Sunday, February 11, 2018

Tadashi Shoji Spring/Summer 2016.

Thurs. 09/10/2015.





Tadashi Shoji Spring/Summer 2016.

There is an unmistakable signature to Tadashi Shoji's work, and that may or may not necessarily be a bad thing. Sure, his clothes are unquestionably beautiful and the work that goes into creating his lovely creations is always dazzling, but there is a certain sense of sameness that permeates what he does and an unwillingness to venture outside his well-traveled comfort spaces. In his Spring 2016 collection, that aura of familiarity was compounded by the fact that Shoji was exploring well-traversed ground, by hiking towards Japan, which he stated was his overarching thema. Yes, it was one of his prettiest and better done collections in recent memory, but it had the tinge of banality and predictability that hangs over his work like a miasma.

There were pieces among the parade that stuck in the imagination, a Wisteria embroidered sleeveless White lace gown was among them, as was a dynamic White gown at Exit No. 36, gussied up with Black floral embroidery, still and all, even they in the end couldn't help but feel boringly pretty and insipid. Shoji should extend himself a bit more, Hell... A LOT More. True, there is always going to be a market for his kind of ethereal, fairy-tale beauty, however, I'd auger to say his clothes need a well-placed injection of gritty reality to make them truly, shine.





That's All.





Bye4Now.

Creatures Of Comfort Spring/Summer 2016.

Thurs. 09/10/17.





Creatures Of Comfort Spring/Summer 2016.

Le Corbusier... A touchstone for all designers, fashion, interior, architectural, or otherwise, is a ripe and fertile plain to sow seeds of inspiration from. The results are not always favorable, but Jade Lai's collection for her label, Creatures Of Comfort for Spring 2016, was a convincing and rather interesting, if uneven effort. Lai seemed to draw from Corbusier's unrealized utopia, "Ville Radieuse"  which yielded something of a whiff of the nostalgic to the clothes. Lai used a definite somber palette to express herself, especially in the muted shades of the knits that dominated the collection. Not everything presented here, worked in this context, especially a horrendously realized idea of elliptical hemmed shorts thrown over dresses and tunics.

Lai's looks were best when she kept the trickery to a minimum and focused on showing easy, relaxed assemblages that expressed her philosophy of dressing more succinctly than her experimentations with layering and proportions. A Gunmetal Grey ensemble had grace and ease and a restrained seriousness that was quietly powerful and sensual with it's off-shoulder top and flowing skirt. Or, witness the effectiveness of the slouchy Black suit with rope string ties, that languidly oscillated about the body in a nonchalant and casual manner. Here, was where Lai showed her skills and made the most impactive statements. Although, some of her more experimental works were not always a success, those moments when they were, counterpointed the more mainstream pieces well and showed a idiosyncratic diversity, it made for a collection that one could not easily dismiss or forget.





That's All.





Bye4Now.