Monday, February 29, 2016

Giorgio Armani Fall 2016 Milano MFW



Duh oh!! No trend is the trend unless of course you consider that Giorgio Armani is his own trend which he adheres to and massages season after season. Some of the faux critics will decry this as old and been there done that and even some of the so called media elite will find fault but the fact remains that this is a man who knows his client, has a signature and keeps the words like slick, tasty, fashionable, luxe, soigne, urbane and all of those so called antediluvian descriptors.. Well he keeps them in the fashion lexicon!

 
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Armani is trend-less yet never endingly inventive season after season. Whether you like it or not is no the issue but one cannot deny that these are clothes that are meant to be worn. He offers a virtual smorgasbord of jackets and always with that little nuance introduced like the contrast flap pockets or lapel treatments, he overindulges in velvet like no one else but then again, once upon a time velvet was an integral part of EVERY European fall collection. The silhouettes are trim without being second skin, pants are pervasive, even when worn under a dress and then of course this was a collection that back in black! There is his penchant for exquisite fabrications, his spartan styling this season and even the models were reflective of the clothes. In essence, no prepubescent girls and no men who looked like they hadn’t had their first shave yet. If you can’t tell, I am much happier with no trend than with those pretend that trend is fashion and hide behind a press release!


 
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Armani is an acquired taste, no doubt, but he is astoundingly consistent in his message and he has stayed his course no matter what anyone has ever said about his collections. He remains a designer in charge of a mega business that bucks no interference from critics or big business boards and so I say qui รจ il re... look it up!

 
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PS .. just so you don’t think I am blindly fawning here.. I really could have lived without the Dufy-esque prints!

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Salvatore Ferragamo Fall 2016 MFW



Well, I’m onto this no trend is the trend concept. While the fashion world is romancing black and fur one more time for fall 2016, Massimiliano Giornetti has decided Salvatore Ferragamo will be about color and I mean smack you in the face color with winter white and black as the palette cleansers.
 
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Admittedly the first viewing of the collecting is a bit jarring, but upon a second more incisive look, the clothes are a stand-alone beautiful expression of what happens when designers design and speak to their clientele and not look over their shoulder.
 
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Okay, so let us speak of the pinked/reptilian/ rick rack edging or seaming, buttons as ornamentation, pleating, horizontal color blocking, zippers, layers/tiers and knits ... oh yeah COLOR! All of these elements add up to a collection that has great polish and yet there is an artsy craftsy edge to it that gives it a dose of light heartedness as well as serious superb craftsmanship. Knits are happening every way imaginable, zippers are releasing and embellishing, and the chevron patterning is just knocking your socks off. The collection as a whole is extremely graphic and bold which is something that few will ever attempt. Without question this is also a collection that is feminine in the way that it focuses on the waist as well as being more on the body conscious side rather than the pervasive 3 sizes too big concept.
 
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To my eyes, this is a less serious Ferragamo and maybe it is because fashion as a whole has taken itself way too seriously lately with far too much blah blah blah and not enough of what actually backs up these iterations. This is a collection that will speak from the racks and it will beckon the client to buy or at the very least to try on. Some of the shoes are fabulous as well as the patterned boots but, for me, the mink shoe could have been left on the drawing board even if it does seem a bit kitschy at this point. On the other hand the mink bags are wonderfully fun as is the handbag category in general.
 
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My only regret is that Giornetti didn’t take this season to reprise his excruciatingly beautiful fall 2011 collection  that was of similar graphic quality. Giornetti has proven himself to be a more than a worthy/capable designer in both men’s and women’s and each season he affords us another chapter in the evolution of the brand under his tutelage.
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PS ... take note that there is very little evening wear in the collection and this is surely a reaction to the fact that so many designers have focused on evening and tossed aside  the daywear category.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Ermanno Scervino MFW fall 2016





Admittedly, this is not a collection that I usually follow but desperate times require desperate measures and that means I am looking at most collections whether familiar territory or not. Well, here it paid off as I am happy to say that this is a collection that actually looks like a collection meaning day, cocktail and evening clothes.  Huzzah!

 
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Without even knowing much about the designer, it was apparent that this is designed by a designer with a skill set that demonstrates a deep understanding of the past and present of fashion. In plain words, Mr. Scervino has a respect and depth of knowledge that spans longer than the 15 minutes which most designers seem to think is sufficient.

 
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When is the last time we saw real ensembles ... you remember those... coats and dresses! Then of course there is the overview of a collection that actually looks as if it was designed and not punched out by a neophyte design team lead by an unqualified so called creative director  and all  trying to be the latest and greatest while delivering just another me too collection.

 
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Yes, this is what fashion was and still can be when collections are executed with deft hand and a sense of reality that overshadows the popular so called wisdom of a fawning and uninformed media. Some truly standout pieces such as the leopard coats, the laces, the suits and coats and yes they are pretty much ageless even though some may skew to the extremes. For me, I was quite taken by the suitings in particular a brown heavy tween, the blacks and a few of the herringbone pieces. As I have said before, imagine clothes that re actually salable and that you can imagine women wearing ... what a concept!

 
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For a relatively nascent independent designer business I say KUDOS to you and your brand of fashion.
 
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PS  ... maybe the new trend is no trend!

Bottega Veneta Fall 2016 MFW



Well in my never ending on again off again love affair with Bottega Veneta and Tomas Maier, I am in love this season. Maier has a way of casting Bottega as one of those chic stylish collections when he doesn’t let his penchant for artsy craftsy get in the way and this season he is all about slick and polished ... well for the most part. Bottega was always about understated elegance and while Maier has certainly dialed up the design quotient, he hasn’t deserted the brand’s DNA.
 
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If you have been paying attention to the preponderance of trendoid collections that pervade runaways, you will also note than descriptors such as chic, urbane, soigne and salable have been omitted or disappeared from the fashion vocabulary. Facts are facts and one of them is that most of these collections cannot be afforded by millennials no matter how young the models might be,  how supposedly young the collection might be and who the so called designer thinks wears his or her clothes. Tomas Maier speaks to his clients who are moneyed and independent women who crave clothes to be worn and become part of their timeless wardrobes. Mission accomplished!
 
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Along with the aforementioned adjectives, there is another set of descriptors that has crept out of fashion’s lexicon and they are subtle, discreet, polished, slick and salable. Once again Maier offers a collection that speaks to all of these “ideas” and concepts...  imagine that!!!
 
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For me, the clothes speak for themselves as well as for what this brand stands for, so I say Kudos to you Tomas Maier.