Joseph.

Mon. 02/23/2015.

Joseph.

Savage. Raw. Powerful. All words that convey the nearly Pre-Historic Cave Woman Elegance of the Fall 2015 Joseph collection designed Superbly by Louise Trotter. It was neither a Conventional or Easy to Love collection, but it was one of those that moves you to your core! Trotter's collection had a Brutal and Organic Minimalism to it that made it look Offhanded, when it was all rather quite complex. Every exit was Finely Calibrated to Resonate with the one that came before and after it, so that you felt as if there was a Circular and Continuous Narrative to the collection. 

Filled with intellectually, as well as sartorially stimulating clothes, Trotter served up a bounty of Smart, Interesting pieces for the Modern, Deconstructionist Woman. The Nomadic, Artfully Disheveled look was expertly presented with Luxe outerwear and crafty, organic sportswear replete with twisty shapes, intricate draping and restrained colourations. Trotter was as Thoughtful and Considered as her customer IS, and will BE with such garments. They never really Suggested the body, but they cleverly accentuated it, even with all the strapless pieces, there was a Dignity to these clothes that never sidled into the Flirtatious. This is a Cerebral Woman, who doesn't need the power of her body to achieve anything, including Sex and Seduction.

Everything, pretty much was of an Exceptional Ilk, From Anna Cleveland's Zip front Plaid Blanket coat, reconstructed with a floppy Portrait collar and to the hem Lapel, to the Dropped sleeve Neanderthalian, Brown Mink jacket that was dual mix Savage and Elegant ! Even more Exciting, the Cocooning feel of the Rapturously Deluxe Knits in Long, Chunky sweaters and matching Skirts that showed plenty of Leg, but never were Salacious! And, the Trio of Patched together Slip dresses wrought from Silk Scarves, were a feat of Technical Brilliance and Sensual Exquisiteness!

Trotter is a New-ish voice in the fashion landscape, though not in the world of Fashion having been at Joseph for years before deciding to take it to the Catwalk. Her voice is an Original one, as well as a Vibrant one, and one that I have no fear of losing the love of the Sound of!






That's All.





Bye4Now!

Giles.

Mon. 02/23/2015.

Giles.

Even though the Models may have been Campily Vamping it up and the Clothes had more than just a Hint of the Gothic about them, Giles Deacon Fall 2015 show was actually a more Subtle affair than the presentation may have insinuated it was. The clothes themselves, Elaborate though they may have been, in reality, approached something more Wearable and Communicative than usual for Deacon. Deacon infused a more, "Madame" nature into the clothes that, even though there was a Perverse sense of the Macabre, made sure the garments on display never ventured into the realm of Outlandishly Unwearable. 

In all due Honesty, with all the Theatrics and High Drama a la Le Grand Guignol, the clothes didn't fully live up to the hype. Deacon is more at home when he is Pushing limits and Going WAY out on a Limb, it's the place where he does his best work and where is Imagination Burns the Brightest. Here, it felt more like Costume and Vacuous. There was no Depth to the work. It was a Bawdy fun time and produced Major Moments of Fashion Love, But that Deacon sense of Tap Dancing on the Fine Edge of a Greased Razor Blade was missing, to coin a Macabre Phrase to go along with the setting, Like it's Heart had been ripped right out it's chest! 

Maybe that was the reason for all the Play-Acting... everything was so conformist, it needed a little Drama to give the pieces life. This IS the man who put a Giant Bat (Of the Winged Rodent kind) on the head of Binx Walton Not too long ago! As it lay, Deacon did put on one Helluva Show, However therein lay the rub, Cus even with the clothes being Quite Lovely, This effort felt like it was nothing more than Just for Show! 

That's All.

Bye4Now!

Hunter Original.

Mon. 02/23/2015.

Hunter Original.

Spectacular and Directional Outerwear is the Name of the Game at Hunter Original. Alasdhair Willis has been Kicking things up a few notches every season at Hunter and is proving he is on to something. Yet the tedium is about to start to set in and Willis would do himself an Extraordinary amount of good to take a Page or two from Giambattista Valli who Reinvigorated the Moncler Gamme Rouge Label by now moving it into Sportswear and More. The Strolling out of Coat after Coat after Lovely Coat can grow stale ever so quickly, and if that's all he continues to produce, that Staleness will set in before Willis even knows it!

The Fall 2015 show was dominated by Puffy pieces and shone best when the Puff was deflated and some Real tailoring was shown,  A short Black and Charcoal Buttonless Spencer was Splendid paired with Black Corduroy Culottes and a Army Olive Poncho had Wardrobe Staple written all over it. All-In-All not a Spectacular showing, but a Positive one, If Willis can cure the Monotony and bring in some real design and some Sportswear, he might just have something great on his hands, if not... the ride won't last very long! 

That's All.

Bye4Now!

Christopher Kane.

Mon. 02/23/2015.

Christopher Kane.

As with most Christopher Kane collections, Fall 2015 had way too many Non Sequitur ideas going on for the collection to feel as if it was all part of the same show. The passages came Fast and Thick and just as you were about to get a bead on something or get to digest that idea, Kane shoves another course down your throat and you still haven't really finished with the previous one. Maybe in Kane's Fast Working mind, the sections make sense as a whole, unfortunately, I am not of the same mind and this was again an experience in the Discontinuous.

We know Velvet was a big thing for Kane the season, as was the Anatomy of the Body, taken to it's furthest point in the finale of anatomically correct Shadow figures interconnected in a Orgy of Limbs and Breasts and Cocks. Whereas Kane may have been going for Shocking, it transgressed well past Shocking or Gratuitous and into the Macabre! It wasn't Clever, or Controversial... It was downright Unsettling! The lifeless panels of Human length Lace, Swirled together to make the pieces, portrayed more of a Necrophiliac frisson than one of Scientific Exploration and Depiction. A bunch of Limp, Lifeless Bodies arranged in some Morose Tableaux Vivant around the body. 

Aside from that, Kane's tailoring skills and dynamic imagination were on display in the best pieces of the show, A sleeveless Sheath with graceful Velvet panels inset into them, looking like Silhouetted shadows of the Human form were Exquisite and Vibrant, As was a Muddy Blue Croc embossed Leather coat that was as Chic as Hell. Though it was a Black Velvet coat with Jewel shiny, Push-Click closures that was Prim and Modern but simmered with a gentle undercurrent of Sensual that Stole the Show! 

Kane again was trying so desperately hard to prove just how Clever and Astute he is as a designer and also, how Facile technically he is. As is the case when he goes off on these "Look At Me and My Talent" Tangents, they seem Vacuous and Permissive, He Knows he is Talented, WE Know he is Talented. For him to always brandish this fact and trying to Impress with his Aptitude is quite Bluntly, Snotty! He'd go further with letting the technique do the talking and not the narrative or his Vainglorious desire to demonstrate just how creatively Dexterous he is! 

That's All.

Bye4Now!

Burberry Prorsum.

Mon. 02/23/2015.

Burberry Prorsum.

Honestly. Not Christopher Bailey's best showing for Fall 2015. There's no need to go into Stultifying, Elaborate detail, It just missed on most fronts that it was aiming to succeed on. The prints and colours were akin to dreadful, (What is it with these WRETCHED colours this season!? Fall 2015 is shaping up to be the Season of the Queasy Colour Mix!) and the Boho Granny gone Sexy look was a misjudgment of incalculable measure. Bailey was calling this mishmash, "Patchwork, Patterns and Prints" and that it was, a veritable Hodgepodge of all, and none of it added up to more than Confusion. 

The collection was hopping on board that Steaming Juggernaut of 70's Hippie/Boho inspiration that has infected the Fall 2015 collections like the Strigoi, What the worst part of that co-opting is essentially, Bailey added not one single iota of anything fresh or interesting to that ongoing conversation this season and Even more of a Fault, this collection felt entirely all too familiar. Bailey has been Trawling these Waters at length and has not dredged up anything special in a while. The Inflection this season may have been somewhat different but the Dialect was the same. 

The Saving Grace was that Bailey is no Amateur, and even in a weak collection he has many pieces that will beat even most great designers on their best day! Every variation of Fringed Cape/Poncho and Tapestry printed Trench was a winner without question! The Patchworked and Hand-Painted Suede versions were mouthwateringly luscious! As also were the PLUSH Furs that garnered much lustful admiration. But the Heartstopper of the collection was a Drop Dead Sensational Fringed Yoke Buttonless Suede Trench in Toast! It Sang out among all the Eccentricity, a Lone Bell in the Distance of an overcrowded Wood! It was Fantastic! 

Bailey knows how to make stunning collections from Front to Back... But this one was not one of them! The theme was played out, the hearty Belting of singer Claire Maguire was a trope that Bailey should put to Death, Immediately for his shows, and the clothes felt Contrived and Gimmicky. The simplest pieces in the collection were the best and the really, truly, utterly and inexorably radical thing for Bailey to do would be to strip all that Extraneous Detritus away and offer a paired back, Clean, Simple collection of Really Strong, Unfussy clothes. Now, that would be something to Sing About, Indeed! 

That's All.

Bye4Now!

Erdem.

Mon. 02/23/2015.

Erdem.

More interesting a matter than a Designer having a Sprawling, Gothic Narrative and Backstory to attach to His/Her collection, Is how Fanatically some Fashion Writers will look for Nuance and Impart in every little thing as to spin a Yarn about a collection so that they can relish in the sound of their own voice and Self-Satisfyingly diddle themselves with their Cleverness and Astuteness. Reading Some reviews by a couple of Writers who Rhapsodically Over Indulge in the Masturbatory Delectation of their written words (The EVER Prosaic Tim Blanks and Sarah Mower) the desire to actually seek out deeper meaning in a Designer's collection is THOROUGHLY Squelched by their Puerile and Vapid Preening and Incessant need to be "The Most Verbally Adroit Kid in Class!" Well, they win that Medal! 

In both reviews that I waded through by Blanks and Mower, I was only mildly taken aback at how both Manifested this Autobiography of Erdem Moralioglu's Phantom Woman that he concocted for his Fall 2015 show, out of the Ether! As for the Designer himself,  Moralioglu's Invisible muse took shape after visiting a Art installation in Oct. 2014 at the Frieze Masters Art Fair put on by Robin Brown for the Helly Nahmad Gallery called "The Collector" which in essence was an elaborately detailed "Mise en Scene" of an empty apartment fully appointed with all manner of Accoutrement and Objets that belonged to a Non-Existent Parisian Art Collector, one would have to guess, to Moralioglu's Fertile mind, all that was missing were the Clothes.

So, He designed them! With Brown's help Moralioglu designed a Set to Mimic a Fragment, a Segment of the Installation, and in it's way, became more Provocative and, Slightly Sinister, for it. There was a Claustrophobia surrounding this Intimate set that was hard to escape and it added a layer of the Unhinged to things, as if one was trapped in some tiny box of an almost Stephen King imagining where the "Visual Memories" of Moralioglu's Heroine strode forth from the dark to Bedevil (perhaps even, Torment) our intrepid Heroine.

Moralioglu's collection was, Per his Press for the show, A woman from an Affluent past who lives in a world of Faded Glamour where she is surrounded by the Vestiges of said past and has in her own way brought together the elements of the halcyon days with a modern touch for a slightly Offbeat Amalgam of Past, Present and Future. The clothes did an Excellent job of communicating this without all of the Enraptured mental Gymnastics that some put into the show. The collection was Yes,  Quite Beautiful and Emotionally Stirring. Yet, It wasn't exactly one of Moralioglu's Most intriguing. It had a Celia Birtwell-meets-Alberta Ferretti vibe going for it that made it seem a little.. Derivative and while producing some Impactful "WOW" Pieces, it erred a little too much on the Overly Studied. Not to go all Tim Blanks, But one would have imagined the Woman being envisaged by Moralioglu to be a Trifle more Spontaneous and Courageous in her Fashion, This, Felt Safe. Eccentric... Well... perhaps, But Still, Safe.

A Black coat with a Needle Punched Vivid Shocking Pink Brocade hem was of the most Exquisite Caliber, as was a Cutwork Leather outfit in Black on Leila Nda. Aside from that... Status Quo. This isn't to take away any of the beauty of the work seen here, but only to inform that Moralioglu has done collections where he has reached farther outside his Safe Zone and done more Rewarding pieces. On the Whole, It may have been the Intricate Narrative which detracted Moralioglu's attention away from giving a more Exciting Roundup. The Story seemed somewhat more Compelling than the clothes, The risks in the collection were negligible and Although Exquisite in places, Ultimately, The Story was the best part of the Show!





That's All.





Bye4Now!

Antonio Berardi.

Mon. 02/23/2015.

Antonio Berardi.

If the Goal that was trying be achieved was to Consternate and Dismay, then Antonio Berardi plotted a trajectory that landed squarely home on that course of action with his Fall 2015 collection! How Berardi let this tragic lapse in judgement leave the Workroom is a bizarre Mystery in need of solving. The Asymmetrically folded Flamenco Ruffles, the strange and alien gathered bunches of fabric at the hem, the inflated volumes... It was so Appalling and downright Outlandish that it almost seemed Revolutionary, and in the spirit of drinking the Kool-Aid, it began to grow on you, despite your better judgement. 

Berardi let the collection best him on an immense scale, it was so much wrong going on, that the right things in the collection got shoved out into the margins and forgotten. Berardi's tailoring was as always, right on target. However, not content to let that be enough, Berardi began futzing around with the fabric, Swooping it and Folding and Inflating and Ruffling it, inspired as he was by that most overrated Architect of the Eyesore, Frank Gehry and his recent Catastrophe, The Foundation Louis Vuitton Pour la Creation.

As the collection meandered towards it's end, Berardi's experiments began to make a home in one's Imagination and somehow, as still undeniably unattractive as they were, a sense of Atrocious Beauty set in and one could see the Odd viability of these options. It was the most curious of sensations and caused one to reflect on the clothes in a new light. It was still troubling in the deepest meaning of the word, but that became something to be embraced and in a way, applauded!

Berardi managed to accomplish an improbable feat, creating something distractingly Unattractive and imbuing it with novel beauty and unique interest. Not all was of this precious Ilk, but the pieces that were, stuck in the imagination and took root there. It wasn't by any means Great, but it was provocatively Arousing and Stimulating!





That's All.





Bye4Now!