Thursday, February 25, 2016

Guy Laroche.

Weds. 03/04/2015.






First collections for a new designer installed at a Storied fashion house can be either, A) Problematic in the Utmost... B) A Glorious enmeshing of that designer into the fabric of the house codes... Or, C) The designer can come in Full blast, wipe the slate clean and do something Fresh, New and Amazing. There is one other option... He/She can FAIL, Dreadfully so. That option was the one to be found with Newcomer Adam Andrascik at Guy Laroche. The Central Saint Martin's Alumni from Pittsburgh has an obviously Grunge/Metal defined P.O.V and trying to force that Square peg into the Round hole of Laroche was not only foolhardy, but Absurd!

Point One: The collection looked Tortured and Sloppy. This wasn't so much as a lack of style as honestly more a lack of Taste! The construction of the clothes were an insult to the Ateliers of Laroche and Andrascik should have been taken out back and Summarily Horse Whipped for the affront to their skills! Point Two: The collection was Purposeless and Aimless. One Cheap looking creation after another paraded forth with no real cohesive intent to be seen. Just as if, it was a Cavalcade of Pieces that Andrascik liked and were thrown together Willy-Nilly. 

This did not bode well for the house. Miracles of fashion happen all the time, Perhaps an immersion in the house of Laroche's Archives will bring some light of Inspiration and Clarity to Andrascik in future collections. If Not, and he continues with this kind of Bullshit... his stay will be mercifully, Short!





That's All.





Bye4Now!


Lemaire.

Weds. 03/04/2015.





Lemaire.

"Erotic Fever"

There! That got your attention! One would assume Christophe Lemaire was thinking something of the same thing when he offered this little nugget of Naughty info about the subliminal backstory of his Fall 2015 collection. Whether or not that was the case, and if one looked askew at the collection it was definitely there, simmering beneath the Refined surface, but what was more the take away was Lemaire and his partner Sarah-Linh Tran's Exactingly Perfect embodiment of that most Stylish of, and Rarefied creatures... "La Femme Francaise"

Lemaire's polished, offhanded, almost Careless ease in which he approximates what stylish French women do with their "Mode" and then reflects it back to them and seduces them with their own style is akin to Alchemy! His woman is, Yes, Sexual, but that sexuality burns and smoulders rather than flames out of control. You could sense the perverse tension of the High, Tight scarves some of the models wore, intimating perhaps a dalliance into the subversive side of sexuality with a nod towards Auto-Erotic Asphyxiation... There is much proof that ladies into such things usually wear scarves and high-neck blouses/sweaters to cover the marks... If Lemaire was actualizing some "Erotic Fever" through his styling, then that might have been a covert acknowledgement of such things!

Is this a step too far... No. French Sexuality embraces many moods and many taboos, (Marquis De Sade, Anyone) and fashion can be a very exciting tool of eroticism! Lemaire's woman is in fact quite Severe, no Flashy colours or Sequins and Gilt, she is Spare and Lean, However, that does not muffle or blanket sensuality, in fact, what is not seen can be as or more erotic than what is! So, this would clear the mental pathways to see the undercover eroticism of Exit No. 5, revealing no more than Clavicle and Neck, and Monastic in it's Navy-on-Navy sparseness. Or the Mannish allure of Tami Williams' in Exit No. 29, Superbly cut Tweed trousers in Charcoal topped by an Olive Sweater revealing a Peek of Cream shirt Collar underneath.

Now, Putting aside all that Sexification of the collection, the biggest realization is how marvellous Lemaire and Tran are at apotheosizing the Untouched and Unembellished and making them as Covetous as something worked over by many hands illuminating it with Glitter and Ornament. This is the Glorification of Restraint! And there is far better a Practitioner of that craft than Lemaire.





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Viktor & Rolf.

Weds. 03/04/2015.






Perhaps... Perhaps, IT IS for the best that Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren exit the Ready-To-Wear business. Fall 2015 was their final take on the metier and after this they are dedicating themselves to their Outlandish, but altogether Edifying Haute Couture business. For the last few (Maybe MORE than a few) years, the Duo's RTW collections have floundered pathetically from being either inert exercises of dulling and pseudo-intellectual drivel or have had the excitement of cold oatmeal. Which wasn't the case always, many moons ago, Horsting and Snoeren's Ready-To-Wear shows were the thing of Wild Debate and Heated Excitation, for their High Minded Artistic proclivities were borne out on the runway in Dazzling displays of Exquisite Technique and Derring-Do Showmanship!

But, those days are long behind them now, and one can only imagine they know this as well as anyone. The well of inspiration has run dry in this setting, their Couture shows are still Monuments to their Genius, Rightly so, since that is where they started, and with Flowerbomb, Bonbon and Spicebomb keeping them comfortable with their Immense success, they can give themselves the wiggle room to concentrate on what truly moves them. Obviously... Fall 2015 did NOT move them, No Sir!

This as a Fare-Thee-Well may have been as much a Bald statement of dissatisfaction as one could possibly envisage. The collection was pretty much, Worthless. The clothes were Sad, Deeply Sad. Maudlin would be another good word. The joy was leeched out to such a degree that the two designers were not even bothered to be on hand. It felt as if no effort at all was exerted to make this a celebration, it seemed to be a Mirror of frustration, even, one could sense, contempt. Maybe that's reading too much into it, Yet and still, That's how it played out, to my eye, at least. 

Hopefully, this will find the Dynamic Duo of Horsting and Snoeren in Greener pastures come Couture and that they can find that place that they seem to have traveled so far away from... Maybe all the need to do is Click their Heels together...





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Anthony Vaccarello.

Tues. 03/03/2015.





Anthony Vaccarello.

Anthony Vaccarello surely knows his way around the Curves, Planes, Peaks and Valleys of a Woman's body... He has made himself something of an Overnight sensation by knowing such avenues and roads! In the beginning, Vaccarello's enthusiasm and effusive love of the Female figure led to clothes that were, putting it mildly, Overtly Sexual. Cutouts and Slits and Drapes and Plunging Necklines abounded with little cessation.

Then enter Donatella, she scooped up Vaccarello to give some needed "OOMPH" to what used to be HER Baby, when Gianni was amongst us, the Versus line, and Vaccarello began to temper his vision some, still body-con to the Nth degree, but with a more noticeable restraint and consideration that not all women want to look like they are dressing for the Highest End Red Light District around. Fall 2015 found Vaccarello in a particularly adept mode with cutting and draping, a preoccupation with a Star motif yielded Clever insets and cutouts and pieces following the symmetrical points of the Star, it came off quite masterful at times.

Take Exit No. 25... a sizzling Slice of Black composed front and center around a Grommet bedecked Star, with a Patch of supple leather in the skirt, that covered little, but had Big impact, mainly for the reason that while salacious as all Get-Out... it still looked like it had some Class in it's bones. Joan Smalls' penultimate exit also had that same allure, more modest perhaps, but still Generous in it's raunchiness! Vaccarello seems intent on furthering his vocabulary by showing he can grow beyond Sass and Ass, yet he doesn't want to frighten off loyalists by doing too radical a One-Eighty, this collection was somewhat the perfect amalgam of that intent and gives us much reason to think that this guy, To coin a Phrase, Has Got Legs!





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Giorgio Armani.

Tues. 03/02/2015.





Giorgio Armani.

As it is with another Elder Statesman of Fashion, Ralph Lauren, there is an unmistakable signature to the work of Giorgio Armani that one can spot across Kilometers. And, as with Lauren, that unerringly familiarity of the brand leads almost always, inevitably, to boredom and tedium. We know very well what to expect from both of these designers, they're not looking to Re-invent themselves anytime soon, and that is to both their detriment, for the unwavering dedication to their house codes leads them to produce collection after collection of recycled idioms and tropes.

Within that, when they are both good, they are very good, and when they can inject some freshness into their staid regurgitations, there are great dividends to be paid off. Fall 2015 was not such a showcase, but it was one of Armani's best reconfigurations to be seen in quite a while, even with those Goofy Wrap "Skirt" Front addendums to the pants that looked just plain and simple, Outlandish. Otherwise, the collection was somewhat Fascinating, something long missing from the collections as of late. All the best Armani Hallmarks were in rich evidence, the Man KNOWS his way around a Jacket and cut some Superior ones in this collection, and Armani also never met a Bugle Bead, Crystal, Sequin or Paillette he couldn't manipulate into something extraordinary, and that proof was displayed with blistering acumen this go-round!

There isn't much to go into detail about that honestly, a good look at the stills or the Video can't impart to the investigative. It's all there for one to absorb however they might find easiest. Armani isn't here to compete with or compare himself to anyone... much of what he invented most others are still trying to comprehend and perfect. Armani is working wholly to satisfy his whim and caprices, if there are those who don't get it... SO BE IT! He has Legions of clients that do and will, and that will keep his sales numbers in the BILLIONS as they have for the last decade! In Conclusion,,, Does Armani need ME to like what he does.... You figure that one out!





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Dsquared2.

Mon. 03/02/2015.






By all accounts, the Caten Twins (Dean and Dan) of the Label Dsquared2 were inspired by their Canuck homeland in a Wild narrative suitable for either a Westwood or Galliano, or to be sure, the Catens themselves (who are always up for a good ripsnorting yarn of a fashion backstory!) that involved something about a Trunk of Clothes and Jewels from some Nameless Old European monarchy, falling from the heavens above from some aeroplane onto the frozen tundra of the Yukon only to be appropriated into the Wild, Rugged Native wears of the Indigenous Inuits of the area... Well.... OK! 

For all the fun that such an idea was ripe with for plundering... The Catens collection found itself far more Busy and overworked and wrought with reference that it failed to provide much entertainment or excitement. Gorgeous clothes abounded, Oh Yes, They Did, but they disappeared under the weight of excess. Usually, Excess is the Success of a Dsquared2 collection and it comes across as a Giddy sugar rush of Schlock, Good Bad Taste and Ravishing clothes. None of that was evident here, just heaps of clothes thrown on in an attempt at a mix of cultures that ultimately read more as Hodgepodge than Inspired Esoterica! To call it Cluttered would do an Injustice to the word! 

Some individual ideas shone with the Bright, Inspired light that the best Caten efforts explode with, a Tribal Printed fur coat with more Savage like fur trims on Mariana Santana was Excellent in the extreme, and that was pretty much because it was all that was going on (BTW... did the Caten boys really think those Tribal Tattoo bodystockings helped anyone... in any conceivable way? 'Fraid Not!) proving that every house is entitled to an off collection, the Catens found themselves smack dab in the middle of one with this partaking. It would appear their baser instincts got to them in this call to the Wild... Perhaps if they had injected a little more Old European Restraint into the mix, this wild child would have come off looking less like she had tussled with a wild Canadian Moose and more like an Inuit Princess! 





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Missoni.

Sun. 03/01/2015.






What direction is Angela Missoni to take the house that bears her Family Surname? She surely cannot go back to the early days of feathery knits from head to toe and back. Nor, can she push too far outside the familiar idioms that the house has so carefully cultivated for decades. This poses something of a Dilemma, How is Angela to keep the label Modern, Relevant yet obeisant to it's heritage. For Fall 2015, Missoni took a look back at the New Wave Music/Fashion moment witnessed in the early 80's. and embodied with Wide Shoulders and Daring graphic combos that look like they emerged from a Nagel painting! 

If this was her way of finding her path forward, it wasn't exactly the best tack to take. While this gambit yielded some awfully awesome outfits, the rest fell into a trap of being neither truly nostalgic or relatively modern. A forced feeling suffused Missoni's collection and left it more like an Acadaemic study than the achieving the kind of Pointed, Seriousness of Fashion that permeated New Wave. The New Wavers took their clothes Seriously, it was all about Statement and Being Noticed, these clothes had that intent, but underwhelmed because Missoni made everything look too One-Dimensional. 

The Wide Jackets and Filmy Knits were on Point, as were the oversized Cardigan coats and the Slim Zipped Cardigan jackets that limned the body sublimely. But that's kind of where it began and ended, more Affectation than true commitment to the idea. The collection on it's own merits was good, thrown in with the New Wave idea and Missoni's mental gymnastics of where the label should be now, and for the future, these things held it back a bit. The surprising part about it is, the collection has a Cool Detachment and Irony that was the undercurrent of New Wave, Vivid Flare and Plastic Facade. However, The cool Angela Missoni was trying to Feign never really warmed up the clothes. 





That's All.





Bye4Now!


Trussardi.

Sun. 03/01/2015.






An uneven yet, strongly compelling and styled collection was put forth by Gaia Trussardi for her Namesake Family label for Fall 2015. Starting off with ideas of Minimalism and Purity that she coined "Essentialism" (Nice word, that) she dipped most of her collection in Deep, Rich, Dark Chocolate tones and added in Spruce, Grey, Bronze and Petrol and Beige tones. The tension between razor sharp sleekness and wildness and strangely... militaristic utility, created the chasm in the collection that navigated it off course.

A Pencil Slim Chocolate Leather Suit was one of those pieces that pierced right through to the heart of the matter, while one in Marble later in the show seemed Ill-fitting and Sloppy. In that same breath, the Marble colored Leather Shirt and Pants, having a vaguely uniform look to it, worked wonders and was Chic and Modern in a Sportif way. The same for a Grey Leather Shirt dress early in the proceedings. The Patchwork knits and some of the badly cut Pants, which made the models look unmercifully wide and hippy, pulled down the collection and other exits, like a Leather slip with a Knit tube of a skirt just looked downright tacky. 

There was much to love here, and much to desire, but the uneven balance of the collection kept it racing against itself and never reaching the winners circle. Keeping to the Minimal aesthetic did the collection a great amount of good. but didn't Save it! Gaia Trussardi seems to be gaining more confidence in herself and her Atelier and Skills, what is needed now is a FAR more radical editing eye and a tightening up of the reigns in the design portion of her work.





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Salvatore Ferragamo.

Sun. 03/01/2015.






Massimilano Giornetti offered up a Dark, Graphic and essentially Underwhelming Fall 2015 show that felt Heavy, Brooding and not a little bit Joyless. The high point was the insertion of some Graphic Colour Blocking amidst the Somber tones of much of the collection (What that Sickly Green was doing in this mix was WAY Beyond Me!) which varied from gloomy Chocolates and Charcoals to the Utterly incoherent addition of Searing Red and Sunny Yellow. Maybe Giornetti was trying to lighten the mood, but all it served to do was distract in the absolutely wrong manner. 

Even the cuts of the clothes and materials skewed Maudlin and unecessarily Weighty, giving off a sense of gracelessness that didn't do much for elevating the clothes. This was not the case of every outfit, and as to the colours, when Giornetti did indulge in his graphic tendencies and throw together Yellow and White and Red and Camel and a smidgen of other colour, he hit Pay Dirt, a Sublimely Chic coat on Binx Walton near the end of the show lay testament to that fact.

This collection fell well onto the Dowdy side of the fence, Giornetti's output for Ferragamo this time around would have benefited greatly from some lightening up of the heavy, penitent capes and suffocating styling. Where was the Sexiness? The Sleekness? It just all felt so Clunky and Graceless. After the easiness and breezy luxury of Spring 2015, this was a dramatic and ungainly U-turn, and after a spate of highly covetous collections, the last few from the house and Giornetti (excluding this past Spring) have been disappointing, to be kind. It would be refreshing to see Giornetti recapture that feeling of Richesse Elegance with a Louche sensibility that he had been working 3-4 years ago and progress that idiom, for the groove he has found himself in is definitely NOT his best Look!





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

MSGM.

Sun. 03/01/2015.






Massimo Giorgetti was just handed the Keys to the Empire that is Emilio Pucci from the Sturdy hands of Peter Dundas, who had helmed that ship for 7 years with great success. Giorgetti has, within this new ascension decided to keep designing his own label. Perhaps the prospect of taking over such a well known label got to him this time, for his Fall 2015 was a curiously disappointing and oddball affair. Giorgetti is in essence, an Offbeat and Yes, Oddball, designer that trawls in the same Inspirational waters that Consuela Castiglioni so often delves in, This collection however, squared a bit too much outside the circle and looked just Off-Kilter more so than Kooky!

Violently Bright and Turgid colour combos were the catch of the day, and they kept the Simple, Clean, mostly Minimal shapes from being Anodyne and Lifeless, at times though, it simply was too much for the eye to digest properly. Purple and Pink, Ultramarine Blue and Orange, add to that, too many pieces later in the collection skewed toward the "Commercial" side of fashion and did not look elevated at all. Winners were to be found, a Camel Mohair Swing top and Squash Cropped Flare pants looked decidedly Soigne and had a Louche, Chic appeal, While a Buttercup Yellow high-neck blouse was speaking Victorian, but made Modern with silky Lilac pants with a Track stripe down the side. 

Giorgetti has some big shoes to fill for sure, (Dundas did seem to wear about a 12 or a 13) at Pucci, but the first order of business is to get his own work up to snuff before he even thinks of tackling the Beast that is Pucci. This collection leaves a Spectre of doubt over the viability of him taming the Pucci Giant! We Will See...





That's All.





Bye4Now!
 

Dolce And Gabbana.

Sun. 03/01/2015.






It was a show that one could have easily been distracted from the plethora of Outstanding clothes... Plenty of Distractions abounded to be sure. For Fall 2015, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana had a Stage filled with Mamas and Bambini, a Generously Pregnant Bianca Balti strolling along, looking ready to break water at any moment, Bosom Plentifully ripe... and add to that the Schmaltzy Theme of celebrating Good ol', Dear old Mom, well, along with distractions things could have gone hopelessly Sentimental and Cheesy! 

What actually transpired was one of Domenico and Stefano's Best collections to date, The Sentimentality was Heartfelt and Genuine and because it was a little cheeky too, it was Fun and Upbeat and not Lugubrious and Maudlin. There wasn't much in the way to really highlight fashion wise, the collection was filled to the brim with Outstanding and Exquisite pieces, from the Hand-Embroidered Rose on the opening exit to the by now familiar 60's Italian Housewife styling (which was in fuller effect here than usual) all the boxes were dutifully ticked off... Black Boxy Broadtail Sicilian Widow Skirt suit, Roger. Swing coat over a Brocaded shift dress with some flare, You Got It! Red Lace... Check! Corsets, Bras and Bustiers... C'Mon, like you gotta ask! The collection was replete with the D&G Hallmarks. 

This is not to insinuate that this season all those items were not of an Extraordinary Ilk, for they truly were some of the most Top-Notch iterations of those signatures to come down the pike in a good while, the actuality of it all is that there was such a surfeit of Excellence that to try and pin down any one thing was exceedingly formidable. Maybe it was because it was an Homage to their Beloved Mammas that the Duo came up with some of the most Stunning pieces to be seen this season. From a Perfect Black Crepe Wiggle dress on Ophelie Guillermand to a Virginal and Chaste White Shift with a Awing Red Rose embroidered front and center. The Rose predominated this collection from back to front, and what is More Quintessential than Roses for Mom? It's the flower we all associate with our Mom's, the one we choose to give her for Birthday's, Mother's Day, Valentines, Et Cetera... So for Domenico and Stefano to go so Hog Wild for the Queen of Flowers to be the ambassador of all things Maternal, there was little chance of getting it wrong.

The collection ended with a panoply of Delightful Gazar and Organza pieces printed with the Crayon and Pencil drawings of the Nieces and Nephews of Dolce that in their Delicate and Joyous Naivete, reminded us to sometimes look at the world a little more innocently, we do get trapped in the Daily Awfulness and Horror of the world, and our own lives sometimes, this was a reminder to, even if for a few, brief, shining moments, that the world can still be a source of Delight and Whimsy. And, As I Am, if you're Lucky Enough, Really Goddamn Lucky, when things are definitely getting you down... You've got Mom there to make you feel better. Thanx, Mom! 





That's All.





Bye4Now!