Sunday, June 25, 2017

Hermès et Balmain men's spring 18




The yin and yang ….  The Spartan minimalist versus the designer from the more is better school of design.
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge


There comes a time when being low key rich and being overtly embarrassingly rich become unlikely competitors in a market aimed at so called fashionable men…and the word men  is used very loosely here in some cases.
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge


Rousteing obviously never got the memo about loose more relaxed pants when in fact some of his were so tight you might have been able to discern a model’s religion which is to say that this style aspect narrows the audience considerably. Balmain is all about the jacket and leathers ….  and by that I do not mean the tailored jacket as we know it but the over the top, balls out, look at me, everything but the kitchen sink jacket and the same goes about his leather treatments! The heavy chain bordering many jackets is an allusion the way that Chanel once weighted her jackets around the hem on the interior of her cardigan jackets. The oversized specs worn by some of the pretty boys might been an allusion to YSL, of the Yves variety and then there were the Breton/mariner stripes which were translated into grey and black done with  beads and sequins … which by the way were pretty amazing. The point is that other than the late Michael Jackson,  who might have given up little boys in exchange for closets full of these jackets,  where and who is wearing these clothes let alone who can afford them since the jackets run into the 5 figures. The workmanship is sublime, the message is clear but when one of the supposed great fashion arbiters/editrix of our times can only remark about the music after the show …. Well need I say more?
 
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

Now, we move to the polar opposite where Veronique Nichanian has decided that the Hermès man needs to blend in to the point of mediocrity despite the wildly luxe materials and the over the top prices. I understand that Hermès has never been about look at me fashion and much more about being well dressed in clothes made of the finest materials and manufactured with the highest standards of craftsmanship. This season’s incarnation brings the brand to a democratization and homogenization that crosses into the banal and pedestrian while bowing to trends in an almost absurdly  slavish and needless way. I mean really girl, glossy drawstring track pants, and a preponderance of trainers on the feet with all sorts of silly oversized windbreakers/outerwear paired with almost clownishly full legged puddling pants? Me thinks Veronique either needs to rethink this direction or say it’s time for me to go. Aside from a few screamingly stratospherically expensive jackets and tops... what happen to the urbane polish that was part and parcel of the brand? Who of this income bracket is aspiring to look like one of the crowd or like a kid albeit in the most costly of ways? Hermès has never been and my guess is will never be about a “youthquake” so why debase the brand and yourself into thinking you can make that happen? One more time you need to ask yourself why fix what’s not broken?
click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

No comments:

Post a Comment