Monday, September 29, 2014

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci .. Paris ..spring 2015



So, if Tom Ford, Christian Lacroix, Olivier Rousteing, Azzedine Alaia, Alexandre Vauthier, Donatellamommamia and Ricky tickey tacky collectively hatched a collection it would be this one! There was more leather, whip stitching, grommets, studs and lashing than at the Folsom Street fair.
Despite all the over top leather pieces and so many other extravagantly expensive and over the top pieces, this collection looked pretty amazing. My issues are multifold and they will be enumerated below:

1-each season in my memory Mr. Tisci delivers a collection that is meant to shock and defy any of the house’s original DNA other than the DNA he has constructed. Many of these seasonal collections might be referred to as outrageous or unwearable or just patently absurd. Let me rephrase that would only be the case only if one admits to the reality and not to the media hype. $500 tee shirts are his forte!

2-with all the new focus on what can only be described as step down couture, meaning the techniques used by houses such as Balmain, Valentino and other brands who have taken to using these most time consuming techniques for ready to wear and charging accordingly, this Spring collection fits the bill to a tee. The price tags for many of the really fabulous stand out pieces must be upwards of $5,000.

3-how can any brand or maison develop a collection each season that bears no common thread to the previous one other than a label. The point is that either Tisci is the Sybil of all designers as there is no visual recognition by style for this house or brand. Can it possibly be beneficial that each season a particular brand needs to attract a different clientele other than the seriously afflicted fashion addict? To what end??


4-at the risk of being totally impartial, even me... yes me... must admit the collection is mighty fabulous but one could never guess what the label would be or who designed it; let alone the laser focus of who could wear this and Isn’t the point of building a brand to invoke a loyalty with a client? My take here is that the mother ship, Kering, is all about buzz and bucks and not about brand identity at all. It would be logical to assume as well that Tisci is in this for the glory and the ego and flexing his media muscle! N’est ce pas?

5-lastly, how long do you think this will go on? How long do you think Tisci will be given free reign? It is my belief that he is perceived as a commodity to the business of fashion and will used to generate dollars in any way the mother ship sees fit and when they are done with him he will be tossed aside like so many before him. Changes are afoot!

Always remember ... you are only as good as your last collection and in these times if it aint selling you aint staying! And even worse, you might be thought of as a shaman who can heal the lepers or the dying if you catch my drift!

PS .. one last thing.. it is true, even I must admit, there are some out of this world pieces here!

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