Her Royal Highness Is Back

Tom Ford is back but did he ever really go away? Within one year of parting ways with the Gucci Group, Ford had already inked a cosmetics deal with Estee Lauder and an eyewear license with Marcolin Group. Less than a year after that Ford announced he would be producing menswear and opening a flagship store on Madison Avenue. Then there was fragrance, the film and now here we are with the ultimate: womenswear. Ford hasn’t strayed from the limelight and has said he “missed having that voice in popular culture”.
Ford showed his first womenswear collection at the Madison Avenue flagship to a select group of journalists and no photographers were allowed in except for Terry Richardson.
The first images from the collection appeared two months later. This was done because Ford feels the public see the collections too soon and by the time they hit the stores they’re over it. He said "I don't think it ultimately serves the customer, which is the whole point of my business-not to serve journalists or the fashion system.” Lol, that’s such a lie. By cutting out the blogs, the tweets, the tumblrs, Ford won over the invited journalists. Not because it was a knockout collection but because he made them feel special again. Cathy Horyn of The New York Times called it “extraordinary”. Suzy Menkes of IHT said it was a “heroic return to fashion”. Now, I liked what I saw of the collection but extraordinary? Heroic? Okay.
It’s no secret that most journalists dislike bloggers and hate having to make room for them at fashion week. Tavi’s pink feather bow hat furore sums up the general attitude towards new media.

As for the clothes it looks exactly like he picked up where he left off way back in 2004. Flared trouser suits, big hair, disco glamour, unbuttoned shirts. Ford said it won’t be too trend-driven like Gucci which I think is nice you know. He can relax a little more with that type of direction and not feel like he has to wildly jump through a new set of hoops every six months. This could well serve to make the clothes more special and less throw away if they have longevity. So yeah, it was a nice collection. It was sexy, less sleazy, straight-forward, easy to understand clothes.

The only thing that kinda grates me is that apparently he prefers to be called Mr Ford. What is this, an episode of Mad Men? You’re not an old world couturier ripping sleeves off jackets because they don’t sit right. You’re from Texas. But that’s the image he’s creating, a throw-back to what fashion used to be like with salon-style presentations, ‘private blend’ fragrances (which totes sounds like a top shelf instant coffee from the supermarket) and the illusion of exclusivity. All of which he’s remarkably adept at doing.

It will be interesting to see how he fits back in with the fashion industry. I feel like Marc Jacobs stepped in as his equally talented but much less hot replacement as the tippy-top American designer fashion darling.

Tripped Out Royals

We all know what it’s like to slave away at something for hours only to have people be like, oh yeah that’s nice. Inside you’re like that took fucking hours you cunt. That’s what I felt when I looked at Christopher Kane’s Spring 2011 show.

The inspiration was Princess Margaret in her youth on acid or a royal on crack. This appeared to be the inspiration for 80% of the collection and the other 20% went to tattooed yakuza wives.

There were skirts and jackets in laser-cut leather and they just didn’t quite impress even though they should have. Not only did they not sit well but they looked reminiscent of those plastic tablecloths you buy off the roll at Spotlight.* You’ve got this jacket and it’s like ooh, intricate, delicate leather but no, sorry, tablecloth jacket. From 2002.
Things improved though when Kane sent out trippy neon lace dresses with beautiful knife pleat details.
The pleating appeared heavily throughout the show and it looked flawless particularly on the dresses and a neon yellow blouse.
The biggest problem I have with this collection is I feel like Kane started off with an idea that wasn’t thoroughly expanded upon. I also don’t feel that enough of the clothes screamed buy me and they should have. A neon twin-set should leap out and smack you square in the face but it didn’t. Why is that?**
These clothes needed bags too. Everything was so lady-like that the overall look felt bare and unfinished. A batshit crazy nana handbag would’ve been perfect but Christopher Kane the brand (and the designer too) is young and leather goods are a few years off. Hopefully not too far though. Perhaps a little help from Kane’s fairy godmother Donatella Versace will get the accessories ball rolling.


Ps, I totes would’ve taken Princess Anne over Margaret ANY. DAY.

*Turns out the leather was vinyl coated to make it pleather-esque. Isn't he wicked?
**Because I’m an overcritical wankface. But I fucking love Christopher Kane. Spring 2009? It was pretty very.

pps, another reference in the collection was Cyberdog, hence the neons.

Monkeys Are The New Cats

If you keep up with fashion like a massive loser (like me) then you'll know that cats have been HUGE lately thanks to Miuccia Prada's Spring 2010 show for Miu Miu and the there was the Lanvin ad campaign with crazy cat lady Kristen Mcmenamy.

Well forget what you know about cats because now it's all about monkeys. That's right, bundle the cat stuff off to the vet and have it put down.

It's over? Just like that? 

The spring Prada collection is amazing. It was bright colours, bananas, monkeys, baroque, FUR!!!!! stripes and black dresses. I like that it was done entirely in Japanese cotton. I don’t know what’s so special about this type of cotton and if anyone knows then leave a comment. I can only presume it’s super-soft and prohibitively expensive. I think this ebbed over nicely from the men’s collection which had a uniform theme and cotton is the all-round hard-wearing fabric of workwear. 

The workmanship appeared rather simple but that's Prada, they’re not synonomous with impeccably made clothes-not to say that they’re badly made but come on-if you want top-notch sewing/pattern skill and technique you go Dior, Balmain, Hermes.
Prada is intellectual fashion and you can poo-poo that statement all you like but it’s true. People, including myself, like Prada because it appeals to their intellectual vanity. Oh look minimal baroque, what a mindf*ck. I'll take ten skirts and a monkey top thanks.

So I can see why some people would look at this collection and say that a first year fashion student could construct these basic skirts and dresses and that’s quite true they could but they didn't. Miuccia Prada did and that’s what makes my heart skip a beat at the electric furs, the absurd baroque monkeys, the finale of black dresses.

Srsly you guys, look at the shape of that jacket, the curving shoulder, the nipped waist, the bulbous sleeve. And that BLUE!!!!! I'm dying here. ps, if you look at the Prada Men's show for 2011 you'll see the same shoes. 

Rodarte

When I first saw this collection I hurriedly wrote down some thoughts and was like I’ll expand upon this later and it didn’t fucking happen.
I’m sitting here trying to write something measured and precise but I’m failing and can’t think.

why is this so fucking amazebomb?!

So here’s what I wrote-

Prints everywhere (duh)

V motif

Repetition theme with layering.

I love how their work evolves, they’re not trend driven like so many American designers

Mid-riff and cut-outs. Most overtly sexual work I’ve seen from them, very much in line with Miuccia Prada’s take on sexy.

Does this mean we’ll be seeing Tavi’s midriff soon?

I don’t think I’m perceptive enough to pin-point their inspirations. I saw Mormans, rural life, working the land, but there was so much more than that. (they were inspired by California and the gold rush).

Final looks felt Poiret-esque, maybe she’s a girl who lives in a forest-or is that tooooo themey?

Gone are their ultra-delicate, draped, twisted, ruched, burnt silks and in place was a far stronger Rodarte girl.

ps, the interview I did with Stella McCartney Lingerie head designer Chloe Julian is up at In The Void. You should check it out

Fuck Me In The Ass

Above: Givenchy Spring 2011

Above: Celine Spring 2011

Resort or Spring or whatever you wanna call em collections are flying in and the mood is different, the approach is more considered than ever before.

I've been finding these pre-collections quite interesting to observe over the past few years and seeing how designers and brands are coping with having to design 2 extra collections per year. For the most part a lot of designers are taking it on with gusto.
A few years ago resort was just that. Resort. It was marine inspired, light cotton clothes that you could stuff into an overnight bag before jetting off to St Tropez in a pair of blue and white espadrilles. Fast-forward a few years and it's like, who the fuck goes to St Tropez? Valentino?
So now we've got designers such as Stella McCartney referring to Resort as Spring. The angle has changed and so have the clothes. And for a good reason. The clothes that are coming out for Spring and Fall are equally as good, if not better in some cases than the main collections. I say this because a lot of the conceptual bullshit (which I dearly love) is cut out and what you're left with is a clear message and clothes that people want to wear.
Go to Style.com and take a look at Celine and Givenchy. The clothes are beautiful (Celine in particular) and none of them are beach appropriate. Yay.

The only concerns I'm hearing about Spring and Fall collections are that designers may suffer from burn-out and customers are being given too many trends and ideas, leaving the market over-saturated with clothes.

I think in a few years Spring and Fall will either collapse and burn or it'll be just like Summer Winter with a full runway schedule.

On a different ntoe, how badly is Phoebe Philo caning the industry right now? She's had 4 collections and she's already got an it-bag and it-bags are dead.