In a recently published article from the Wall Street
Journal, there is a quote from the new breed of Haute Couture customer and she
said words to the effect that “when you are a newbie you might tell a vendeuse
that that instead of showing me the $400,000 dress first, show me the $100, 000
one first!”
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Haute couture has always been the playground for the mad
scientists of fashion. It is the arena where ateliers are put to the test,
experimental shapes and seaming might be tested, embellishment is almost de
rigeur, deceptive simplicity is fully at home here and most of all it is ALWAYS
about quality. Remember this is a “season” devoted to the consumer and not the
retailer so trends may be hatched but not even remotely necessary and always
keep in the mind that this is the populated by about 1% of the 1% of the international
population.
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Enter Donatellamommamia Versace who continually astounds with
collections that are so over the top, so outrageous that maybe she needs to be
awarded the Purple Heart for extreme bravery. Signora certainly puts the
abilities of the ateliers to the test but sadly the end result is too often
some costume drama starring the space aged aliens and almost always with a full
cast of “working girls.” Yes, there are a few very “hot” red carpet numbers but
there is not even a pretense of anything that might be remotely thought of as
chic.
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While the usual salability factor is not even remotely part
of the MO, there still has to be a reason to own these creations unless the buyer is one
of those uber wealthy women who buys couture to wear at women only events held
in the dark reaches of some potentate’s enclave. Where are on earth does anyone
wear these otherworldly creations? As any fashionphile will tell you, it is
mighty hard to make Haute Couture look cheap and tasteless and yet
Donatellamommamia does it with great ease as if second nature. Slit, slashed,
thigh high, Brazilian required, boob flashing, second skin, strapped, contorted, tied up
and twisted are at the top of her “must do’ list except it all turns out
looking like trying too hard and surely much ado about nothing. So many pieces
are engineering masterpieces that they look as if they might have been conceived at MIT rather
than in a design room. To a degree, the technical aspects of Haute Couture are
part of the inherent make-up of the art but, Sweet Jesus, look at this pile!
WTF are you thinking? Again it must be said that Gianni was all about sexy,
even overtly sexy, but he never turned out gimmicky cheap looking clothes more
suited for H&M rather than where they were intended.
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PS .. stirrup pants
.. REALLY?? and in the words of the illustrious Dolly Parton.. "it costs a lot of money to look this cheap!"
