Monday, April 4, 2016

Azzedine Alaïa RTW Fall 2016




Alaïa told WWD he opted to present his collection much later than everybody else in Europe simply because his clothes can’t be made with a stopwatch. “I took the time necessary to create them,” .. Imagine that!!!
 
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While giving the fashion world the fashion finger by showing a month after all the fawners and buyers have vacated Paris, Alaïa offered a collection that one might label “Alaïa Lite.” Banished were the second skin, get lucky quick dresses that have been synonymous with his brand and instead he showed an “eased up” mood as a great new addition. Do not misconstrue this to mean he became some me too collection like Celine and Chloe nor did he even gesture toward the idiocy of Vetements or Jacquemus.
 
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This was a collection that has been actually designed to signal a shift in the designer’s mind as to how he wants his client to dress. The outstanding outerwear including the severely surgical  like precision jackets and coats, the enveloping portrait collars, the variations in lengths, the overall softness of the dresses were all part of the message. Then of course there was the statement of a more varied use of materials, including, leather which was in short supply, feathers, fur, sequins, lace and more; knits took a center stage. The visuals went from a liturgical purity to hot stuff with everything in between. One might even go so far as to call a few pieces coquettish or dare I say flirty rather than all out vavavoom!
 
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Some of the mood change can be attributed to those almost empire silhouettes with raised waists and then almost shapeless ethereal columns of lace, patterns all in contrast to the severity of tailoring that has become a signature of Alaïa. The heavy concentration of knits with their self-embellishment and again the startling dearth of the body conscious pieces that have built the designer’s business and reputation have brought forth a new Alaïa to behold.
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