The new global citizen of style: Practicing fashion diplomacy at Dries Van Noten and Lemaire

Good morning, Wednesday. It's above freezing today and raining and tomorrow there's more snow on the way which I am just not featuring. Enough, already. ENOUGH. But there's lots of fun stuff happening in New York right now and I'm looking forward to seeing the Kehinde Wiley show at the BK Museum this weekend, and there's no question the Bjork show at the MOMA is a must see. I'm listening to the Sugarcubes right now in homage. So good. I highly recommend a trip down memory lane with them to get you over the hump today.

So I'm watching the Paris shows on style.com, and really, I'm seeing some amazing things. I literally gasped at my desk looking at the fabulous Dries Van Noten show (scroll through above) - my devotion to Dries knows very little bounds- he is my favorite and that's the truth. If I ever started a commune, we would all wear Dries. Full stop. Look after look was breathtaking- the layering, the use of pattern, the beautiful palette that goes from light to dark to that insanely gorgeous scarlet lush.  I can't. I wish I could. But I can't.

But I also very much loved the Lemaire show (scroll through above),  and needless to say, his recently announced Uniqlo collab for next Fall has me scheming on how to get my mitts on the former Hermes creative director's affordable looks. But the show on the runway in Paris under his own name was simply sublime. Beautiful, wearable, luxe clothing that felt so spot on for the busy lives we lead- simple yet beautifully made clothes that are far from tricky or overly trend focused. I could post every look as a favorite, because every look was perfection, and in the dark color pattern that has become the norm for many of us with hectic, urban existences.

So looking at both of these collections, there's not really a common thread, again speaking to the yin and yang of my style personality- one that is prone to ethnic, bohemian ideology, the other a more sedate and stable approach to strong basic pieces anchored in luxe, and in my dreams.

I can say that a trend I see on the best runways may have nothing to do with each other on the surface, but if you look deeper, both of these collections owe a debt and celebrate what I'll call the new global citizen of style- these are clothes you want to pack and treasure and act as talismans for all of your adventures. One of the joys of dress is a sense of wanderlust- thinking about where an outfit or look could take you, what journeys you'll enjoy when wearing them, or where you can go in your mind. Both of these wonderful designers make me think of travel, of clothes that could take me from here to there to everywhere. And when you look at a lot of the collections on the runways of late (The Row, Marni, Doru Olowu to name but few), there's more than a few nods to a more global POV- through our constant connectivity we have all become one, and it's hard to imagine a world uninfluenced from what's happening within it. I'm very much in love with this newfound fashion diplomacy, and really when you think about it, you need not go very far at all if you are one of the lucky ladies who get to wear these pieces, because they can take you just about wherever you want or need to go, at least in your mind.

And that's what's up this around the world in style kind of Wednesday in the US of A. Yours, in a fashionable world. Where to? XO