Fall 2011 Trend: Snake Charming
Photos: Imaxtree
Snakeskin looks from the Fall 2011 Chloé, Prada, and Missoni collections
Everyone (PETA notwithstanding) loves an exotic skin. And for Fall 2011, designers were particularly besotted with snakeskin. Real or faux, the slithery stuff showed up in heavy doses all the way through Europe.
Hannah MacGibbon made snake the focus of her collection for Chloé, with pants, coats, skirts, and a floaty chiffon dress in the reptilian print. If the head-to-toe look is too heavy-handed for you (and for some, it was; MacGibbon’s collection was not the most well received this season), an A-line skirt in a rich jade green snake print is perhaps a more subtle option.
Gucci’s jewel-toned color palette meant similar hues—though the snakeskin pencil skirts and fitted blazers skewed sexier than Chloé’s offerings.
Miuccia Prada played with textures and placements with her snakeskin: Shiny sculpted jackets came with furry collars, and the exotic print also served as the knee-socks portion of her trompe l’oeil mary jane boots.
At Missoni, a dramatic python duster coat was pieced together in panels of pale green, lavender, orange, and pink.
Meanwhile, at Hermès, new designer Christophe Lemaire stuck with the label’s luxurious leathers and furs, but even he wasn’t immune to the snake’s charms: When model Daiane Conterato took the runway with a white falcon on her arm, a snake-print tee peeked out from under her fur.
