Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture fall 2019

As Vogue points out “Gaultier occupies a rare spot in the couture landscape: he’s the only famous French couturier of his generation still rocking out at his own house. And he is obviously still having a blast.”

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His Fashion Freak Show is so popular it is heading to London this season. What is so imperative to keep in mind is that these clothes come from the same mind and hand that designed them decades ago. These are not reimaginings or extrapolations at the hands of others who take the mantle of a designer brand. All of these clothes are pure JPG. 

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Moncler should hide their head in shame when they see what the “enfant terrible” of fashion has cooked up in “his kitchen.” Though no longer an “enfant” JPG is a designer who possesses the skillset and vision to be more soigné than Ralph Rucci and more outrageous than Viktor & Rolf. He is a man of many talents with the ability to translate his fantasies into reality. This has absolutely nothing to do with wearability or salability, this is about fashion in its purest and most creative sense as it is direct to client!

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Love it all… no ... respect him  with all of my being for staying the course and showing the fashion world that he can do just about anything he wants to do. The real challenge as a viewer is to be able to strip away the spectacle and gimmickry and see some incredibly beautiful truly haute couture clothes aimed at a very select few. The die hards will find what they love and I’d be willing to bet there will be new clients knocking at the door chez Gaultier very soon.

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Giorgio Armani Privé Haute Couture fall 2019

Right off the bat, whatever those rosettes are placed center front on all the girls’ heads…WHY? Then again Armani always seems to have some quirks he works into every collection and this one seemed to have a few more than usual.

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One always expects jackets from him and jackets is what they got in bountiful amounts and in every imaginable glorious configuration. What one does not expect is that he went a bit too far in his FTN (free the nipple) approach which I found to be unnecessary given his lauded credentials and DNA. There was also a message of transparency in a variety of ways.

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The jackets were glorious and even the clouds of tulle were exquisite. Pants are the preferred bottom half and most of them fluid, languid and with a layer of tulle over then which gave an amazing effect to them. One always believes that Armani is about the long and lean even when softened to this extent but what one does not expect are full skirted gowns in varying permutations. In my opinion many of them less successful than his usual fare.

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The palette seemed to be a mix and spring and fall and if you are looking for a theme you might say he went dotty and titty for this outing. The black pieces unquestionably were the most potent as was the overall jacket statement.

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It is possible that an editor’s eye might have helped  but who’s to say that to this man who earned his  stripes during a career that’s spanned almost half a century and evolved into an independently owned and operated multibillion dollar powerhouse of fashion!

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Versace men’s fall 2019

Think of it this way … Tom of Finland meets Hermès meets Jeremy Scott meets Donatellamamamia, meets Walter Van Beirendonck meets Gianni Versace and they all crowd onto a bus and throw piles of clothes in the aisle and tell the models to pick what they want, pile it on and to  be as outrageous as possible!

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Comic book colors, feathers, smoked see thru vinyl, printed harnesses, Medusa prints and still with trainers and knit hats ... la signora proclaimed in past days “yes Versace will remain a luxury label” and so my question is... what collection was she speaking about?  The feathers peeking out of herringbone coats and neon colored sunglasses, bottle cap printed jackets and leathers with car logos just about sealed the deal that she needs to get a grip or she will be depending on theft to get rid of this stuff. Who in hell wants to spend this kind of money to look like a fool? 

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Let’s also speak of the homeboy/homie/hip hop drooping waists to expose the underwear and the cargo pants and jogging suits and Frankenstein shoes. What happened to Gianni's dangerously close to overtly sexual razor sharp menswear? It was slick, precise and teetering on the edge of acceptability and now we have a riot of color and a circus worth of costumes for a crowd I didn’t exists or maybe it’s a clientele that doesn’t exist yet. Whichever it is, you can be sure that coming from someone who ONLY wore Versace starting in the  70s through the 80’s, I would be ashamed and embarrassed to even be caught dead in this shit.

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Good luck Capri Holdings!