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.

Alexander McQueen spring 2017 paris

Sarah Burton step to the head of the class! Now, Sarah please take note that this is not because you presented a such a perfectly salable and wearable collection but because firstly you carry on the name in the most glorious of ways, secondly because your clothes with workmanship that can only rival those of the haute couture and lastly because when you do hit the nail on the head it is with a sledge hammer.

click image to enlarge ... encouraged

click image to enlarge ... encouraged

There are few who can possibly imagine let alone render or conceive of the crocheted doily and a fair isle and mate them yielding an unbelievably beautiful work of art. Sarah is the storyteller, the dream maker who can do it all with seeming ease. Yes, of course there are some clunkers and some, well maybe ill-conceived looks but who cares. The black on black jackets are beyond the scope of fabulous and the engineered plaids are just works of art in themselves in their kaleidoscopic nature; special notice of the web like laces and crochets as well as the painted and embroidered leathers.

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click image to enlarge ... encouraged

As ever, tailoring takes a starring role with jackets and coats to covet, yes this is a high concept special interest designer who just sits atop the heap of so many others who call themselves designers and supposedly compete in this arena. Once again KUDOS... BRAVO... BRAVA and most off all... Please don’t leave us until you are ready!

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click image to enlarge ... encouraged

Valentino spring 2017 paris

Here’s what I know:

The collection has come alive: color, venue, silhouette, details, styling. It’s like a set of defibrillator paddles has been used and the brand has been brought back to life. Gone is the lugubrious monastic and almost funeral darkness of the location and the monotony of the clothes and thank God no denim. 

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We now know who held sway for too long and we now know who the real talent is!

Sheer exists but with linings for the most part. Gone is the death march of zombie like nubile vestal virgins.

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A variety of silhouettes has appeared and it no longer looks like every other collection that they ever did together.

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The workmanship is visible, even the archival references are there but actually reinterpreted as all archival references should be...not just by talking about it.

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In my opinion he has opened the door to a far savvier client rather than just one who loves the name. There are clothes from the most unadorned to those which will stretch far into the mid 5 figures.

No blah blah blah necessary other than for insight not for motivation or inspiration. 

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Whimsical,  feminine and some of it a bit too signora BUT what a difference; do I think there is room for improvement like some real day clothes ... yessss. ..  BUT this was absolutely off to a very encouraging if not propitious start

Balenciaga spring 2017 paris

Pardon me but your resume is showing! Not the designer but the viewer... on any level. Montana boxed out. The ads for Arnel, Enka, Banlon, Nyesta, Celanese and such come to mind. Then of course there are some pretty pieces which reek of old Ungaro. The 70s  and Torrente but then again who would know or point that out since apparently the Voguettes, despite their advancing years, never dream of referencing what they might know for fear of a dollar’s loss of advertising! My bad? Who cares? 

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The collection gets an A+ for color and even if there are heavily referenced or derivative pieces, some of them are actually wearable. So now all the beneficiaries of advertising can ooh aahh and dampen their panties over these (that includes the male pedant) when once again so we need to ask … what’s new here? The sad part is that so much of it looks fresh due to what has happened on the runways of the so called fashion capitals!

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BTW... what any of it has to do with the DNA of Balenciaga... not a clue! But it does prove that everything old is new again

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