Reese n Ricci

Reese Witherspoon,Nina Ricci Reese Witherspoon wearing a Nina Ricci dress at the 2007 Golden Globes The start of the year equals the start of awards season. Reese Witherspoon jumped to the forefront of the fashion race by teaming up with newly appointed Nina Ricci designer Oliver Theyskens. The success of the collaboration sparked Givenchy/Hepburn comparisons, and a previously unseen fervour for lemon yellow as the chic colour for evening.

Marc madness

Marc Jacobs,selma blair Selma Blair at the Marc Jacobs party at the Connaught Hotel in London 2007

London Fashion Week was all about Marc Jacobs, who celebrated the opening of his first London boutique by staging his Autumn /Winter 2008 collection here. While even those with only the most perfunctory interest in fashion jostled for an invitation to the party at the revamped Connaught Hotel, only the über cool - such as Selma Blair, left - got in.

 
In other news, Donatella Versace received a Rodeo Drive Walk of Style award in Los Angeles, and also accepted one on behalf of her late brother, Gianni.

Victoria Beckham launched - some might say imposed - her lifestyle brand in New York.  

 

 

Bolero ballyhoo

Jennifer Hudson,oscars Jennifer Hudson at the 2007 Oscars

Oscar month, and much was made of Jennifer Hudson\'s silver snakeskin bolero, which André Leon Talley persuaded her to wear. Few liked it, least of all, it was rumoured, Miss Dream Girls herself. Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Lopez and Reese Witherspoon, on the other hand, were all lauded for their exquisite fashion choices (or at least those of their stylists).

The same month, Madonna launched a line for H&M. The usual scrum which greets these things was markedly absent. Polyester tracksuits, it seems, aren\'t to everyone\'s taste.

The three ages of Agyness

agyness,deyn Photo of Agyness Deyn These pictures aren\'t from April, of course (you beady-eyed Handbaggers wouldn\'t let us get with such a rookie error), they\'re from the following September (when she did a \'Linda Evangelista\' and died her hair three times in the space of two weeks). The reason we put them in here is that April is the month people started noticing Mancunian model Agyness. In a big way. And how she has a style all her very own. Even if, as the rumours suggest, that isn\'t her real name, and she isn\'t, in fact, 23. Go Agy - or whatever your name is!

Kate Mo\' for (To\')sho\'

Kate Moss,Kate Moss for Topshop Kate Moss

May was the month the fashion calendar cranked up a gear. May 1, as no fashionista will forget, was the day Kate Moss finally launched her line for Topshop, posing in the window of the Oxford Street store in front of an adoring scrum. Every other girl in the country was spotted wearing her floral dress.

Not afraid of a little competition, Lily Allen launched her own line of dresses for New Look.

Across the Atlantic, The Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Gala raised a toast to the late, great Paul Poiret. Widely acknowledged as the fashion event of the year, Cameron Diaz stunned in a burgundy John Galliano gown with gorgeous turquoise jewellery.

Back in the UK, the fashion world mourned the death of Isabella Blow.  

Green with envy

handbag,Anya Hindmarch Picture of Anya Hindmarch handbag

June, lovely June: the world went mad for Anya Hindmarch\'s £5 cotton shopping bag, with counterfeits even turning up on Portobello Road market. Eco-friendly fashion started to take hold, with Jane Shepherdson working for People Tree, and shoppers starting to feel not a little disgusted with themselves for throwing themselves at Primark\'s new Oxford Street store.

Tributes were paid to Italian designer (and one-time designer at Christian Dior) Gianfranco Ferré, who passed away.

Queen Victoria

Victoria Beckham,roland mouret Picture of Victoria Beckham

The Beckhams move to Los Angeles. Queen Victoria laps up the attention by posing on the pitch before David\'s first match in a bubblegum pink RM by Roland Mouret \'Moon Dress\'. Needless to say, it doesn\'t quite become a legend like its predecessor the Galaxy Dress, and the matching pink ostrich leather Hermes Birkin bag leads many people to ponder, just how many Birkins can one woman own?

 

August

amy,winehouse Picture of Amy Winehouse onstage 2007 is the year Amy Winehouse became a fashion icon, and girls across the country started sporting massive beehives, winged eyeliner and  brightly coloured visible bra straps in homage.

His name is Prince

Matthew Williamson,prince Prince playing at Matthew Williamson\'s fashion show Prince wows the crowd at the Matthew Williamson show; Luella opens her first ever London boutique; Ralph Lauren celebrates 60 years in the business with a lavish show and dinner in New York; Valentino announces he will retire in January and that Alessandra Fachinetti of Moncler will take over the reins; the Golden Age of Couture exhibition opens at the V&A.

Catwalk seen from space!

fendi Fendi catwalk on the Great Wall of China

In what could be seen as either the most lavish fashion extravaganza ever or a cynical ploy to ramp up business in the new Chinese luxury market, Fendi staged the first catwalk on the Great Wall of China.

Back in the West, Eley Kishimoto were announced as the new designers at Cacharel; Kate Moss debuted a new fringe at her Christmas collection for Topshop show and party at Annabel\'s in London; Matthew Williamson was honoured for ten years as a designer with a retrospective at The Design Museum; and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen made friends with Amy Winehouse, who turned up in a burnt-orange Sinha-Stanic dress, at a dinner held in their honour at Harvey Nicks for their fashion line The Row.

Shining Stella

stella,mccartney Stella McCartney at the British Fashion Awards It was a women-heavy win at the British Fashion Awards, where Stella McCartney, Anya Hindmarch and Vivienne Westwood all carried home a gong. Roberto Cavalli unveiled his collection for H&M - to a slightly higher turnout than for Madonna\'s collection earlier in the year (but still nothing like the hordes which turned up for Karl and Stella); Manolo Blahnik is awarded a CBE.

Time to shine

Chanel,natalia vodianova Natalia Vodianova at the Chanel show in London

Following a show in an airplane hanger in Los Angeles, Chanel shows its 2008 pre-fall collection; London\'s most glamorous, including Claudia Schiffer and Natalia Vodianova, left, attend.

In Paris, 23-year old Esteban Cortezar is named new designer at Ungaro.

Phew! It\'s been quite a year, and we\'re very much looking forward to a nice long break over Christmas, before coming back to do it all over again. Happy holidays!