In an
ocean of clothes, in a sea of me too looks, in a time when fashion is blurred
and at a time when fashion needs a dose of reality there is Hermès. Don’t
get me wrong, it may look like clothes that anyone can wear and some will say it is just more boring than
imaginative but these are clothes that appeal to the most discerning, the most
affluent and to only those who understand why these are the clothes of timeless
elegance and understatement. IMAGINE that … understated. So no, these wont set
the world afire nor will they race the hearts of the fawning media and
worldwide fashion victims but they are covetous, exquisite and a silent signal
that their wearer knows a thing or two about clothes and oh yeah he is unmistakably
RICH! Ms. Nichanian really could have
done without the fanny packs and the dropped crotch sloppy pants as they just
look absurd when placed in context of the collection but let’s talk about the
croc inset bomber or the shearling cable sweaters or for that matter almost any
leather piece and how about the grey flannel mega-Birkin!
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So now,
if Hermès is the silent signal of chic and understatement, then Balmain is
the lit on fire billboard in Times Square for look at me clothes. It is just a cacophony of pattern, color and
clothes just piled on as if people wear them like that. Rousteing is clearly
from the more is better school of fashion. The problem is that anyone who
actually does wear them as shown is either a celebrity who got them for free or
the ultimate fashion victim with lots of money to burn. Rousteing has a talent and maybe even a lot of it but frankly,
this is getting boring no matter how over the top the presentations may be.
Sadly I keep thinking these are clothes for H&M and not top tier retailers.
It also occurs to me that he has played this androgyny card to the point where
a lot of it might be considered drag rather than asexual and costume rather
than wardrobe. The Chanel cardigans, the kimono wrap jackets and cascading
collars on sweaters and even shearlings are aesthetically pleasing but please
tell me who is buying them and where these clothes are being worn. This is not street
wear, they are not club clothes and they surely are not clothes for the office.
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In the
end we all know who the Hermès customer is or aspires to be but who exactly
can afford thousands if not 10s of thousands to own Balmain’s collection of
“aren’t I fabulous” fashion? Let’s just say that if Balmain continues with this
over the top excess recipe, their growth potential is hardly exponential! Oopsy
I made a funny!
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