LOYDFORD Spring 2017 paris

They inspired me to coin the phrase designers who design …

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“making an entrance” was how Franck Ford spoke of the inspiration for the Spring 2017 collection; Sondheim said it best when he said “making my entrance with my usual flair” as do all the ladies who swear by LOYDFORD for dressing up. My take is that making an entrance is easy when the clothes silently scream LOOK AT ME without being tricked out or lit up like a Christmas tree!  Women can wear the LOYDFORD signature style tutu dress, the current accordion pleated skirts (made for spinning like a dervish) or the newly designed cowl back halter and they are almost assured of entrance making and, in some instances, exit making attention as well as sidelong envious glances. 

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The unpredictable aspect about doing seasonal collections is that these designers operate from instinct and occasionally they just happen onto a trend without realizing it or trying to jump on board with it. LOYDFORD has never been a collection that relies or focuses on trend. They are of the independent spirit variety that eschews trend at all cost. It was only by happenstance that one of their newest signatures has been gobbled up by retailers and consumers alike. 

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LOYFORD is evolutionary, unique and distinctive as it is a constant work in progress. Both designers feel that they would prefer to offer more new styles rather than elongate the lives of their best sellers. The growth never ends but they retain their DNA no matter what. Even the color range has morphed over the seasons going from an all-black palette to the addition of ivory and a few colors and now to a full blown range of color options. During this growth process they have expanded their expertise from being strictly “lace masters” to introducing hand beading which has become a signature (totally designed by them, confined to them and engineered for their collection),   as well as a variety of fabrics and prints which make  “guest appearances” each new season. What you must keep in mind that despite the lightheartedness of design, the collection is always meticulously constructed as befits their position in the fashion hierarchy ... top tier!

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The reasoning behind all their design practices is simply so that the clothes will never grow stale when there is newness in silhouette, fabrication and embellishment season after season. One of their most potent secret weapons is that the clothes will, more than likely, outperform their “neighbors” on the retail selling floor. As the saying goes why fix what’s not broken? Apparently Loyd and Ford are not shopping for a new client every season but rather expanding their customer base with each new season’s offerings.

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CHANEL spring 2017 paris

MIND SET:

Straight Outta Compton meets Star Wars

 Rhi Rhi meets r2d2

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Welcome to Karl Tech School of Fashion

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Think zippers and tab closures instead of brass buttons

Tweeds a plenty

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Easy on the evening

Chanel accessories go ghetto chic

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Pearls and chains by the miles even sautoirs

Brights replace spring pastels

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Lacy underpinnings

It’s item central

Homeboy caps for all … and Karl laughs at them all 

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The line forms at the right for the new metallic ballet slipper

I can hear the registers humming!!!!!

PS... Let’s be clear, the silhouette for the most part is thick, sometimes even clumsy and occasionally comical but there is so much to be taken out of context and sold as pieces that it just doesn’t matter. His customer is all his no matter what and maybe she is the most discerning of any fashion customer   when it comes to adding to her collection of Chanel.

Saint Laurent spring 2017 Paris

Doesn’t anyone understand how to mine an archive?? You massage what is old to modernize and up date, you don’t take an archival style rip it to shreds then think it’s new and fabulous ... in this case, new is the least of it  and fabulous doesn’t even enter into the equation ... 

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There are clothes that look like they were made at Mable’s House of Drag from cutting room scraps and even a drag queen wouldn’t wear some of this crap. It is a Helmut Newton shoot gone wildly astray ... then there were a few pieces that I could have sworn came out of Hedi’s old collections!

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click image to enlarge then cover your eyes

Dropped shoulder leg o mutton sleeves and flapped over leather and see thru tops with under the breast waistbands ... could it get any less tasteful... any more forced and  tricked out.. Jeez... What drug are you on ...  you need to stop talking and start designing clothes that might sell, other than one more black smoking or one more tailored jacket and no need to repeat the Victor Victoria style either or the Night Porter one breasted dress. What a disgrace to the name. Vaccarello should hide his head in shame to even attach his name to the brand

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Let the paid for critics lap it up and fawn and coo... I prefer to call it what it is ...  a pile of crap masquerading as fashion ... And as for the retailers, well when will they tire of buying markdowns?

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PS... Kudos to you for not making the girls look like left over drug addicts and I guess you can get credit for making Hedi look good! Oh and before I forget... how’s it looking to you Pierre?

Versace spring 2017 milan

So, Donatellamommamia, what is it that you don’t get about pretty clothes? What is it you don’t get about clothes that look like they are beautifully made but absolutely useless and offensive to the eye? What is it you don’t get about trying to be trendy and failing is like a kiss of death? Una par me missy. cosa non si capisce qui? Do they only have magic mirrors in casa Versace? Do you only have “yes men” employed to stroke your formidable ego? You admitted when Gianni died “ I am not a designer!” and yet season after season and collection after collection you seem to be intent on reminding us all the veracity of those words. 

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The tailored jackets appear to be quite beautiful and very few of the dresses and then it all goes to hell in a hand wagon in a hurry. Drawstring dresses, hems, jackets anoraks, leggings, tricked out get ups, ugly shoes BUT quite a chic yet misguided color palette in terms of appeal. A bad  idea 20 or 30 years ago is still a bad idea today especially at these prices. 

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The clothes seem to be geared mostly to a teenage to millennial crowd which certainly doesn’t include the ladies of the night or those  women of a certain age who feel the need to look overtly sexy. Glam track suits are not the answer, nor some ill advised knits, Lichtenstein prints floating panels, are not the answer. Correct me. Admonish me for being politically incorrect in saying there is some ghetto-ish vibe that does not befit a brand of this stature.

One last thing.. la Signora seems to beat the banner of “strong women” .. does this mean women who have no taste or women who risk being labeled fashion victims and don’t care?

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