Pre-Fall 2014 ..pt.1 .. an overview

Rather than try to assess the collections for the never ending season we call pre fall, a novel approach might be to have a more overall summary type of examination of the collections being shown now through March... as I said the never ending season.

 

Today’s overview includes Gucci, Proenza Schouler, Calvin Klein, Akris, Alexander Wang, Belstaff, Altuzarra and Reed Krakoff. One would think that with designers such as these, you could come up with a stellar collection but alas that assumption is like all other assumptions... just that! A fallacious thought process.

 

What is apparent here is that these collections are a bit of this and a bit of that and a lot of not much to talk about unless you want to discuss who or what they borrowed from and why or who would buy these clothes. The issue at hand here is that the season is supposed to be about selling clothes and the more basic parts of each collection but what is so severely absent as there is not any single personal signature attached to any one collection.

 

Here goes … Gucci is wildly reminiscent of Hedi Slimaine’s take on Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein shows us how to look like the Birkenstock, earth mother for 2014, Altazurra does Chloe, Celine and Phoebe and whomever, Proenza Schouler looks like Ghesquiere’s Balenciaga, Alexander Wang shows another collection for the mystery customer, Belstaff is still searching for an identity other than motorcycle leathers, Reed Krakoff shows us odd parings, odd proportions and clunky shoes and the shining star is Akris who displays clothes for women; women who are chic, woman who are stylish, women who want fabulously made timeless clothes and women who appreciate the meaning of modern.

 

All you need do is look at the slide show and hopefully you can draw the same conclusions. The thing that must not be overlooked here is that there ARE clothes that ARE wearable and appealing; you would just have a hard time pairing a look with a designer. The collections have become more generic than anything else and the designers seem to be searching for an antidote to lackluster business.

Opinions?? Let me know …..

Harbingers of Design .. meet Michelle Boor

This series will spotlight global innovators who are original, known, lesser known and some perchance even already highly regarded and respected within their areas of expertise.  The common thread is style and fashion; whether it takes its form in interiors, apparel, accessories, retail, photography or any of the related professions that surround fashion and style.  Please note that some of my “cast members” have chosen to follow a path than includes utilizing the “tools” of the past thereby rendering a new and modern vision for today’s climate of fashion and style. These “createurs” are at the vanguard of design and style … in my opinion … and so I will introduce them to you on an international stage starting today.

 

 

There was an article very recently about a “lady” who would indulge a “gentleman” by making all his wishes come true when it came to shoes; he did it to satisfy his “needs” and she did it to satisfy her growing need for the newest and the latest and the highest of heels.

That being said, the power of shoes has become a juggernaut for the retail business in the 21^st century. Shoes have become the preferred retail aphrodisiac of choice for many women and it is shoes that have bolstered the overall international retail sales figures.

So in keeping with the ever growing need, today we meet Michelle Boor who has struck out on her own and is meeting the needs of this ever burgeoning audience who “need” their shoes to be sexy, chic and excuse the dirty word, comfortable without losing any of the panache.

Ms. Boor is her target customer and believe me when I tell you that she could be the envy of so many. She is mother, entrepreneur, independent and even a style icon who is recently featured in the book You’re So French by Isabelle Thomas and Frederique Veysett.

 

With her namesake brand she hopes to give women shoes that span their lifestyles and serve a purpose no matter what the assigned task might be. The shoes exude just the right amount of sex appeal and yet they are never over the top or tasteless. In other words, these are the shoes that men find tantalizing and other women find covetous.

 

Before leaving you with images of the latest collection, keep in mind that the MICHELLE BOOR, the brand, has yet to arrive stateside so a trip to Paris is in order tout de suite mesdame and mademoiselles!

Harbingers of Design .. Spinelli Kilcollin

 

This series will spotlight global innovators who are original, known, lesser known and some perchance even already highly regarded and respected within their areas of expertise.  The common thread is style and fashion; whether it takes its form in interiors, apparel, accessories, retail, photography or any of the related professions that surround fashion and style.  Please note that some of my “cast members” have chosen to follow a path than includes utilizing the “tools” of the past thereby rendering a new and modern vision for today’s climate of fashion and style. These “createurs” are at the vanguard of design and style … in my opinion … and so I will introduce them to you on an international stage starting today.

 

 

Today it is all about jewelry; jewelry for men and women and jewelry that would be termed both bridge and fine. The team of Yves Spinelli and Dwyer Kilcollin deliver jewelry for the 21^st century that is both modern and time treasured which will become the heirlooms of the next generation. The materials of choice here are sterling silver, 18k gold and pearls which add up to a recipe from the classics and yet their pieces are unquestionably thoroughly modern.

 

They began in 2009 with pearls and beads and worked them in tandem with leather/fabric wrapping which slowly evolved into the sterling stage and has now taken them in the precious world of 18k gold and diamonds. What is so intriguing about the jewelry is that their signature piece, which I will call the stackable collapsible ring, can be for the man or woman in your life. Depending on how it is rendered, with diamonds or in sterling or in sterling with 18k, the ring is asexual. By the way, this piece is a personal favorite! One more variable is depending on the amount of “rings.” It might also convert to a bracelet.

 

Be on the lookout for more diamonds, South Sea pearls, precious stones and an expansion of their signatures including a much larger selection of earrings and a greater variety in the colors/finishes of gold and diamonds. Within the last month or so they have been featured in ELLE and VOGUE, they are indeed on the ascent!

 

Special thanks to the designers of LOYD+FORD for introducing me to these latest additions to world of fine jewelry.

Could this new a new trilogy or trinity ring? Just saying.

www.spinellikilcollin.com

A Month of Fashion

After taking a short hiatus and trying to clear my head from a long series of fashion weeks, I thought it only fitting to “muse” on the topic or maybe offer some observations and maybe it is to proffer a litany of suggestions for the next grueling cycle. So read up and let me know what you think….

Aside from the ungodly duration of what was once referred to as  collection, there is now an extra added element of torture.  Collections used to focus on the top tier of designers who showed in the so called 4 major fashion capitals but alas that has changed dramatically. In today’s world of fashion we have supposedly become more democratic and less snobbish which translates to anyone who can pay the tariff gains entree into a once rarefied world.

 

Shows varied from city to city in terms of production, stature and size and yes they were always regarded as a rite of passage as having “arrived.” Well, that is all changed as we now have such an extreme homogenization  that a “buyer,”  if there are any left, a press person, or any attendee of the cycle might have trouble knowing exactly where they are! Models are robots, the staging is one at a time for the most part and all the clothes seem to just blend together.

 

Complicating matters even further is that the once rarefied air of collections is breathed by every classification of designers, whether they are at the designer or couture level or at the contemporary level. No matter what strata of so called design that they hail from, the clothes look the same with very rare exception. We have designers who are of the “me too” variety and then we have designers who will do anything to project themselves as “modern” or relevant and lastly we have intellectual designers who need to pass out press releases or as I call then instruction booklets beforehand as to explain or as I see it to justify the collections that they present.

 

 

Gone are the days when clothes spoke for themselves. Today we seem to have “critics” who spend more than half their verbiage speaking to the venue and the haughty inspirations of the so called intelligentsia of designers and a lot less time speaking to what they have seen. Once again in most cases, read one review you have read them all. Apparently now that big business has crept its way into hallowed halls of “high fashion” one can’t help but get the feeling that reviews are bought and paid for by advertising dollars. If that is not enough, then consider than if Conde Nast, which now controls a good part of what used to be referred to as  genuine fashion media, is not your ally, well, then you are on the outskirts of the new inner circle.

Where we once had characters such as Hebe Dorsey, Bernadine Morris, Mr. Fairchild, Mr. Coady and a host of  other reality based critics or reviewers, we now get  Suzy Latkes, Shooting Blanks, Feeble Phelps, Cate Horny, Nuclear Winter and car loads of 20 and 30 somethings  who give equally non informative reviews of what is paraded in front of them. Gone are the reviews which actually opined about the collection. Gone are words like ugly, distasteful, monstrosities, jokes, disasters and many such adjectives and nouns that pejoratively spoke about deserving collections. Today we have general bland accountings and only raves are reserved for the so called pets.  Oddly, those raves never really speak of clothes but speak around the clothes providing useless information that is supposedly the justification for usually ugly and ungodly creations that should have been panned rather than lauded.

 

The system is broken. We have the SEC which supposedly controls big business which SUPPOSEDLY prevents monopolies and yet we have a monopoly or series of monopolies at work here in the fashion business. Whether in media, or ownership of design houses or in retail, we are ruled and subject to the whims of the very few. We have lost what made this business exciting and vibrant. We are devolving instead of evolving and most sadly is what we have lost so much creativity due the search for acceptance.

As Grace Coddington said “I liked it better when fashion came first!”

Louis Vuitton Spring 2014 Paris Collections

With the rumor mill working overtime and if it is true, the final Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton collection was one to be remembered for many reasons.  First and foremost is the fact that these clothes must be excruciatingly expensive.  Second, I never understood the hoopla surrounding the clothes as they are only sold in LV boutiques and to Saks.  Third, it must be noted that it is Marc Jacobs who ran the distance and converted the sleepy brand into a fashion juggernaut after it languished for years with a logo handbag.

 

The Spring collection surely appears to be an ode to Cher and in turn Bob Mackie and if in fact that is not the case then everyone better reexamine the “inspirations” here.  The clothes are all black and over the top.  One has to think that it is conceivable that the Dior workrooms have been busy preparing this collection as the workmanship is far beyond anything that this house has ever shown … surely in its breadth.  Workrooms/ateliers that can produce this level of craftsmanship are not to be found on every street corner and keep in mind the 2 brands are under the same corporate umbrella.

 

Not being a fan of Mr. Jacobs, it pains me to say that it is amazing  that within this extravaganza of excess, the designer has managed to produce some covetable if not staggering pieces.  The level of detail is in many cases rivals that of the haute couture.

 

Here is an extreme case that the clothes outshine the venue and that the clothes assume the starring role as opposed in the past when they were seen as being supporting cast to the venue.  What comes to mind here is that since the clothes are so out of the realm of reality that the collection might be the best he has ever produced?

 

In ending, Mr. Jacobs has generated more fodder, more free publicity than LVMH could ever have hoped for, most importantly he has generated HUGE amounts of wealth for himself and the brand.  My hope is that he enjoys his wealth and hopefully he has his health and will just fade out from this brand in great comfort.

PS… if the rumor mill is correct and Ghesquiere is next in succession to the throne … good luck with that!

Valentino .. Spring 2014 .. Paris Collections

Without question, two of the most striking aspects of the collection are the impeccable and flawless execution and the workmanship.  Moving on from that point, the collection, to me, is very wintry with very few exceptions.  Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli  have a very monastic and almost virginal approach to the appearance of the collection but this season that has morphed into a look that is seemingly very close to that of ladies of Dolce& Gabbana.  Yes the models do not look at robotic or as walking dead  due to a touch of makeup but the overall picture is very very D&G!  I am sure it is not conscious but nevertheless it is quite apparent.

The collection is full of silhouettes and some are even new to the house but some are quite awkward as the high low hem with straight across edges, the flounced full legged pant which appears far too many times considering their oafishness, especially in denim..yikes!,  and the keyhole cotton shirt which seems to be at odds with itself and pairings.  There is repetition of shapes that have become part of the brand vocabulary since they took over but the palette is overridingly and overbearingly too moody and too particular for a Spring season.

Complicating my emotions concerning the collection is the almost omnipresent mantra about how the collection is younger than the eponymous collection but I increasingly fail to see it.  For me it is distinctly funereal in presentation, coloration and design.  So somber!  I fail to see any youthful or playful facets here.

The obvious folkloric inspirations/references are a bit over the top when compounded with the fringe and lace and the almost archangel hair ware... this is not my cup of tea at all.  I can only appreciate these clothes, with very rare exceptions, as beautiful pieces of technical accomplishments as well as the previously stated exquisite finished product... as a product only on a visual level!  Paging Frida Kahlo!!

On a fashion level, not so much.

Chanel .. Spring .. 2014 .. Paris Collections

What does one say when one sees brilliance? Okay, I know M.Russell may not agree, but, Karl is just astounding.  This is a man who literally revived the dead horse and still kept its house codes and DNA.  Please take a minute to wrap your head around that given the disasters we have seen at Givenchy, Saint Laurent, Dior, Balenciaga and oodles more.

Mr. Lagerfeld manages to manipulate Chanel in ways that are unimaginable to us mere mortals but then again that is why he is THE rock star of designers.  The “pets” of the media are such amateurs when compared to the Kaiser.  He laughs at them all and rightfully so!

While the “kids” are trying to figure out how to put their imprimatur on collections with fabled names, Karl marches on and still does it better than 90% of what’s out there.  He really stands alone at the top of the heap and seemingly with great ease.  Think about that he can produce more collections in one season and do them successfully than any 5 of the little “darlings.”

When flummoxed by the exasperating hideousness of a collection, my stock line is “rather than blather on about it,” but today I will say it because there is too much to point out in its favor!  90… count them... 90 exits … wildly excessive and uplifting!  Are they are amazing? Not even close, but the entire picture is that Karl is in command and he steers this ship to paradise more times than not.  No, not everything is sublimely beautiful nor does it all work on an esthetic level BUT this is Chanel massaged until there’s a happy ending... if you catch my drift.

Yes, Kiddies, this is an object lesson in how to do it right and how to ‘speak” to your customers.  This is why the Wertheimers are worth 20 billion dollars… literally!

PS.. the cashmere waist/neck sweater ties are destined to stampede out of the stores as are the 2 pearl necks, the plethora of handbag, great bracelets and fingerless gloves .. my take is that they can do more in accessories than most designers can do in full collection!