BALMAIN Resort 2021

If there was ever a moment when a designer and brand expose themselves as tone-deaf ... well, then this might be its nuclear flash!  After living through one of the darkest eras of humanity and still living through it, this designer and brand decided that it was business as usual and that the past three months can be erased and/or forgotten …. WRONG!

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  Firstly, Balmain is not on the level of CHANEL that has a network of retail outlets that need to be filled on a regular basis and secondly if, as the designer claims that Instagram is his runway … well, then I  hope that all of his so-called followers have black American Express cards and attend clandestine/underground galas where some of these frocks can be worn.

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As for the so-called daywear consisting of torn jeans and a jacket or some pastel confection … who cares… as for the party dresses ... where are the parties other than in front of your full-length mirror and thirdly even if we could erase all of what’s happened in 2020… where exactly are you wearing these clothes, who dresses like this anymore?

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Yes, there are a few standouts and some of them smart of Lacroix’s beginnings, Emanuel Ungaro and of course, CHANEL while others are just excess and grand gestures for the sake of showmanship. For a designer who was bemoaning his roots not that long ago, he certainly doesn’t show any regard for the times we live in.

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Fashion and life, in general, will never be the same on any continent or in any city and to make believe that they will just might amount to be one huge tragic flaw or error in judgement for the brand and designer. Designers are supposed to be somewhat clairvoyant as to what the future will hold and I can say this … Rousteing’s crystal ball must have been malfunctioning.

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CHANEL resort 2021

With everything that is going on in the world today, writing this review feels oddly out of synch with the times. Chanel unquestionably is one of the few brands that can actually thumb their nose at everyone and everything that surrounds them in the business of fashion. In keeping with that mindset, Virginie Viard showed a somewhat smaller Resort collection and showed it virtually as it was supposed to have been staged in Capri.

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The biggest sticking point in this collection is that it looks like Chanel Lite of Chanel 2.0…  it skews younger, highly commercialized and not exactly what one might call exciting. Let’s face it, we have all been spoiled by Karl who made every season a season to remember for one reason or another and Ms. Viard obviously has a very different vision for the brand. To me, that she has more or less given up on the cap toe shoe is a HUGE error and yet she sticks to the quilted bag and a myriad of accessories.

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Rarely do I read a Vogue review before I write mine but I felt that there was something to be learned that I wouldn’t be able to see just by looking at the clothes and I WAS RIGHT! All the fabrics and trims and accessories already existed and were in stock thusly allowing a simpler smoother path to finished product.

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What I object to is not even so much the denim, which I actually found a few pieces I thought made sense, but that the models should have been far better groomed as the clothes were not strong enough to overshadow the models. 

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Yes, lots of wearable clothes but don’t be looking for any Chanel revelations innovations as much of what we see is really quite generic or been there done that!

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Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of Chanelisms in play but as a whole it’s just a collection without any spark or invention.