KENZO FALL 2021

 “Fashion seems so complicated now. I couldn’t do it.” To Kenzo, fashion had to come from the heart rather than the market department. “Intuition is a banned word at fashion houses these days. It’s as if there’s no space for it.

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And the proof is now laid out before you! Kenzo and his Jungle Jap was one of those collections that brought a smile to your face as well as great classic pieces that would become timeless. Look at it now!

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Yes, those models should be running. Running away from whatever, this is supposed to be as it surely has no signature, no DNA and certainly no reason to own it or want it.

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How sad to take the names that made fashion fashionable and turn them into generic fast fashion looking rags at high fashion prices to be worn who knows where and who knows why.

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I’m finding that the longer I live, the less I understand about what is shown and mortified by what reviewers write all in the quest for an ad dollar or because of the power of the mother company. Fashion has a glorious past which is being erased more and more each season and it saddens me greatly that uneducated people write reviews on fashion who are no more than lackies who regurgitate press releases and make sure not to rock the boat no matter how heinous the collection.

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Rant over!

Ralph Lauren SPRING 2021 ... see it now ... buy it now

Ralph, as the lone ranger, continues on his show it and buy it in his stores. Some say, including myself at times, that Ralph is repetitive or boring, but there is not one single designer who has managed to tweak and massage his brand’s DNA better than Mr. Lauren... yet its never really boring and never unwearable.

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As you can see, he is well aware of the state of this pandemic world we live in and offers clothes that hopefully within in a few months women will be wearing to go out to lunch, perhaps to some one’s home for dinner or even possibly to a social event while observing all the protocols that have been put in place and continue to change day by day,

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I think I’d like to say that this collection displays a facet of the brand that we rarely see and that is minimalism. No muss, no fuss, very little ornamentation or decoration; just simple beautiful clothes for women of all ages that serve a multitude of purposes and occasions that lie ahead.... hopefully.

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Maybe we can call it Ralph Light, but no matter what you call it, it’s slick, lean, clean, refined and just as much at home in in NYC, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Paris, Milan or Tokyo. To me that is something that few other designers can claim. He designed intelligently, realistically and most of all fashionably!

Raf Simons fall 2021

“The collection is about things I love—things I have always loved, that are always there in every collection, in the processes behind it, and the clothes.”... guess who?

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In other words, the collection is about generic, boring, been there done that clothes ant and make the most jaded fashionphile fight from falling asleep.

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Why on earth he is lauded as a great designer let alone a designer at all is way beyond my scope of comprehension, the only thing I find somewhat appealing about the collection is the palette since I’m not impressed by oversized white shirts, another puffer, sweaters with sleeves down to your knees or some oversized tunic.

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Miuccia, he is all yours the two of you can tell each other how great you are and try to convince the world of that .... as   for me, ...I find you both over rated, over hyped and most of all coma inducing despite all the blah blah blah that surrounds every single collection.

TRENDS according to WWD for fall 2021

 If one can even fathom that any of these are the trends,  it is conceivable that WWD has some inside information that no one else might have like who is rushing out to  buy any of this in the long awaited post  pandemic period? Does some one at WWD know when this world wide plague will  end.. I  highly doubt  women will be busting  doors down to get to any of this!

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To the experienced and educated "eye" this is nothing more than the emperor's new  clothes as well as an insult to those who spend their lives trying to create beautiful apparel that women will lust for!

John Fairchild ... where are you when we need  you most to call a spade a spade!

WWD, you should be ashamed ................ very ashamed

ON BEING A SEPTUAGENARIAN ...plus one

Well, it’s one year later but this year has been like no other that I lived thru... the year that will make history, the year of a world-wide pandemic that has taken its toll on each and every one of us in some way shape or form... consciously or unconsciously.

We have lived in isolation and under the most difficult circumstances and experienced moments we thought impossible we’d ever know. There were times we lost hope, we lost loved ones and possibly we even lost the idea that any happiness will ever come our way again.

Personally, my health has diminished but that’s to be expected from a 71-year-old machine that at times might have been overused. I’ve tried to be a cheerleader for my dearest friends, no matter virtual or in real life, as they are what kept me going and I felt that it was my duty as a friend to try to push them into a better frame of mind and hopefully even make them laugh... even at my own expense if necessary. I remain basically a non-complaining oldie since I learned that bitching and moaning to the world won’t make things better. I reminded myself every day that things could always be worse

I experienced a great deal of nostalgia by telling those who once made my heart more than flutter and that I harbored secret crushes on them ...  in some ways it was cleansing, surprising and at other times there was great sadness involved. I am ever so grateful for so many who have crossed my path and continue to do so on an almost daily basis. I even learned to let go of friendships that I thought were forever but in fact they weren’t...they were fun and genuine while they lasted and then they weren’t... no second thoughts no pissing and moaning.  ...over and done.

I’ve found that there are still the most gracious people that surround me who I barely knew a year ago but became cherished friends due to their immense concern for me during this year. Wonderfully, most of them are considerably younger than I and I tell them the same thing ... you are the warriors; you will tell the stories that need to be told but most of all make sure when this dark period passes that you have one helluva good time and don’t hold back. The years pass quickly and no one should be held back from enjoying their lives in every way possible.

So, on that note, maybe there will be parts 2-3-4-5 and so on and then again maybe not but I want to feel the life come back to NYC and to feel the freedom I once felt.

Part ...2020.... FASHIONBY THE RULES: ON BEING A SEPTUAGENARIAN ..3/19/50 (jeffybruce.blogspot.com)

Giambattista Valli fall 2021

Apparently, Mr. Valli has returned to his senses and is designing clothes and not costumes for the influencer Instagram set. It is this collection that tells me he still has his “chops” when it comes to truly designing beautiful clothes so let me say this.... if I could continue my wish list, I’d want him or Alexandre Vauthier to be designing Chanel or even Dior. You may think I’m insane but I believe that both men are far more talented and creative than what is installed there now as designers.

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Not only do I believe them capable but I believe that either could perpetuate what these incredibly powerful brands have built while putting their own imprimatur on the brands. Valli has produced one of his most commercial collections and has said good bye to wedding cake tulle gowns that take up a room as well as clothes that are sort of more spectacle than anything else.

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He is tailor, master of flou and experienced enough to be great and not just another designer on a list that Vogue has assembled and given lip service to ... and well that goes for both of these designers. The reason there is no Vauthier review is that I cannot find the defining words to adequately describe this season’s offering. I found it very out of character for him and yet so much was totally in character, but as a whole I couldn’t wrap my head around it but that doesn’t mean there were some spectacular pieces and some I just didn’t quite understand.

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I think that fashion is in desperate need to utilizing the talent that is right in front in our eyes and not promoting and hyping talentless so-called designers because of ad pages and who owns them! Valli and Vauthier could easily be the sweeping change that fashion now hungers for and is in desperate need of.

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Eli Saab fall 2021

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Adjectives that come to mind; slick, chic, urbane, focused, refined, soigné, class, tasteful, real fashion, tasteful, sexy, elegant and many more...

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The purpose of that little exercise is to say that in a perfect world where true talent is recognized and when the businesses that take ownership of heritage brands actually want to pursue and perpetuate the DNA of said heritage brand let alone actually sell clothes .... Elie Saab would be designing VALENTINO and not he ill equipped Pierpaolo.

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Saab gets it. He understands rich lady clothes and yes there are still plenty of them out there. He designs sexy, feminine impeccably made and presented clothes that are not trendy, jazzed up, overtly sexed up and carry no whiff of the deadly concepts of relevance, sustainable or influencer. These are clothes for women of a certain station in life just as VALENTINO was in his heyday and none of that makes them look dated.

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Even though this collection might be a tad premature, given our pandemic, or some will say ill timed, it is boldly saying there are still those prefer chic, understated and tasteful over trendy/label(brand). Saab is equally adept in his day wear when he chooses to show it. The man is a likely successor to what is presently installed at VALENTINO as Saab will sell and continue the true essence of the brand whereas what’s their now, well, they should just sell labels as the clothes are inconsequential on every level and targeted to a nonexistent client.

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This collection offers hope to those of us who know what fashion and the business of fashion is actually about and no matter what anyone says, 20 somethings are not buying $5000 Chanel jackets or VALENTINO moomoos or whatever he seems to be pushing any season.

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I tip my hat to Mr. Saab and pray that before my time is over that he receives the attention and hype that he so readily deserves as a true fashion designer... lest I forget, these clothes are in no need of blah blah bah, they speak for themselves and their designer!

CHANEL fall 2021

Never in my time as a reviewer of fashion would I have thought that these words would appear in front of my eyes ... WTF were you thinking Virginie?

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 I knew from the start that something was askew as CHANEL shows do not start with an opening of banal, generic and occasionally pretty ugly coats, not a suit in sight and sheer midriffs for Fall. It is one of the rare times I had to read the Vogue review before I wrote as I was genuinely confused and astounded by what I saw.

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This was far from a stellar moment for the house of CHANEL; rather, to me, this was an embarrassment of monumental proportions... yes, a bit overstated but holy shit there were a lot of just plain ugly clothes shown. No need to elaborate as the choices were vast.

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Yes, I got the ski reference but no I don’t get how you can make CHANEL look cheap, pedestrian, generic and anything but tasteful! Much of what was shown looked very H&M and Zara and in this instance that’s not a good thing!

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No matter the blah blah blah let’s just say that Chère Virginie you fucked this up in a big way that I might venture to say might shame Karl, the brand and certainly bring to light your lack of ability to take CHANEL to the next step.

Dior fall 2021

Well, I’m sort of speechless and astounded to say there were a few pretty pieces and lots of mediocre and then of course there were the usual hideous things that make you shake your head and ask why?

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Somewhere between Mrs. Maisel, I Love Lucy, some sapphic undertones and a school girl or waitress fetish, Maria actually turned out some wearable clothes albeit they are just clothes ... generic, no particular point of view and all over the place ... which all of that is hardly surprising but worst of all is that the collection looks dreary and tired. Where is the Dior DNA?

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I can’t get past that black laser cut leather pinafore and a few outfits that look like waitress uniforms or the little girl dresses that would make a woman of a certain age look like she was trying to relive her Shirley Temple stage and mom jeans. The gowns are really more superfluous than ever as they range from down and out ugly, tired and amateurish to one simple basic black.

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The palette is far better than ever before but what exactly is she saying with a collection like this? There is one egg shaped plaid outfit that makes you flinch since the model looks pregnant and then we have the Chiuri penchant for some of the ugliest shoes on the runway but that seems to be a trend this season.

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In a season when some would think that comfort and ease are key, here we have a plethora of rigidly tailored suits and jackets, trapper hats, kerchiefs tied ala Audrey Hepburn and vinyl patent looking bomber jackets that look like they fell right out of a 70s Macy’s catalog.... what is she thinking?

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I guess the bottom line is she eked out a D instead of an epic fail and she just can’t get past her predilection for sheer and so I ask again ... what’s the message here!!!

Lutz Huelle & Andrew Gn fall 2021

I previously wrote about the yin and yang of fashion implying the good and the bad but here it is about mood, appeal and brand DNA of two notable collections.

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Lutz Huelle, without question is an acquired taste, but his collections have evolved over time to reflect his maturation process as well as massaging his brand’s DNA. I’d have to say that this particular collection is probably his most commercial (not meant in a negative sense) and that its appeal will reach a much larger audience. It is timeless and classic and never boring and never either of those qualities in a way you’d expect. You can see it as total looks or you can see it in pieces and this season, I believe that most collections should be seen as pieces and not total looks.

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I’m impressed with this man’s talent and how he has morphed over the years from a very quirky trendy kind of “of the moment” look to a more seasonless and ageless one and yet he never surrendered his DNA.

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Andrew Gn is a designer one  that might compare to  the great  designers  of an era and has  revived a seemingly long lost art of fashion design (a collection in its truest sense); his clothes are precise, the suits structured, the embellishments lush but he shares with Lutz a timelessness that is becoming  more rare these days, What saddens me  greatly is that  this collection, which I  find to be stunning in  color silhouette, fabrications, construction and of course embellishment is more of a wishful thinking one rather than a collection that reflects our times. I certainly cannot say it is commercial in any sense and if anything, I might compare it to the couture rather than to RTW.

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Gn presented this stellar collection but we must ask ourselves when and where is any one wearing most of it and that is the sadness. I’d much prefer to appraise the collection without that compelling caveat.

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