Alexandre Vauthier fall 2022

Well, here is a rarity if there ever was one at this juncture in the fashion cycle.... ready to wear that is a continuation of a couture collection. It was the common practice moons ago that couture was the tease of what was to come in the nearby future for the ready to wear collection and Vauthier has done just that !... BRAVO!

The segue to this collection is as smooth and slick as the clothes. He is already a red-carpet favorite, a master tailor and designer that does not fall victim to trend. He is his own man... an independent in a sea of wannabes. It seems that every season I want to see more and more but this season I can now say he is truly coming into his own as a master of footwear... especially luxury boots and statement making stilettos. They complement his clothes yet stand alone as unique entities.

The clothes are unabashedly sexy without being vulgar... imagine that ... he hits the right notes with the right silhouettes and fabrications without a trace of gimmickry. He actually celebrates his women!

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Alexandre Vauthier couture spring 2022

In case you haven’t noticed Vauthier understands sex, hot, red carpet and tailoring. He has become a sweetheart on the red carpet for many performers as well as for women who want to look hot, not trashy, not cheap but hot, sexy, glamorous and desirable. Even the shoes speak to all of those qualities which is a rarity in these times when the bigger, flatter and clutzier the shoe the better it seems!

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My question, and it should also be yours, is how much of what we see will be toned down to suit the client as this is direct to client ONLY! I’m not speaking of the clothes that get loaned out but of the clothes that actually are sold; in particular the suitings which reflect his formative years before his eponymous brand. I have always said he is a tailor at heart and yet he has grown to become a wizard of “flou!”

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The clothes offer a much-needed dose of glamour and attitude which does not only translate to an evening gown or beads and sequins. There is a youth factor at work here but it doesn’t only befit young girls/women... it’s for women who require their clothes to speak for their exuberance and that age is but a number. Some scream, some whisper and some just slap you in the face with their intent.

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I’m a fan and I’m proud to be one since I believe he has talent to spare, and the best is yet to come.

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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Alexandre Vauthier spring 2021

 It is no secret that I am a fan of this man... I almost always seem to believe that he gets it. He is not worrying about making political statements or pushing an agenda… he is a designer and therefore he designs clothes… and I might say some pretty freakin fabulous ones.

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This season I think part of what was troubling to me is that it was shot in NYC and as everyone knows the city is not what it once was but this morning I went back to look at the images and read about the collection via his words and I subtracted my issue from the equation and  here is what I  came up  with.

I love these clothes ... they are superbly rendered, this is a happy collection in that it is wearable, not overly sexed up not overly glitzed out and as he points out he sees some Halston in it. I might agree to disagree with him there as I see the Halston but I also see some Donna Karan and some Yves St Laurent and by saying that I’m in no way saying that this is a derivative collection. There’s some sort of comfort factor these references bring to the collection.

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There are fun pieces like a candy wrapper romper and serious pieces like the black reed slim gowns which are superb, some real actual wearable day clothes and then an assortment of some slightly over the top pieces but the overall mood is joyous and not mournful and not matronly and certainly not pushing the envelope over the edge.

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 Hopefully in my lifetime I will see this young man get the hype and glory that goes so undeservedly to so many.  Vauthier is a true talent, a true designer with his eyes wide open who stands head and shoulders over so many who are “ad dollar spotlighted!”

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Kudos... félicitations et je t’embrace and most MERCI!

Alexandre Vauthier fall 2020

This collection is rated R ... restricted for adult women who understand that sexy doesn’t mean tits to the wind and bare the nipple!

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 Vauthier, as I have written almost every time, understands that real women can look sexy and even hot just wearing pants and a white shirt! Add to that simple understanding that he also understands how to pour on the glam and sex without any trace of gimmickry or garishness. 

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For whatever reason, I know he is a master tailor but he is also a master dressmaker as demonstrated in those 2 blue gowns and the 2 pale pink ones as well. I’m not sure I’m right here but I sensed a whisper of the original YSL mindset when it comes to how these clothes are presented with a generous soupçon of Helmut Newton.

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Yes, he is also a favorite for his ultra-short and sexy rock star pieces but who among the current crop of designers can name the First lady of France as a client along with almost any music superstar. That my friends, takes innate talent. He understands the definition of chic/slick and soigné as well as the meaning of sensual.

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The very last image shown suddenly reminded me of Diana Vreeland in one of her most famous images … it’s almost as if she was reincarnated or conjured for the 21^st century in that particular look!