Having a Moment: Velvet

By The Inside Source
December 7, 2009

Autumn/Winter 2009 Fashion Week: Prada, Milan (Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images); Gianfranco Ferre, Milan (Photo by Karl Prouse/Catwalking/Getty Images); Sophie Theallet, New York (Photo by Chris Moore/Catwalking/Getty Images)

The Autumn/Winter ’09-’10 runways revealed that velvet is fashion's fabric du moment. And with the arrival of the usual hectic party-hopping schedule that comes with the holidays, the lush material's glimmering presence couldn’t be more perfectly timed.

“Velvet is always a beloved fabric choice during the holiday season,” says Julie Ragolia, a New York based a fashion stylist and design consultant. “Velvet was something we all wore as little girls during Christmas. It's the stuff of Santa and stockings and reds and other holiday tones,” recalls Ragolia, a woman who also happens to have such covetable personal style that she was chosen as a cover girl for The Sartorialist, the book featuring the best of popular street style blogger and photographer Scott Schuman's photos.

While shimmery velvet dresses are nostalgic style staples for the merrymaking festivities, velvet is also a textile that looks expensive, but doesn't have the price tag of exotic skins, cashmere wools, or ostentatious fur. “It provides some comfort or semblance of luxury without having to hike costs up too high, as designers have been feeling the pressure from buyers to bring price points down,” Ragolia explains. For instance, Shophie Theallet, the recent CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner (and Michelle Obama favorite) used it in her collection as if it was actual leather (above, right). “I used a cotton velvet that I treated as if it was hide/deer skin like it was used by the American Indians. I made sure it had no finishing so it would age like a real animal skin.” The technique gave a sense of structure and stylistic punch to her simple, yet impeccably tailored shifts.

But the fabric is as aesthetically valuable as it is economically viable. For Riccardo Tisci’s Givenchy couture collection, the Italian designer used it to sculptural effect. Both the above-the-knee coat and the jacket in silk velvet he showed created a womanly hourglass silhouette with peplum-like curves that seductively hugged at the waist. “It’s always been a very sensual fabric. Not only by its feel, but also by the way it falls and embraces a woman’s body,” notes Theallet. This sentiment wasn’t lost on many other designers. Miuccia Prada gave her intellectual brand a sexy edge with a gold top and taut beige skirt (above, left), Bottega Veneta used a burnout technique to create rectangular stripes in a blush pink number, and Nicholas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga used satin bows to secure a sexy and sophisticated '80s wrap dresses at the waist.

Velvet has the added distinction of also being an authoritative look: The silver suit and asymetrical marigold dresses at Calvin Klein were strong and Gianfranco Ferre's midnight green pagoda shoulder jacket was tough looking in an otherwordly way. “There's something about velvet that exudes strength; it has a certain glimmer when it moves. It feels strong and hopeful at once,” insists Ragolia.

It’s not just on the runways that the elegant fabric has flourished on the red carpet all over the world. Kristin Scott Thomas wore a Lanvin velvet cocktail dress at the closing gala of “Nowhere Boy” in London (left, photo by Fergus McDonald/Getty Images), Angelina Jolie wore a black strapless gown at MOCA NEW’s 30th anniversary gala in Los Angeles, and Penelope Cruz a white Calvin Klein evening coat and dress at a screening Of "Broken Embraces" in New York.

Whether you want to look sexy, nostalgic, powerful, or just to be on trend, here are six decidedly grown-up fashion and accessories options made from this season’s hottest cloth. Check them out before you go holiday party hopping.