CHANEL FALL 2019

Well, one could not have asked for a more fitting send off than what was shown today. Schloss Lagerfeld or Chanel’s Gstaad village was populated by some of the most chic, soigné, urbane, raffiné women who ever walked a run way. This was absolutely Chanel on steroids... Tweedmania and will probably be the best selling collection that Chanel has ever produced.

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

As was said to me very early morning this morning by a colleague of Karl’s “ 30 different styles of coats, 30 different styles of jackets and most designers are pushed to come up with 3” but such was his wildly prolific ability to see it on paper first then to fruition. 

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

The variety is staggering, the accessories pitch perfect and simple palette used to extraordinary affect and not a look passed by… he hit them all and you still wanted more. One of, if not the only, show that made one covet a coat and a sweater... talk about lace matching the knitwear design, talk about fair isles duplicated in silver beading on black, talk about  the simplest of black sequin long sleeved top over white pants and one can just go on and on ..It was just glorious... no detail overlooked. The black tweed jacket with the flame like trim over white pants, the drama of the capes, the sportif of the puffers and even the patent leather came off without a hitch. 

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

Not only have we lost a designer but we lost a designer of the old school who knew more about shows and presentation than any 20 of the so called wunderkinds that are passed off these days as designers of this generation. We are lesser with his absence and fashion has lost a shining star, not to be trite, but he was the brightest of them all in every way. 

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

This was not a collection created by a man with his last breath but with such power and strength and with the ethic that I most adored about him when he said words to the effect... designers should just shut up and design” of course he had the luxury of doing both but it was never to justify a collection, it was his intelligence and erudite knowledge that allowed him to speak on any topic and understand his job!

Since none of us come out of this life alive... I hope in the next life I get to at least sit near Karl!

 

Alexander McQueen fall 2019

Here is a collection that leaves one breathless, astounded and slack jawed!

click image to enlarge

Sarah Burton is the reincarnation of Alexander McQueen and if not the reincarnation then he lives within her; this is one of the most masterful collections … actually, the most masterful collection of the season, she is at her best, the clothes are incredibly rendered in the sharpest and most precise way, the designs are what one should expect when they think of what collection fashion should be.. They are aspirational, enviable and covetous!

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

Tailoring is of course the star but the intricacy, details,  incredible dresses and leathers are hard to beat but then again they have no competition in the arena in anywhere. 

click image to enlarge

Again, this is not a collection for everyone... in any way shape or form. But god they make you salivate. For some reason, I got this Alaïa vibe a few times during the viewing but it doesn’t matter as it was just a vibe not a look.

If there is anything that I can say that was detrimental to the collection it was those prints which one can suppose was to commercialize the collection which sadly didn’t happen or maybe happily and one  red leather dress which looked weighty and clumsy but hell there was so much to love and so much that was exquisite who cares?

click image to enlarge

Kering seems to think they can turn this brand into a juggernaut like Gucci and I say the only way that will happen is if Sarah is fired or quits. This line should never be commercialized and sensationalized with mammoth productions as this is a rare exception where no distraction is needed since the spotlight blindingly shines on the clothes … as it should be.

click image to enlarge

There really aren’t enough words and I don t want to bore you with my gushing of it piece by piece but hell this was surely worth waiting  for … and it’s a fitting run up to the last of Monsieur Lagerfeld’s final Chanel collection.

Givenchy fall 2019

Or should I say what used to be Givenchy! 

click image to enlarge

I can’t blame it on the current designer, Clare whatever,  as Tisci did a very good job of decimating the reputation of the brand for glamor, chic and style but what I can blame on its present designer is a collection of pedestrian,bland and common looking clothes that do not  even begin to restore the luster of the brand.

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

Let’s start with the shoes that looked like the models had club feet and a selection of generic suits with this sort of butterfly or pancake shoulder and then we move on to an endless array of mushroom pleated variation which serve no particular purpose and lastly to supposedly evening clothes, both long and short with a crinolined capelet, that seemed at best clumsy.

click image to enlarge

click image to enlarge

One more Conan the Destroyer has arrived chez Givenchy with clothes from the communal design rooms of Paris. Sure looked like a whole lot of BTDT (been there done that, ask Mary McFadden) or again just clothes with no particular point of view … I’m sure they’ll be breaking down the doors to buy clothes that will grow old hanging on the  rails and not in closets!

click image to enlarge

PS ... how many times can you show the same belted blazer and why?