Valentino haute couture fall 2019

Vogue calls it… Bravo! A Tour de Force Finish to the Haute Couture Shows From Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli

I say please explain!

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Yes, it is a tour de force of: color, extremes, fantasy, volume, spectacle, exaggerations, proportions, the prowess of their ateliers mostly and a huge amount of shapeless printed dresses.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

“What if Cecil Beaton’s famous photograph of Charles James dresses could be with black women?”  Pierpaolo Piccioli’ …. Well … DUH like black women in big dresses!

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

I can’t decide If the influence is Incan or Mogol for the absurd headpieces and then sometimes I think they remind me of African tribal head pieces. What I can decide and see are a ton of wedding cake dresses presented for the sake of shock and awe. The supposedly wearable clothes couldn’t possibly be any simpler, less flattering or basic. What really came to mind was Maude aka Bea Arthur, Mrs. Roper of Three’s Company fame  and Lovey Howell of Gilligan’s Island fame, so what I’m saying here is this was hardly a  tour de  force of clothes… it was all about everything BUT the clothes.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

“The only way to make couture alive today is to embrace different women’s identities and cultures” and don’t you forget it .. apparently PP is tuned into a planet far far away

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Prints, gimmicks, sight gags and everything from ruffs to yarn wigs and on top of everything else, 99% of the clothes  made the models look thick other than one  Grace Jones inspired hooded column and one hot pink sequined cowl number. Poor Lauren Hutton (in a drawstring waist dress…. Really?) looked like a smiling house frau in a before image for Weight Watchers. 

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

So I guess no one looks at the clothes just the kaleidoscopic effect and trickery of colors and patterns all at once all parading in front you in dizzying flights of fancy!

Alexandre Vauthier Fall 2019 Haute Couture

In all my reviews of his collections I have always mentioned his skill at being a master tailor and at last it has taken a front row seat in this Haute Couture collection. Vauthier may only be associated with those red carpet short and “hot” sexy frocks that are worn by the music and movie stars but in this collection he shows himself off in a much more diverse way. There is overt sexiness and covert sexiness here!

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

The opening salvo of oversized jackets and tuxedos reminds me that  sometimes being all covered up is just as sexy as being barely clothed, there was something  highly sexualized about seeing a beautiful  model in a loose tailleur only imagining what was beneath. Think about the fantasy woman arriving at your door wearing a trench coat and nothing underneath! Do not think that he has forsaken his signature vavavvoom sexy dresses but they have taken on a much less theatrical tone and a much more couture like attitude.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

The draping is exquisite in the body hugging goddess dresses and gowns as is the lack of any enormous amount of embellishment, this is a collection that shows Vauthier’s skillset in the art of haute couture.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

What is also quite apparent it that he has opened the door for a wider range of clientele…. I was amused and even impressed by some of those milles feuilles prom dresses which might have seemed out of character but possibly is a foreboding of what’s to come in future collections. Do not think for a moment he has lost his edge... I believe he approached this collection with greater eye on the big picture rather than just the hype of some rock star wearing his clothes that were probably given or loaned rather than bought.

RR331 (Ralph Rucci) Haute Couture fall 2019

Haute couture is unquestionably a rarefied world for both designer and clientele. Mr. Rucci is a designer whose roots are deeply embedded in the couture, even in his ready to wear when it was in existence. His vision of couture is one of subtlety and refinement and not about embellishment or in other words Rucci sees couture in ways that Balenciaga, Charles James and possibly even Delpozo and Ferré saw it.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

These designers were and are the architects of fashion and Rucci is the torch bearer for them in that way. The clothes are constructed without equal and he finds ways to embellish without a sequin or a bead or a feather… all of which have become staples of Haute Couture except Chez Rucci.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

This is a very pared down and believe or not, somewhat more relaxed vision for him. The signatures are there … an extraordinary white column with endless buttons and signature seaming, the sheer inset infanta gown and of course sable. Even the palette has drifted from primarily black and white to now include some dustier shades which now reminds me of that perfect shirtwaist gown in lavender duchess satin (I think).

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Rucci  will always be an a acquired taste as he is intractable as well as unwaivering and some say  stubborn in his ethic when it comes to clothes. Was I in love with all of it... absolutely not, (the Rick Owensesque pieces confounded me)  but there is more than enough to satisfy the most   diehard of  Rucci fans as well as possibly and hopefully, for his sake, attract a more diverse clientele. 

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

This is where he belongs, not filling racks in stores with $3000 dresses. He is so much more of an artist extraordinaire rather than one who produces sofa art ... if you catch my drift.

CHANEL HAUTE COUTURE FALL 2019

First things first… let’s address the elephant in the room and that is that Virginie Viard will walk in Karl’s shadow for quite some time and every time she shows she will be compared to him! I would be of the opinion that for her solo freshman outing she has done Karl and herself proud ... and yes the brand as well.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

If you extrapolate the surroundings to be a library  it might very well be the library of the Kaiser. This collection is a pared down simplified Chanel that retains its entire DNA albeit without all the “stuff” that Karl was always so fond of piling on. Yes, of course there were some clunkers but Karl was never shy about his either. Madam Viard also flexed her design muscle by offering some pieces that are freshly designed and exude a softer and more fluid Chanel. Somehow, this collection feels younger in spirit than the usual fare. Seeing it in motion shows ra more fluid almost languid mood to it rather than the Teutonic and more rigid moments that Karl was so fond of.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Yes, I love the bow shoe and even the flats work giving the collection a very relaxed sort of vibe.  You can call it Chanel 2.0 or possibly a cleaner reimagined direction for the brand. Only time will tell what the future holds.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

This collection is chock a block with all the Chanelisms that we know but somehow played down and not as in your face as was the norm. Plenty of suits, Plenty of easy dresses, shoulders are in play as well as a few Pierrot styles which come off quite well. There is a minimum of surface embellishments that are often associated with couture as well as with Karl and how he saw Chanel.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE