Giambattista Valli Haute Couture Spring /prefall 2022

One of the more preposterous ideas to surface in a long time aside from the Jeff Koons balloon like clothes from those Russians is showing couture and prefall at the same time on the same runway and allowing the viewers/clients to see them intermingled. If that isn’t scary enough in concept, wait till you see it in the flesh from Giambattista Valli who seemed to think this was a brilliant idea! Let me be the first to tell IT IS NOT!

                                                                         click image to enlarge

Before we even get to the clothes, let us speak of what happens when your models look like teenagers dressing up in mommy’s clothes wearing mommy’s “falls” from the 70’s which are haphazardly placed on their heads and forgetting to wear make up! The casting and styling for a show that essays to be groundbreaking turns out to be thunderously ill conceived in reality.

                                                                         click image to enlarge

                                                                       click image to enlarge

Let’s talk about the overloaded riffs on Chanel and' even if my heart breaks to say it, to present day Valentino! The bloated bows either belong to Pierpaolo or Alexis Mabille....  then there is why use chandelier earrings and pale faces as matching those elements just make no sense. Do not mistake my words for not recognizing some exquisite pieces albeit mixed up in a way that they were not achieving their worth and severely diminished in this souk of a collection.

                                                                          click image to enlarge

What breaks my heart is that Valli is extremely talented and yet the thought process used for a presentation such as this is extremely damaging rather than advantageous to him and the brand. Yes!! There were some beautiful pieces which are unidentifiable as either couture or rtw and yet mixed up into one big bouillabaisse of fashion....  why? Reading the Vogue review, in hopes of clarification, only further confuses the issue and sadly it is time to give up those mammoth tulle gowns as they are now as common as bicycles!

                                                                        click image to enlarge

PS... you’d be amazed as to what actually was haute couture and what was not!

Naeem Khan pre-fall 2022

 Here is a slightly edited comment excerpted from the Vogue review “Khan is open about the collection being designed for selling more than storytelling. And it’s an aspect of the business that needs attending to; sales are way up.” Alas, a designer who speaks to the realities of being in the fashion business and not offering some word soup that tries to explain away what he has shown.

                                                                          click image to enlarge

                                                                         click image to enlarge

To me, the collection is decidedly less sparkly with more prints and alternate methods of ornamentation rather than his usual menu of bugle beads fringe and sequins. Yes, before I even read the review, I took note that he dialed it down for some sort of reality ... as to whether or not I believe or agree there is a new normal, I surely believe that we are not out of the woods yet no matter how you look at present day life.

                                                                           click image to enlarge

                                                                          click image to enlarge

That being said, the collection is quite beautiful, meticulously rendered and surely true to the brand’s DNA. There is really no need to explain, you either like it or you don’t. Khan is definitely a rarity these days especially since there was no gobbledygook to precede the collection, just a designer speaking to the very nature of the fashion business... sales and adhering to the DNA of his eponymous brand!

                                                                       click image to enlarge

DIOR pre fall 2022

Every season I am amazed at how this woman interprets what she finds in the Dior archive; the extrapolation of product vs. her words is inconceivable. Okay, so I get the uniform thing, so then explain to me where galoshes and louis heeled high tops come into play with Greek sandal wrappings!

                                                                         click image to enlarge

We went from Olympians to waitresses to parochial school uniforms to bra tops and puffers. You read her inspirations and you look at the clothes and undoubtedly you shake your head and think WTF is she talking about!

click image to enlarge

Mediocre, repetitive and joyless clothes, at best, with a story that makes no sense at stratospheric prices...it’s an oxymoron!

click image to enlarge

So, an almost 70 look collection boiled down to maybe here and there are some wearable pieces but why would anyone need to buy them from Dior. I can’t even say it’s an H&M collection or a Zara as its basically boring and a nonsensical pile of basics from a storied house that was once known for originality, fantasy and glamour. Where is that .... not here!!

                                                                          click image to enlarge

                                                                         click image to enlarge

If   I really had to explain it, maybe I’d call it fetish wear... the school girl experience ala Jeffrey Epstein and certainly not the what I think of when I think of   the pillars of feminism in the form of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan.

                                                                       click image to enlarge

... and so that concludes still one more episode of The Emperor’s New Clothes by Signora Chiuri!

                                                                       click image to enlarge

PS...  now the logo tote looks like The Big Brown Bag from Bloomingdales!

Oscar de la Renta pre-fall 2022

Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia served up this season by reminding us all this is no longer your mother’s idea of the brand. I actually found quite a bit of it pretty and wearable albeit it is most definitely not aimed at our preconceived notion of who wears and buys this brand.

                                                                             click image to enlarge

                                                           click image to enlarge

What intrigued me most was that sort of degradé cum tie dye segment which I thought was beautiful and then here and there sprinkled with some stunners like the silver pieces and in particular one black suit with a slashed skirt and yes, the over-the-top ball gownish pieces. No, I don’t understand the square cut shorts paired with jackets or the crotch grazing lengths used on some of the dresses but as a whole I found the collection visually appealing on many levels.

                                                           click image to enlarge

                                                           click image to enlarge

Let it be said that this duo did not totally eradicate the brand’s DNA; They have evolved and massaged it to appeal to a whole new generation of Oscar devotées. For whatever reason, I sense that these 2 designers actually understand and respect the namesake designer so much more than more who helm other marquee brands and present clothes that bear not one thread of mitochondrial DNA.

                                                                        click image to enlarge

                                                                        click image to enlarge

Lastly, maybe I’m late to the party by saying that pre-fall which deliver at the start of summer season is no longer fallish in any way ... it has become a sort of bridge between spring summer and actual fall and given how shopping habits have so drastically changed, maybe that’s the logical way to go.

Balmain pre fall 2022

After just having looked at the slides for both Balmain and Balenciaga and having read both reviews, I realized, albeit maybe I wasn’t quick witted enough previously, to realize that these designers have nothing in common with the brands that they helm. It is strictly about them; they fool themselves and I’m sure many stupid followers who believe that they take into consideration the true DNA of the legendary brands they design under.

                                                                           click image to enlarge

Then it occurred to me that if the 2 collections would just be under their names and not the heritage names but then no one would have paid attention at the start. They speak of their output as in I want, I see I I I .... no mention of actual heritage that made these names forces of fashion.

                                                                            click image to enlarge

In other words, any pretense of the past is obliterated except for possibly a logo so if that what you really want then you got it. Rousteing is talented, there is no question about it but he now just designs clothes that suit his whim ...clothes for label whores and influencers and Kardashians... whoopee! Who dresses like this and where are they going in these clothes? My mind keeps going to that shoe with the heel that is pitched at the top of the arch which in my estimation will throw one’s body off balance and probably make you ache head to toe after wearing!

                                                                        click image to enlarge

                                                                         click image to enlarge

These looks, if picked apart, there are jackets and skirts and even some dresses but he never of speaks to PIERRE BALMAIN, the reason he has a job, in any way ... and maybe that’s the point. One more time I will say designers talk too much these days as who cares about your personal journeys... this is a business of selling clothes and if not clothes then it is a business of accessories, scent, cosmetics, shoes and anything they hang the label on. It’s a waste of talent and waste of brand.

                                                                           click image to enlarge

                                                                          click image to enlarge

As for Demna he just so full of himself and of hubris that it’s appalling in every way ... it is all about him and the almighty dollar... that’s it! It’s repellant and repulsive! No photos needed as there is nothing to see.

Chanel... métiers d'art PRE-FALL 2022

Let it be said I   don’t deal well with change but Virginie might have presented her best collection to date with her Chanel métiers d'art show for pre-fall. No, it does not smart of the glories of Karl but it is a polished and pared down modern take on the brand without focusing solely on the famous cardigan jacket.

                                                                          click image to enlarge

                                                                          click image to enlarge

There are jackets galore, some close to the body, some short, some cabans and even some ankle length all in a variety of rigidly to soft tailoring. There were moments of Karl/Ines   flashbacks and yet there were also pieces that spoke to a more contemporary Chanel rather than what we were trained to expect from the master. There was polish there, the shoes, the jewelry, the handbags, the camelia and yes takes on that famous cardigan jacket.

                                                                         click image to enlarge

                                                                          click image to enlarge

What didn’t work, in my opinion were the bulky knits, the bare midriffs and of course the denims but then again even Karl used denim but I must say that the coats in the short denim sequence looked pretty incredible. The logo pieces were mostly unnecessary as they were too forced and mostly on the thick side, there was one dress toward the end where the logo appeared under layers of tulle which looked modern and young and well thought out.

                                                                         click image to enlarge

                                                                          click image to enlarge

Color palette was refreshing since it veered away from a strictly black and white color theme but of course the most effective were the black and white pieces or combinations thereof save for a few crimson pieces. I’m not big on pegged pants but for some unknown reason it is possible they didn’t disturb me due to the fact that my attention was drawn to everything else in each outfit.

                                                                          click image to enlarge

I suggest you see you it in motion and hope that Viard will continue on this path rather than the divergent path she had chosen in her previous unappealing collections.