and empower people all over the world, by providing the most innovative and exciting jeans, tops and accessories.

The reason why I picked Salsa to be one of my top 10 favorite brands is the perfect fit of their jeans. It is very easy to find your size from Salsa's size guide.

Before I used to buy my jeans in Diesel or Ralph Lauren because I am 6'1'' and it is was very hard for me to find skinny jeans which are long enough that I can wear with high heels but also my size (27) and not to wide in the waist and at the same time not to tight on my butt to flatten it, cause I do have a butt and I was looking for a pair of jeans that will fit just perfectly.

The first pair of jeans I got in Salsa a year ago were black, skinny fit, push up model size 27, I needed a pair of black jeans to wear to work but also the ones which whose color will not fade quickly and which will not get loose fast. This is exactly what I got in my Salsa jeans. On top, all of a sudden everybody started noticing my perky butt, my boyfriend loves them!

About 3 month ago I got my second pair of Salsa jeans, same size but in dark jean color and with a bit of a flare on the bottom, I absolutely love this model as well and highly recommend it!

Bellow you can see the new collection SS 2012. Salsa collection. I am thinking about getting the red pair this time around and some shorts as well J

If you like Salsa jeans or just want to try them out and learn more about the brand, they have an online shop and free delivery internationally on orders over 45 Euros. Also, you can check out their Facebook and Twitter sites for latest updates.

Where do you get your favorite jeans from lovelies?