Being very “unintellectual” about fashion, my vision is
not tainted by the blah blah blah blah. I am, by my own admission, very shallow
when it comes to fashion. I see clothes and not inspirations and not overly
intellectualized bull... Simply, I see clothes… I even try block out who is
wearing them since I am not a fan of barely teenaged boys playing dress up and
I certainly don’t give a rat’s ass about the staging, front row and venue. If
you have ever shopped ANYWHERE, clothes hang on rails, there are no romance
cards, there are no representatives from each designer to explain the
background/inspiration for each piece, that is to say they just hang there so
all that peripheral ephemeral bullshit in the end
means squat!
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With all this said or ranted, if you will... next up are 2
of the more “outspoken” and out of the ordinary cookie cutter menswear brands … Thom Browne and
Alexander McQueen. At best, both are an acquired taste and when “reviewing”
them one needs to look with a much more discerning and critical eye as there is
usually much more than meets the eye in both cases. Both are collections of
master tailoring and both have stories to tell which again don’t really concern
me BUT sometimes, and rarely, they might just explain a bit about what I’m/you're seeing. So it
must be said that these guys are looked upon with a different set of rules or
parameters in comparison to most of their colleagues when it comes to seasonal appraisals. Both
are so much about the art and craft of fashion …. and not the latest and greatest
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Alexander McQueen… I’m not big on the artsy craftsy
conceptual pieces save for a few but what I am always a fan of is the clothing…
suits, jackets, coats, pants. The multi patterning pieces are just superb and to me
and exemplify the DNA of the brand on a more commercial level but that doesn’t diminish
their design prowess. They are potent standouts in a sea of sameness that
pervades this industry. I can’t even comment on the broderie anglaise, the knits or
the ciré puffer pieces or the once again too often shown everywhere motorcycle
leather drag. For me it is the wools and a select few of the leathers and very
few of the more artisanal pieces but that’s it. It is
not a rave it is not a pan... it is just
MY assessment of what was shown.
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Thom Browne ... well he is a whole other ballgame but the things that keeps me coming back are the workmanship, the outlandish
inconceivable designs that come to life and of course that’s all part of parcel
of the superb tailoring that he utilizes and expounds upon like few others. Do
I think that men should wear dresses… well no not really… do I really believe
in shrunken jackets… box pleated skirts on men … no not really… but I believe
that this designer is true to himself in ways that others only ramble on about.
Browne has some bizarre story to tell each season but look at the pieces as
individuals and not a whole look... I agree the whole look couldn’t possibly be
more absurd or off the grid. To me this is a collection about dissection, piece
by piece one at a time... Take it for what its worth but I will take 1 Thom Browne
against 200 Demnas or 2000 Jeremy Scotts.
And BTW I surely wouldn’t mind a few of
those jackets!
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