GIVENCHY spring 2019

WELL!  I guess this was supposed to be spring but you’d never be able to tell by the unfortunate color palette or the opaque hose. Then of course there is this little thing that this bears the name Givenchy who blessedly passed not that long ago as this collection might have killed him to see his name attached to this pile.

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 Clare Waight Keller clearly has a fascination with pleating as well washed out looking models wearing bad shoes who seemed to be speed walk down the catwalk. There was no elegance, no refinement, no chic in this collection and much of it, at lack of a  better word,  was generic as in created in that communal  Parisian design room located on the outskirts of Paris…  or at least that’s where I picture it.

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The high waisted pants with yet another version of a motorcycle jacket, another trench, a few mumus, and some pleated flanges do not a collection make. The rather unspectacular men’s collection did nothing to bolster the women’s and if anything reinforced that Ms. Waight Keller better get back to the drawing  board and find a direction for this heritage brand since it is apparent she definitely took a wrong turn somewhere with this collection.

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PS… another long awaited arrival on the scene and yet another disappointment!

AKRIS spring 2019

To think that was once a line for dowagers is almost inconceivable but alas it once was around 30 years ago or more. 

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 Today it’s all about a spare and sometimes very minimal esthetic with a focus on weightlessness and use of very specific prints, fabrics and a multitude of silhouettes that create slick clothes for all ages. This is no easy task and yet Albert Kriemler makes it look so easy; be aware than I am no ardent fan as there are some seasons I don’t care for it all but when he gets it right it is so right.

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I loved the architectural photo prints done on georgette which gives them a totally different feel than if it was a cotton or silk crepe, then there was the use of another pattern printed on different fabrics all used in one ensemble but if there was something negative to be said it was about the pieces that included “the Dali-esque eye”

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 Kriemler is an art collector and has a penchant for getting into the artsy side of fashion which usually works for him but here it was a bit iffy. No matter, as the collection as a whole is exquisitely made and always precise. For spring, I must say again that the clothes look so light almost weightless and spring certainly is the right season for it especially or suits. 

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The choice of embellishment is superb and for me it is the small things that make me call the collection modern such a zip from jacket with beading or a bronze leather zip front motocross jacket with printed georgette pants, yes there are a few clunkers in the group but it hardly matters when you look at the grouping in its entirety. Oddly there was no orange which seems to be one of the colors of the season and a color that he has frequently used.

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 Akris is a collection that has balance and variety and warrants the price that it charges which is not something that can be said of most collections. It is innovative and discreet and yet so very much in fashion while remaining timeless.

THOM BROWNE spring 2019

I have absolutely not even the vaguest idea of what I just saw but I can tell you that I was mesmerized, astounded, hypnotized and incredulous by what was paraded out in front of my eyes. I can’t offer any critique as I don’t think there is a suitable one to proffer. 

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Yes I know there were few if any pieces to really wear as shown but any lover of the art and craft of fashion has to be slack jawed by the most amazingly  precise workmanship we have seen and by the demented mind of this mad scientist of fashion. Yes there was the iconography of spring/summer but never in a jillion years could you conceive of how it was shown. No detail left untouched!

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Esthetically he proves that fashion is an art form as to what is or is not wearable would be determined in the showroom... I cannot even fathom but my eyes were glued, I wanted to touch, I wanted to examine, I wanted to feel these clothes, I wanted to stare which is so much more than I can say about 90-95% of what we have all seen for almost a month now. It is called EXCITEMENT!!

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I tip my hat to him and to Zegna for having the foresight to invest in what might possibly be the most creative collection and maybe genius of fashion that has come along in quite some time.

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WOW!

Balenciaga spring 2019

Demna Gvasalia … need I say more to explain this shit pile of clothes that mean nothing and have absolutely nothing to do with the brand’s history. What a joke! Halloween is around the corner... 

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Fodder for the influencers, label whores, know-nothings, fashion victims and a means to line the pockets of this fraud of a designer who is just an untalented Rooskie running a con. I hope there are glittering reviews to show those who know just what pandering reviewers can come up with whille  giving up their dignity and credibility in the process.

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What an embarrassment to call this fashion or new or innovative... it’s just a vehicle to hype for the tasteless and the uneducated of those who think they what fashion is all about.

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Even Zara and H&M do better on their own