Marni AW 2012 Review

Marni is one of my favourite brands. I mean, I don't wear it because I'm a guy (not that that would really stop me) and I'm poor. Poor people don't get Marni. They get Savers and Roger David

But if I were a rich girl I would bathe in Marni. I would look like a bookish art freak who is actually a massive slut but keeps it on the dl because I'm classy?

For quite a number of seasons Consuelo Castiglioni has been doing-for loss of a better word-kooky proportions. I can't quite explain it but there was always something not quite right about say the cut of a top or the way a dress moved. The end result was always identifiable clothes but I think the road she took to get there was never linear. See! I don't know what the hell I'm saying.
The fall 2012 collection seems more grounded and has a serious tone to it. It's not Gareth Pugh but it's more mature with the strange prints-a Marni signature-only appearing on a handful of looks allowing colour, shape, and texture to step up to the plate. The opening look was strong, a sort of cape-coat-dress in red and white with gold capped platforms. There were mushy knits, leather jackets that looked like they were moulded from plasticine, big squashy pockets, fur, military touches and giant fur collars. It didn't all work. Some of the modular lines on a couple of dresses could have been cut because the Vidal Sassoon bobs and white tights referenced the 60's just fine on their own.

Isabel Marant Spring Summer 2012 Review

Isabel Marant's latest collection was a mixed bag. There were craftsy hand knit tops that (as a crude assumption) had a Peruvian feel to them. She mixed this with straight up American sportswear, something that was looked at by Marant only a couple of seasons ago. Those matchstick jeans that are a Marant staple were back, this time in red tie dye. 
Model Dewi Driegen (who I've not seen on the catwalk for a few years now) made a comeback. Unfortunately she wore what is undoubtedly one of the ugliest patchwork dresses I've seen in recent memory. The patchwork frenzy continued on t-shirts, jeans and a parka. It's just like, stop it.
The knitwear was the strongest in the show and possibly the best this season. It was like they were made in Paris and then sent to a mountainous region of Vietnam or something to get jazzed up and sent back.
Even though there were some rather unfortunate looks in this show there was still fuckloads of stuff that would make even the most bitter, hardened critic be like oh fuck it, I need a Rajasthani embroidered vest. Isabel Marant falls neatly into that category of designers (such as Marni) who don't often push the envelope or do an about face each season but their clothes make you feel something. Even if it's just consumerist lust it's still something and a lot of designers would kill to have such a loyal fan base who return season after season and keep cash registers ticking over.

Marni Spring Summer 2012 Review

Consuelo Castiglioni sent out appealingly dorky 50’s housewives for her latest spring collection. Modest tunics-a Marni staple-were back, this time done in pastels. Skirts had sheer beige underlays that contrasted well with the pastels and an eye-catching pink number was nice. There were textured floral prints, geometric leather shapes and a lattice print which really pulled together the final looks. What I like most about Marni is that it’s reliably cool. If you buy Marni (god I wish) you’re never going to be disappointed because Consuelo gently pushes each collection in new directions without freaking you out. With this collection it was the colours and textures that felt new and exciting. Look 17, a top/skirt with some side cut-outs was a standout. What’s with emerald green looking so fresh?

Art Freaks Unite!

It was a restrained outing for Consuelo Castiglioni’s Marni. All the trademarks were there but they were less dorky and awkward. The Marni girl is still an art freak weirdo that we all want to be friends with but this time around she’s acting her age a little more.

The prints were as always mindblowingly original. The navy and putty coloured print was my favourite. The jackets felt new with their stiff roughly hewn edges that created an ill-fitting shell. In real life they may not work but editorially they’ll rule. Castiglioni has such an eye for colour and proportion. Whether it be a slouchy leather glove or a thigh-skimming top she nails it every time. She is always a Milan highlight.

As The Walls Are Closing In And The Colours Fade To Black

ABOVE: MARNI

ABOVE: BOTTEGA VENETA

ABOVE: PRADA. ps, this is the first and only time I'll apologise for my fucking horrible photoshop skills. Totes sozzz

Thought I'd be a giant dyke and quote some Sarah Mclachlan. If memory serves me right the song Black appears on the X-Files soundtrack. Weirdly I bought the CD yet never saw the film or watched the TV series that much either. I was probably watching re-runs of Absolutely Fabulous and brushing the hair of my treasure trolls. Aaaaaaaaanyway.

Something that surprised me was seeing black in a lot of spring collections because I don’t normally associate black with summer. It wasn’t something that was a major story to the collections but it warrants a mention. But then again, maybe it's like when you buy a red car all you see is red cars when you drive. I felt like they’d snuck them in for the Lanphears and the lesbian art critics of the world.

For example if you’ve seen the Prada show and had to sum it up you might say bright, zesty colours and retina-melting embroidered monkeys! What was Miuccia smoking? But there was a section of somber black dresses worked in. Marni did it too. I think this was done to take the edge off some of the acerbic colours and wild stripes and to give the eye a breather. Missoni would’ve been smart to have done this too and broken up the eye-fuck of colour they sent down the runway.

Below is my summer mood board. Argh, shoulda put a mood ring in.

BLACK SUMMER INSPIRATION

COLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Y'ALL: 

Special edition My Little Pony with platinum weave.

 David Agbodji. Call me bb gurl

Black Emanuelle movie poster. Italian blaxploitation at it's most raunchy. 

The black plague. Super-rare vintage disease from 1348.

Black Swan movie poster. Film about mentally unstable ballerina. I don't need to know anything else. I'm there.

And speaking of lesbian art critics....

Marni Spring Summer 2011

The predominant theme of the show was scuba so there were zips and wetsuit shapes aplenty but there wasn't enough zing to it all.

I like that Consuelo Castiglioni takes a trend or an idea and makes it her own. It’s unmistakable Marni and it doesn’t matter that she’s off-trend (scuba, are you serious?) because Marni has some serious devotees and they don’t care about where hemlines are, they care about the squashy skirts, the boxy jackets and the Marni prints. So they got loads of that.
Standouts included the sequined dresses, the bags were quite strong and the colours were good too. I always love how Castiglioni layers colours.

Weird but not too Weird at Marni

Perhaps taken apart this collection may not look very interesting on a rack in a store but I just can’t help but fall in love with Marni. Consuelo Castiglioni has a knack for colour and putting together a total look.

Sometimes the clothes are often so bare of zips and buttons and that they have that made at home look about them but the proportion, cut and quality suggest otherwise.

I just love the girl that Consuelo is dressing-herself presumably- because there’s that bit of Marni girl in me too, the girl that wants to dress in this sort of arty, weird-but-not-too-weird way. Oh and I’m a guy and I’m aware there’s Marni menswear but it’s never as charming as the womenswear.

A lot of serious critics of fashion won’t be looking too hard at Marni for the next big trend but whatever, Consuelo makes amazing clothes and pushes fashion in her own direction which is always refreshing.

YVES SAINT LAURENT SPRING 2010

Yet another Paris collection that opened with an all-white look. At YSL it was a trouser suit with a belted peasant jacket. It may have felt right for Stefano Pilati to do the classic YSL peasant look but it felt a bit obvious and a little tired considering it was such a lauded collection when YSL did it in 1976 and again by Tom Ford in Fall 2001. Colours ranged from the aforementioned white, black, grey, blue, red, tan and the most bizarre use of printed strawberries on a dress. If it was a YSL reference then it was obscure.
The collection felt very disjointed and looked like he was referencing his earlier work, particularly the colours from his debut Spring collection in 2004. A loose-fitting white top paired with a raspberry skirt looked more Marni than Laurent.
As a runway show it didn’t impress which hopefully doesn’t spell trouble considering YSL hadn't turned a profit until 2008. As stand-alone looks and pieces in a store they’ll have great appeal, such as the high-waisted leather skirt and the strappy shoes.












YSL Fall 1976



YSL Fall 2001

GASPARD YURKIEVICH SPRING 2010

It was a sporty, pared down look for Yurkievich’s spring collection. The show started out a bit clunky with some unflattering dresses and pants though the dresses did have a nice rounded shoulder. There was a chic boyfriend blazer in navy with a beautifully set sleeve. Most looks were paired with different coloured knee-high socks and platforms and it looked like a Marni hangover.
A drippy, flower print appeared on pants and dresses but that failed to raise much interest until he did a similar print with a celestial background on a dress. That print was a knock-out.
The tobacco coloured pieces were thoroughly unappealing, particularly a dress paired with powdery blue looking suede boots. It was nothing short of brave but I felt like he was relying on the shoes and socks to pull the collection together. When taken apart the clothes may lack that certain special quality that sways people to spend.