Max Mara pre fall 2020

Let’s see… I guess the easiest way to say this is that the collection is chic, wearable, appealing, somewhat minimal, slick, with a great color range and oh did I forget to say urbane, feminine and classy… not with a K.

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The clothes speak for themselves; the restrained yet beautiful color palette including jewel tones is a case in point as to what will appeal to their clientele… no trendy shit,  no gimmicks, no political statements, no manifestos… just exquisitely made clothes for women of discerning taste who want to be envied and stared at!

 

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PS... id be lying if I didn’t notice or say there is more than a whiff of vintage YSL within but who cares when it's skillfully adapted within a collection… 

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Oscar de la Renta pre fall 2020

What seems to fascinate me is that this team has so successfully separated their own collection (Monse) from that of Oscar. This ability speaks to me on many levels. What is so refreshing about their take on Oscar is that they have somehow both kept the original DNA of the brand and infused their point of view and layered onto it.

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While ochre and siena are hardly my favorite colors, their use of intense color mixed with pastels is impressive. Their use of moiré is well… refreshing. The bow detail though not new certainly works here and best yet are a handful of short cocktail dresses that are quietly beautiful. Yes, I get a little feeling for archival styles like the tee shirt and ball skirts and even some of the bow work but as a total collection, it’s pretty damned good.

 

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However, I’m not a fan of this much leather and in fact a few pieces look rather heavy-handed but what’s a collection without some missteps (their Zuhair moment a  bit stretching the point and those puddling pants). Again, with what’s been shown thus far this is a winner of a collection that is certain to resonate with the clients both at retail and wholesale. There is a vibrancy and an essence of youthfulness yet something for every one of the ladies who cotton to Oscar!

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Christian Dior prefall 2020

I swore to myself I wasn’t going to write a review of this after seeing the untold amount of ugly inexplicable clothes that have been passed off as pre-fall collections but once I again I was unable to resist the souk presented by Maria Grazia Chiuri aka the meatball!

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Monsieur Dior’s gravesite is now an empty hole in the ground as he has spun himself beyond ever being found again. It has taken me this long to figure out that this faux intellectual, faux activist, faux feminist, faux designer is really a misogynist. There can be no other reasonable explanation.

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I can honestly say she has single-handedly elevated the history of collections like Ellen Tracy, Anne Klein and Dana Buchman to Balenciaga in terms of design and appeal. I want to know who spends this amount of money to look like a whorish catholic school girl or someone who wears clothes made from old paper bags or for that matter a camo bra top with lollipop panties and jacket?  Tell me

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The other question is what season is and why?? I don’t think there is anything aspirational about these clothes although I’m sure the label whores will be hot for the monogram bags which are glorified LL Bean totes for the most part. 

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If ever there was a case of a designer decimating a heritage brand, the meatball takes the cake.