By Christine Suppes

Dries Van Noten is an antidote to classic French fashion.  He is a great tailor and mixer of pattern and color.  He was one of the early designers to produce his own silk, right down to owning the silkworms, in India.  His look is a ethnic, but not naive ethnic.  He is a master mixer of color, and encourages his client to wear mustard with turquoise, flowers and stripes.  For Spring 2006 he showed his classic looks, full skirts, dusters, embroidered or appliquéd jackets and incredibly pretty full, diaphanous silk blouses.

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