JW Anderson pre-fall 2016

Here is an excerpt from a so called high profile reviewer...  it’s highly wantable, and highly likely to be copied—and he isn’t one to stick around and wait for others to take advantage of an idea before he can sell it. “You can’t overthink things in fashion,” he said, alluding to the speed at which ideas are turned over now. “It’s what you feel in the moment.”

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My take is quite simply that every season no matter how minor, needs a clown car and presto... your car has arrived. This is the sort of so called fashion that turns the art, craft and business of fashion into a full-fledged joke. Again, no matter what these people write and worse yet, no matter what these designers espouse, this is a business of selling clothes. Maybe that statement needs to be clarified to explain that a brand must sell clothes to a consumer, not just a store. A store can cover its mistakes and its need to be hip/relevant by simply marking down their mistakes and requesting markdown/ allowances from the brand. When the maker refuses, it is not an issue; the simple solution is that the collection is no longer carried by the retailer.

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With all of this spewed out, the question I have for you is simply this…. WHO IS BUYING THIS AND WHERE DO THEY HOPE TO WEAR IT? Not being interested in the blah blah blah, these clothes speak to those who wish to show themselves as fashion’s victims or fools as well as the designer’s wont to turn women into caricatures or cartoon characters. The one thing that most people forget is that it costs a pot load of dough to look this foolish. Someone needs to explain to me... what this is and why? Why in every way!

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Yes it is true I tend to be more set in my ways as being more of a traditionalist when it comes to fashion but that is my personal leaning and that doesn’t stop me from liking or understanding what is supposedly forward thinking fashion. That being said, this is laughable, inexplicable and above all, this shames fashion. The upside is simply that this pile does not preclude the designer’s talent; it just says to me that someone needs to whisper in his ear about staying in business and remembering that he is not the first one to do many of these looks!

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HYPE does not equate to sales .. never has and never will!

Men's fall 2015 collections London

Barely 2 weeks into the New Year and the 2015 version of the fashion circus has begun. Within days we will be immersed in coverage of the men’s collections in London, the Haute Couture starting with the comeback collection of John Galliano tomorrow and the forever season of pre-fall that stretches from December till February.

Today’s the focus is London and its men’s collections which can only be described as everything from the sublime to the ridiculous and possibly even the theatre of the absurd. London has always or was always considered to be the laboratory of fashion especially demonstrated by young designers who were and are honing their design chops. Unfortunately so much of the men’s collections are designed by “mad scientists” rather than up and coming designers. One gets the distinct impression that many of these collections are designed for shock value, press attention and can you top this! The least important component of their MO is selling or commercial value apparently.

Even if we are barely into it at this stage, the astute or trained eye can see that if possible, there are a lot of treasures to found within the over the top theatrics and fashion games that are progressing at a break neck pace. It is literally a deluge of fashion... can’t really say what kind of fashion or who wants it but hell there are piles and piles of clothes that are offered with enough appeal to satisfy every fashionphile and fashion victim around the world.

For me, it is sensory overload to the point of visual obesity or gluttony. It is easier to isolate and speak of just a few collections rather than ALL. There is no way that ALL collections can be put in proper context nor explained with any skill. These eyes have already been witness to fashion that is indescribable as well as fashion that speaks to the season and customer. It is easier for me to select a few collections thus far that offer looks from the most commercial to the most over the top. Let’s talk Coach, Hardy Amies, Sibling, J.W. Anderson, and Agi & Sam; there is enough fashion, both good and ghastly, to fill a stadium full of fashion folk. The point is that no matter how insane some of these clothes might be, if you have the time and inclination, there are so amazing treasures to be found but can you or will you?