Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Ups And Downs Of Paris

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Faust
    kitsch killer
    • Sep 2006
    • 37852

    The Ups And Downs Of Paris

    My thoughts on the Paris fashion week.



    THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE PARIS FASHION WEEK

    So, I finally went to the Paris women’s fashion week (and liked it). I arrived fashionably late and missed a few shows that I would have loved to see, but I got to see a bunch. Everyone warned me that the women’s fashion week is more hectic than the men’s, but I did not find it so. If anything, it seemed more relaxed because spread over a longer period of time.

    I landed in time to catch the Undercover show – my first – and it was a worthy premier. Held in the ballroom of the Westin hotel, it was as sumptuous as shows go. Titled “Perfect Day”, after the Lou Reed song, it was all about comfort – a kind of lazy Sunday rendered in furry mohair, cat prints, and lush oversized coats. There were models of all ages – from the young to the 38-year old Hannelore Knuts to the lady that was in her 60s (if not 70s). The show’s embrace of age was touching, but Takahashi’s talent for the surreal made real was the thing that drove the show. He is a true auteur, one of the few left in fashion – and by auteur, I don’t mean a tyrant like Hedi Slimane, but a creator capable of building an aesthetic universe that is uniquely his own.

    Speaking of auteurs, later that day Yohji Yamamoto presented a show that was so calm and assured that it has quieted the audience into a kind of a serenity a true master can transport you into. Some say that Yamamoto has lost his pulse on the hand of fashion. I say, good riddance. The man is certainly no weather vane.

    If you are into the wind currents of fashion though, as I am professionally obliged to be, you would’ve heard the word “Vetements” repeated ad nauseaum. Its influence is inescapable, for better or worse. Well, for worse. Vetements began as a good idea – its first collection felt fresh, though it owed obvious debt to Martin Margiela. There was nary a logo in sight. But the fashion hipsters have jumped on it following the label’s embrace by the fashion media. Fast-forward mere three seasons and what Vetements presented on the runway was a barrage of logoed sweatshirts and tees. Before you object, let me define what a logo is in the age of Instagram – any immediately recognized, hashtag-friendly graphic design that can be adapted by a group of people. Gvasalia saw the writing on the wall, took it down, and put it on sweatshirts. Vetements may make some interesting clothes, but all I see are those idiotic security jackets with the name’s label on the back and $650 printed sweatshirts. And, yes, the winner of the season was the one girl who wore the $350 Vetements t-shirt with the DHL logo on it to the Iris van Herpen show.

    Gvasalia’s debut at Balenciaga was no better, and its sycophantic embrace by the fashion media even worse. With one stroke Gvasalia took down the edifice of elegance that Ghesquiere has built and that Alexander Wang was too timid (or lazy) to touch. The show was a mix of Tootsie-on-acid office gear and blatant Margiela references with a bit of Comme des Garcons thrown in. Oh, and there were ski jackets. At Balenciaga. And if you did not like that, let me tell you what you did not see – those ski jackets had “BALENCIAGA” stitched in big letters on the back of the collar. Guess what will be the best-seller when this collection hits the stores?

    In the spirit of full disclosure, I did not go to see the Balenciaga show and I don’t like basing my judgement on full-frontal runway photos alone, because they can be misleading. But, I did go to the Balenciaga showroom. Things looked a bit better there, but not by much. I did realize though that part of the runway fiasco was Lotta Volkova’s subpar styling. Those jackets and coats that were falling off the shoulder actually looked good when completely closed. The trick was an ingenious zipper placement, and it looked first-Vetements-collection interesting once fully zipped. There were also intricately constructed trench coats and shearling jackets. And there was plenty of logoed filler.

    I believe that Gvasalia’s intention is to do to Balenciaga what Slimane has done at Saint-Laurent – take a venerable luxury house, tear it down, and dish it out to younger audience that cannot relate to gabardine and cashmere, but love their ironic denim. The thing about Gvasalia is that he decidedly speaks to the young audience at this point, a young audience that has enough disposable income for luxury-level-pricing cool.

    CONTINUE HERE
    Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

    StyleZeitgeist Magazine
  • unwashed
    Senior Member
    • Dec 2008
    • 694

    #2
    Thanks for the review!

    Too bad I had to read so much about Vetements and this Gvasalia dude, but I guess he is the current fashion right now.
    Grailed link

    Comment

    • Faust
      kitsch killer
      • Sep 2006
      • 37852

      #3
      You cannot avoid it - it's like a fucking plague. EVERYONE was talking about it.
      Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

      StyleZeitgeist Magazine

      Comment

      • Maison d'Ashraf
        Junior Member
        • Jan 2013
        • 28

        #4
        do you have any idea on what will be the pricing on the Balenciaga pieces? for me, Vetements is overpriced...

        will Demna, also be doing men's Balenciaga?

        Comment

        • cremaster
          Senior Member
          • Jan 2010
          • 136

          #5
          Great article Faust and thank you for your inside view.
          If the future of fashion is in the hands of who the media is all over at moment I think Rei and Yohji have a little gas left in their tanks.
          Summed up well with the Herpen conclusion - yes there is hope.

          Comment

          • Faust
            kitsch killer
            • Sep 2006
            • 37852

            #6
            Thank you, cremaster.
            Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

            StyleZeitgeist Magazine

            Comment

            • cjbreed
              Senior Member
              • Feb 2009
              • 2712

              #7
              i enjoyed the article as well. thanks faust!
              dying and coming back gives you considerable perspective

              Comment

              Working...
              X
              😀
              🥰
              🤢
              😎
              😡
              👍
              👎