So I know that the shows happened in September but I've been a little busy with my life in Paris to sit down and really take stock of the collections. But perhaps January, staring down the barrel of European Spring (and willing it to arrive with all my might!), is in fact a pertinent time to reflect on what's coming.
Printemps-ete 2010
La Petite Nicola's take on the collections shown at Paris.
Part One
Dior
Love the silk knicker-shorts, the defined and high waist, the dashes of purple, the corsetry and the lingerie-esque nature of pieces.
Chanel
Def a Lily Allen fan, well played. Like the palette, it's refined without being boring or prematurely aging the models. Again, loving the sheer. Especially like the sheer white dress/jacket that comes to mid-thigh with puff sleeves and baby ruffles to finish (Natalie Portman wears it on the latest cover of.....Elle?). Shoes are moche (ug-lee).
YSL
Leather halter neck dress? Ew. Even the models look terrible in their over-sized collars, excess fabric and strange lines. (As for those errant strawberries!) One or two outfits really work, but they're more classic in their look (long pencil skirts with high waists, refined shape and the pleating work kept to a minimum.) According to the show notes, Pilati sought "...an aesthetic paradigm of new minimalism." Riiiiiight.....
Louis Vuitton
Moche, moche, moche, moche, moche. Those afros, those hideous shoes (they look like the escaped from a Doctor Zeuss book), the apallingly liberal use of lime green. And those shorts that ended an inch above the knee- all the models needed were bicycles and they could have ridden back twenty years onto the film set of "My Girl." I often split fashion into one of two groups- aspirational and inspirational. Aspirational is a look we try and mimic, we wish we looked like that. Inspirational is for the zanier stuff that needs diffusing before seeing the harsh light of day; fashion concentrate. But Marc is making me think I need a third cateogry: tragic. As in, a tragic waste of time, energy and money.
Balenciago par Nicholas Ghesquiere
Strange. Strange in the way the original mod-con looks of the 60's must have been strange. And with a similar feel, in fact. Splashes of fluro green, orange and pink on a collection largely in gunmetal grey and shades of indigoblack. The slashed leather miniskirt look isn't for everyone. Not are the slashed tops, for that matter. But to be honest I'm just relieved not to be looking at Marc's carwreck anymore.
Lanvin
Clever lighting made for a dramatic show. It's like Elbaz succeeds at what YSL wanted to do. Swathes of fabric draped, pulled, tucked and pinned into dresses. Oversized, wavy ruffles used to accentuate the hips or shoulders and everywhere I look I see nipped in waists. Heaven. Even the sequin-encrusted jump suits have a lifespan beyond the catwalk. And definitely the most successful use of lime green yet. (Perhaps the secret lies in only using the colour ONCE!)
Valentino
The shoes! O the celestial confection that is their SHOES. The poofs of tulle, wisps of lace, whorls of silk. Despite their whimsy, the stilletos seem to ground the outfits- I think this is the solidness of their black contrasted with the beige palette. This is broken only by shades of grey, including a lilac-grey (that could, in all honesty, probably have been left at home that day) and of course black. I'm enjoying the attention to detail, like the lace used to make the inner pants pockets of a sheer organza jumpsuit. Their break from red is marked: it is an anti-crimson collection. There would certainly not have been any tacking some on at the end.
Miu Miu
I'm just not so sure about the cut outs. Or the lines. The patterns are cute, but I'd expect to see them in a Liberty collection, used in a more classic manner. The collection looks confused, and not in a cheeky, contrasts kind of way.
Givenchy
Sharp, graphic, stripes, ruffles and zigzags. I see some wearability peeking through the OTTness. But what on EARTH was Tisci THINKING with those pencil hats? The girls look like Derwents. That or the KKK stripped bare.
Balmain
Black, khaki, bronzes (both in fabrics and detailing), leather. The texture of Decarnin's collection is distictively different to the tulled-softness of most others. HIs is shiney, hard, tough. Sleek women with 'tude. And boots, lots of laced up tall ankle boots.
Alexander McQueen
What the avatars of Cameron's film would have been wearing if it weren't computer generated. Surreal, etheral in an under-the-sea way. Strong shoulders, little waists and tall, TALL platforms.
Chloe
Relaxed, slouchy, white/beige palette. Pay a fortune, look like a bag lady. Except for the thick-strapped sandals. They're channeling Jesus.
Comme des Garcons
They're wearing fairyfloss on their head. Which might not have been such a bad thing, if it were all traditional pink-flavour. But no, there is lime, violet and a particularly brassy mango shade. I'll be generous and place her collection in the "inspirational" category. Although Kawakubo's particular brand of fashion concentrate probably needs distilling a few times over before it BEGINS to make sense.
Celine
Frankly Philo should have stayed at Chloe- I'm not sure her move was worth the loss. Strange high-waisted a line mini skirts (in leather?) and bizarre leather tee-shirts. Here, the exclusive use of beige, black and white and the clunky shoes are bor-RING.
Junya Watanabe
Black and white. Graphic, mostly of the squared variety. The large square patterned blazers looks like the girls stole them from the Circus Oz costume rack, and possibly the checked brogues too. Apparently his theme was menswear for women. Sure, if by men you mean Bozo.
John Galliano
What a show! Blahnik once describe Galliano as a "funky little fashion troll" and looking at the colleciton (and at him afterwards) is seems apt. Colour, lace, feathers, clashing lines. At the same time as exhibiting a somewhat nutty collaboration of effects, Galliano never seems to forget that it is actual WOMEN (albeit of the model variety) who wear his clothes. We see their waists, or their chests, or their arms or legs shozn to their advantage. Fashion concentrate of the best kind.
Hermes
Classic with a sports twist. Cream and navy, contrast piping, tennis-style skirt pleats, bathing suits, forehead bands, socks.
Jean Paul Gaultier
It looks as though Gaultier spent too much time on the Hermes collection and had to pull together something at the last minute for his own. Which could explain why it looks like something the cat dragged in. Then ate. Then threw up. It's all about reusing his iconic lingerie in different ways but it just looks....regurgitated, rather than reinterpreted.
Stella McCartney
Electric blue, dark beige, grey, traditional denim, lace, corn yellow, turquoise blue and white. Sound mismatched? It looks mismatched. Vogue describes fashion as "the magic of simply slipping into an outfit and not having to think about it for the rest of the day." If you slipped on a piece of Stella not thinking about it for the rest of the day is exactly what you'd have to do, in order to avoid ripping it off and swapping your outfit with the homeless guy on the corner. Or at the very least having a strange "Did I trip and fall back to 1994?" moment.
Still to come: Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld, Sonia Rykiel, Vivienne Westwood, Rick Owens, Dries Van Noten, Cacharel and more........
