Burberry fall 2022

Aside from a trench coat and the plaid, please tell me what the most visible traits are for this heritage brand. Apparently Tisci just discovered this as well the symbol for Prorsum... a part of the Burberry history that hasn’t been spoken of or seen since the days of Rosemarie Bravo who aptly named the ready to wear segment of the brand by that moniker when it was designed by Roberto Menechetti. How many of today’s so called fashionphiles have ever heard of Prorsum let alone recognize the symbol for it?

So, with all that said, this is one of Tisci’s best outings to date only because he has finally surrendered to the plaid and the raincoat as key elements and yet the rest is still nothing but filler.

Plaid is a notoriously poor seller at retail for women and I’m not sure that any women, of any age, want to accentuate their hips, own a fully quilted ballgown, look like a fullback or wear thigh high latex boots. I did however love the gathered/pleated/ shirred trench dress cum coat and some other pieces which have nothing at all to do with the brand. I might add here that there is no excuse to see the sewing of a hemline on a ball gown from any designer.

Bottom line is, my guess, is the signature plaid pieces will sell and a minority of the other pieces which just will serve the need for lady clothes for women who can afford them. It’s just sort of a yawn and once again there is no place for politics in fashion!

PS ... explain to me who wants to look like Big Bird in a ball gown or wear a patchwork leather Jacket that looks like it fell off the back page of some cheap ass fashion magazine?

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BURBERRY SPRING 2019

Riccardo Tisci has entered the building. Every fawner, Instagrammer, bought and paid for fashion reviewer, influencer, label whore and fashion victim can finally rest easy and the remainder of us can yawn.

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 I can’t exactly say this was a bells and whistles premiere of his newly envisioned Burberry simply because it barely elicited little more than a barely audible ooh or moan and maybe a sigh. The most beautiful pieces were the simplest; the most ghastly pieces were when he went off the reservation. Being fair about the whole thing, I could say that this is a wait and see situation since there is nothing to base it on other than Christopher Bailey’s work which at times was amazing and at other times simply cringe worthy.

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 As a courtesy I will mention the men’s which was a so what, big  deal, who cares and some of the women’s certainly rivaled Baileys most cringe worthy creations. Lots of excess, useless or unflattering details like a drape under the waistline and of course those sleeves that extend to ginger tips. The palette was simple and tasteful, the use of the plaid was scant and the big deal about changing the logo was a blink and you might have missed it.

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 So now, after all this anticipation, all the wonder and all the hypothesizing of what the new Burberry will look like is still very much a mystery. As it is now, there’s really not much to write home about and even less to make one sit up and take notice but most of it wearable.

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Givenchy Spring 2016

Well gang it's official!! Fawning, not spawning, and gushing season has begun!

Yes Ricky Ticki, as I like to call him, gave NYC a dose of what some called a show for the masses (1000 or so) ... well that’s of course if you happen to be among the chosen. Be that as it may, let’s talk about clothes as that’s what this is all about supposedly unless of course you are the type who gives a rat’s ass who sits front row and which ediatrix sat where and with how many of her entourage or who designed the set or the venue or any of this superfluous crap that seems to overtake the real meaning and purpose of the event ………..C L O T H ES!

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So without further ado, let’s talk about Spring 2016 from Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci. Some time ago these clothes would be called loungewear. One is reminded of Liz Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or Butterfield 8 in her satin lace trimmed full slip sprawled languidly on a bed or swilling bourbon at her dressing table. There were designers like Fernando Sanchez (google),  John Kloss (google)  and even Eve Stillman (google) who turned loungewear into garments that looked like they could be worn on the street or to a party and now  we have Ricky Ticki doing just the opposite. Maybe there was also Vanity Fair or Van Raalte that ran the ads of a woman in her underpinnings or peignoir at a fancy dress event, at the opera or stepping into a limo! Don’t let me forget those odd Grès-eque numbers with the tortured twisting and turning over lace which seemed to be silly at best.

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All satin and lace and such but no matter how you slice it, it all looked like loungewear or sleepwear. Yes, there were a few pieces thrown in that reflect Tisci’s abilities when it comes to haute couture and no, they made no sense whatsoever with the rest of the collection. These pieces, aside from looking very McQueenish or retooled from past collections, served as a palette cleanser of sorts and most certainly were a flexing of the brand’s couture muscle as they no longer show a full collection during Haute Couture. As a whole, the collection was repetitive and yawn worthy especially with the extremely limited color palette as is Tisci’s wont each season.

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So, if we were on American Bandstand, let’s give it a 60 as you can wear it, you might look sexy in it, there’s a lot of lace, it’s very feminine to say the least, but it’s a whole lot of so what and who cares. Carine will wear it and still look a bit long in the tooth to wear it, Anna will coo over it,  maybe Donatellamommamia will model it , and Blah Blah  will wax poetic about all the silly ephemera that doesn’t matter because who cares.  In essence ... It’s about what was expected... no surprises here and really … he didn’t disappoint!

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Givenchy resort 2016 by Riccardo Tisci

There are many things that can be said about the brand and its designer. “Ricky-ticky” (my name for him) has shown us season after season that he might have multiple person disorder as almost every collection is an about face from the previous and this season is no different.

Rarely, if ever, have these eyes seen leopard used in such an unappealing and almost profane way. One really doesn’t care that its use was inspired from some arcane Mapplethorpe photo especially when the end result is so unappealing in every imaginable way. While on the subject of unappealing we should discuss the varying shades of pea green that Ricky-ticky seems to find pleasing to the eye. In my experience there is no one nor any reason to wear this color in any of its varying shades and BTW no one ever heard a client say “oh I look so great in puree of pea green!” actually the color should be the de rigeur shade for prison uniforms or road maintenance crews!

While on the subject of visual offenses, let’s talk about the flounce hems which look like they were never fully attached so in essence the garment looks as if it is unfinished and no this is not deconstructed, this is just plain absurd.  While discussing so called silhouettes, let’s talk about that there was something oddly Marc Jacobs-ian and Wangish (Balenciaga) about the collection.

Now we can speak of what was somewhat appealing and some of which were beautiful. One thing that you learn from seeing 10 years’ worth of Givenchy collections is that Ricky-ticky does have talent. He is a master tailor and when he wants to, he is a superb dressmaker. The rather bland man tailored suits had a pristine almost sterile quality to them. They were razor sharp but mostly generic. Then there was the case of the draped jersey tops, dresses and gowns which were just short of exquisitely rendered and designed and quite a palette cleanser within this “sybillish” collection. The jersey pieces almost had me overlooking that shade of green! An amazingly modern take on sexy and at lack of a better word “ day clothes” was the 3 piece turnout made up of jeans, python blazer and wrapped tied jersey top. New? ... No … but refreshing within this collection and amongst the season in general.

In the eend it must be said AGAIN, no one really gives a crap about your faux intellectual inspirations, the client want wants clothes... clothes that make them feel good about themselves. Designers of this era, for the most part, seem to have forgone any sort of signature that defines their brands and that is sad for any number of reasons. Today we offer lots of unsightly and seemingly generic clothes that happen to be attributed to the “it” brand of the moment. Eventually, and maybe it has happened already, consumers want clothes that are identifiable with a designer and not just another graphic printed tee shirt or another shapeless white dress or another pair of full legged puddling pants.

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci .. Paris ..spring 2015

So, if Tom Ford, Christian Lacroix, Olivier Rousteing, Azzedine Alaia, Alexandre Vauthier, Donatellamommamia and Ricky tickey tacky collectively hatched a collection it would be this one! There was more leather, whip stitching, grommets, studs and lashing than at the Folsom Street fair.

Despite all the over top leather pieces and so many other extravagantly expensive and over the top pieces, this collection looked pretty amazing. My issues are multifold and they will be enumerated below:

1-each season in my memory Mr. Tisci delivers a collection that is meant to shock and defy any of the house’s original DNA other than the DNA he has constructed. Many of these seasonal collections might be referred to as outrageous or unwearable or just patently absurd. Let me rephrase that would only be the case only if one admits to the reality and not to the media hype. $500 tee shirts are his forte!

2-with all the new focus on what can only be described as step down couture, meaning the techniques used by houses such as Balmain, Valentino and other brands who have taken to using these most time consuming techniques for ready to wear and charging accordingly, this Spring collection fits the bill to a tee. The price tags for many of the really fabulous stand out pieces must be upwards of $5,000.

3-how can any brand or maison develop a collection each season that bears no common thread to the previous one other than a label. The point is that either Tisci is the Sybil of all designers as there is no visual recognition by style for this house or brand. Can it possibly be beneficial that each season a particular brand needs to attract a different clientele other than the seriously afflicted fashion addict? To what end??

4-at the risk of being totally impartial, even me... yes me... must admit the collection is mighty fabulous but one could never guess what the label would be or who designed it; let alone the laser focus of who could wear this and Isn’t the point of building a brand to invoke a loyalty with a client? My take here is that the mother ship, Kering, is all about buzz and bucks and not about brand identity at all. It would be logical to assume as well that Tisci is in this for the glory and the ego and flexing his media muscle! N’est ce pas?

5-lastly, how long do you think this will go on? How long do you think Tisci will be given free reign? It is my belief that he is perceived as a commodity to the business of fashion and will used to generate dollars in any way the mother ship sees fit and when they are done with him he will be tossed aside like so many before him. Changes are afoot!

Always remember ... you are only as good as your last collection and in these times if it aint selling you aint staying! And even worse, you might be thought of as a shaman who can heal the lepers or the dying if you catch my drift!

PS .. one last thing.. it is true, even I must admit, there are some out of this world pieces here!