It's always hard, First Collections at a New Maison. Especially when you are already a WELL Established Designer. It's fundamentally Brutal merging the Aesthetics of the House with your personal DNA and trying to make those two divergent elements cohere. So, I won't take Jason Wu TOO Much to task for creating a Disappointingly Uneven, Weak and Let's be Honest, Pointedly Unattractive show for his Debut at Hugo Boss. There were Moments of Brilliance, Some so Phenomenal as to Stun into Disbelief, but it was mostly... How to be Delicate... Ill-Conceived and Achieved and Damnably Awkward.
Ungainly. That's how much of the collection came off. First on the list of Bad Decisions... Those HIDEOUS Midi Skirts with the front slit and that totally off-putting side drape pleat... then Pair that with Flat, mannish Loafer. Unacceptably Horrid! And Confusingly enough, the Jacket that surmounted it was a Work of Couture like perfection. However, coupled with that Travesty of a Skirt... No. Just NO! The coat that followed, Magic!
One thing that also stood out about this collection and For None of the right reasons, It bore too much of a resemblance to Narciso Rodriguez's Work when he was at Cerutti and to a lesser degree, Michael Kors when he was at Celine. It was, at times, Uncomfortably similar. Not that, as we know, all fashion moments revolve and come back around, Of course they do, but this looked like just slightly tweaked plagiarism.
Onwards... Wu's Trompe L'Eoil Jackets and Slim line coats that looked like they were topped by a Sharp little Bolero were Absolutely BRILLIANT and Made me want to weep, But his High waisted cuts on dress and Granny Proportions were just Old and Aging looking. Not Young or Fresh or even possessing the Ironic edginess of a Prada... A Black Leather shell and Plaid/Solid patchwork skirt at Exit No. 14 showed that when Wu kept things edited, They succeeded beyond measure!
Exit No. 29, Albeit Smashing, was one of those pieces that SCREAMED Celine during MK's Reign there. Nonetheless, Gorgeous! Exit No. 34 though was the Top piece in the collection, it had Couture Ingenuity and Execution and could have fit in a Dior Couture show and no one would have been the wiser, It was that Special! After this Zenith of design, the Nadir couldn't be far behind. The final evening pieces were Frumpy and Overworked, Lead weights dragging the collection even further into the Murky depths.
This was Wu's Maiden Voyage at Maison Hugo Boss. He can be forgiven for creating such an incoherent mess as this, which when he kept things Tailored, Strict and Simple everything worked out Wonderfully. When Wu tried experimenting, it blew up in his face. I wish I could say, that with one season under his belt that for Spring '15 Wu will have shaken out the Jitters and come back with a Confidently Assured presentation, but looking at how his work at his own Casa De Moda has devolved over the past few seasons, there is no Proof to back that Assumption!
That's All.
Bye4Now!
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