At Zegna the good
news is that Stefano Pilati has found his footing or one should say this is definitely
where he feels at home. The collection comes across as effortlessly designed
and has all the swagger and style of a man who knows exactly what he is doing
and what he is after.
The most apparent aspects of the collection are his use of
muted plaids, the return to an almost “normal” proportion and of course the inherent
exquisite quality of the clothes. There is very little to find fault with whether
it is the layering, palette or a very distinguished grouping of outerwear that
will no doubt reign as one of the best of the best season. Of special note is
the outerwear which I found to be wonderfully imaginative, well-conceived and
well… designed without having any of the bells and whistles that flooded London.
Let’s say that the London collections offered up tonnage of almost
silly or ridiculous possibilities while Mr. Pilati seems to have distilled the
ideas and turned out a sophisticated and marvelously adult collection. To say
that Milan started on the right foot is an understatement! Grazie Signor
Pilati!
And from the sublime to the ridiculous! Enter
Donatellamommamia with Versace! WTF
is on the Signora’s mind? It may be a question for the ages as having once been
a huge fan/consumer of these clothes; I would be hard pressed to even pick 2
things for myself if they were offered free of charge. Besides being heavily
laden with heavily adorned and costumey jean get ups, there is a plethora of choices
for one who wishes to exhibit bad taste. To say that her aim must be a consumer
who craves attention is an understatement. There were brief moments of respite
with instances of beautiful tailoring but alas those moments are overshadowed
by cheap tricks and amateurish theatrics.
In summation we can examine the ticky tacky kitschy western motifs
and themes, freakin chaps cum jeans worthy of any International Male catalog
from 1980s, cod pieces, all this gay iconography mixed with bikini briefs and
fur… sound inviting? Well then c’mon down!! Not to be totally negative , there
was an occasional beautiful coat, blazer or suit but these were so rare as to
be forgotten or let’s say that even the basic well cut blazer was offered with
not just one rifle patch but two and I can only assume that is for the ambidextrous
shooter amongst us. How Missy has taken all the vocabulary of a brand and
ripped it to shreds is of constant amazement.
Last up for today is Dolce
& Gabbana and one can certainly now say...ENOUGH with the photo centric
prints and the wildly heavily influence of these themes. “We get it” …they are
masters of carrying out a theme and of beating it to death but it sure gets a
tedious after what seems endless seasons offering endless themes.
So this season it was medieval and maybe Plantagenet and
maybe some gothic thrown in which meant we see crowns and chain mail effects
and balaclavas and furs, not to mention tunics and studs. One might say some of
it is perfect attire for your next visit to a Renaissance fair. What is
distressing these days, is the themes and scales of the show seem to have
overtaken the intent of the show which means that the clothes have turned to costume
rather than supposedly everyday apparel. Yes the signature tailoring is there
and the abounding design elements and flourishes but where are the clothes? The
silhouette of the tailored apparel is starting to look dated and the seemingly
over thought selections of fabric are just compounding the short comings. Yes,
there is a lot to see and there is even more to dissect on the runway with the
combination of the collections but yikes, guys, give it a rest!
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