Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't

[Magician]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't

^ What is it about Prorsum? I'm a pretty big Christopher Bailey fan. The only thin gkeeping me away from it is the price point.

[kunk75]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't

i dunno. the only pieces i ever really like just aren't very wearable to me.

[rach2jlc]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't



[quote user="Magician"]^ What is it about Prorsum? I'm a pretty big Christopher Bailey fan. The only thin gkeeping me away from it is the price point.
[/quote]

I was curious about this, too. I actually quite like what I've seen and/or owned by BP and Bailey. BUT, I will admit that I tend to look elsewhere when I'm making out my seasonal lists of items to buy and so BP items tend not to be on there, just because I tend not to like them ENOUGH to warrant paying that price or feel that I'll get enough use out of them.

The only overall negative I see (and, really, price point isn't a negative just because ALL brands are expensive) is that BP tends to be a little too trend-oriented and not have enough of its own aesthetic presence (outside of the Burberry classics, of course) so the items tend to look outdated a little too quickly. Jil Sander, or AnnD, or Yohji, or any of the other brands that we really like around here all tend to have such a strong aesthetic and defined presence that they become almost timeless. Many BP pieces I see, when worn, I instead say, "Oh, that's the A/W 04 blagh-blagh jacket" or whatnot. I don't identify it with a timeless quality, but with a seasonal one.

[Faust]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't

John, we had a BP quality/price discussion recently, but I don't remember in which thread, and we basically agreed that it's a pretty low ratio.

[rach2jlc]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't



[quote user="Faust"]John, we had a BP quality/price discussion recently, but I don't remember in which thread, and we basically agreed that it's a pretty low ratio.
[/quote]

I'll have to check that out, as my exposure to BP is admittedly not really enough to comment except that it didn't SEEM at the time to be any more egregious than any of the other major brands. Sadly, though, if BP has a low quality/price ratio even in comparison to its competitors (Gucci, Prada, etc.), then that REALLY is pretty sad. I continue to be floored by the abyssmally low quality-shit that the two aforementioned put out at all levels and price points.

[matthewhk]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't

burberry prorsum and bailey are both highly overrated...thank the fashion media and teenage magazine flipping female following for the hype. I can't remember the last time I actually went into a store to check out this stuff to see what had been cooked up for the latest season.

[Purity]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't



Quality wise it may be not be exceptional, but how is it overrated? Bailey often make really beautiful clothes, even though the brand is hyped up it doesn't change this fact.

[JonathanStrange]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't

Comme des Garcons!!! Used to absolutely love their pieces but the collaborations just need to stop--I think the label has lost its identity (at least it has for me) Rei will not be satisfied until she has colab'd with every person on the planet!!!

[Real Real]

Re: Designers/Brands You Want to Love but Can't

I think the problem is that Bailey has shown that he's fully capable of producing an interesting, high quality collection that is aesthetically cohesive from season to season, but it's clear that he's ultimately beholden to the shit-quality/trend-obsessed/ridiculous-priced rules of the major luxury brands. If Burberry Prorsum kept its prices, but upped its quality to a Jil Sander/Lanvin level, they'd be fine. If they stopped doing bullshit like the neon neoprene collection, they'd be better off, and so on. They're almost there, but that doesn't mean they'll actually get there.

[Yan]

The neoprene collection was great.

[orphée]

The neoprene collection was great.

And THAT would be my cue, at least in respect of the neon and hence Dries van Noten. I've been on and off that horse like a cowboy with vertigo. And the problem is that as soon as I get bucked, I just want to get back on for another ride. After all these years, I have to chalk it up to nostalgia....a longing for when he produced his pieces in Belgium, when amazing Yohji-esque trenchcoats with subtle mottled treatments were to be found, when leather riding jackets were produced with an almost CCP flair in respect of stitching and fit. When the air of the flagship shop in Antwerp was thick with the raw smell of leather cowboy shirts (I recently wore one inside out, a la Carpe Diem, and it even worked from that perspective). And now we have neon windbreakers and rain coats in Pretty as Pink tints produced in Romania and designed to imbue the masculine pallet with some colour, and I buy it and -- at least for the moment -- buy INTO it simply for the concept of something other than black/brown/grey/blueishness/the-sky-is-falling and subsequently fall flat on my face. Is it because it cannot be combined with 'the other'? Is it made to reject 'the other'? Then again, think of Carpe Diem, which looks best with (voila) more Carpe Diem. Speaking of 'the other'. But still, when I look at some of the catwalk shots from DVN, I cannot help thinking, 'Who on earth would wear that blazer with those trousers?'. I don't know. Is it a question of harmony -- are we ultimately hard-wired for 'smooth' as we constantly think (well, maybe not everyone) what would work with that? how could I combine that for amazing effect?. With Dries of recent, all I get is a jolt of 'wear me, but I will look like crap with anything else you have in your wardrobe.' Is that his message? Let is all hang out? I just cannot imagine that. Not from someone who produced such amazing things many years ago. What has happened? Yes, nostalgia, thou I shalt not underestimate.

[Faust]

Very eloquent, orphee :-) You know Dries started as a menswear designer, right? Women's came like two years after. I can't get excited about anything he produces these days - quality is suspect and designs are bland. Someone buys it somewhere - not me. He's become less interesting than the king-of-vneck-sweaters Margiela. So I just look at his womenswear now .

[inaya]

Personally, there are no brands/designers like this. For me, fashion likes and dislikes are instantaneous and impulsive... which is how I think it should be. Fashion is art, it should either strike a chord in you or not and I don't think it should be forced or contrived beyond the initial feeling you get. I never question the taste of others because I feel personal style should be just that; personal. I'll never understand the way of trying to like something, I think people should trust their instincts, it's the only way to find your own true and pure tastes and style.

[Faust]

Well, I may be further from the source, but I am not any further from the stocklists!

I think you just have to try being as objective as you can. I've had to swallow the hard truth that Ann's and Raf's work is not what it used to be. It does not diminish my admiration for them as people and designers given their oeuvre and their roles in fashion, but it does diminish the amount of Faustian dollars that goes towards their garments (I haven't bought a Raf piece in about 3 years - I actually no longer search for him on Ebay). One can only hope that a new wave of designers will appear and will take their place. Although I can't name one recent star that has endured - Hedi Slimane and Alexander Plokhov, where are they? I think Rick Owens is our best bet - although I do think he's either a) not talented enough to be the grand master or b) got too comfortable too soon and has no incentive to push himself in terms of design or c) all of the above. I am still talking menswear here, by the way. Between Watanabe, Chalayan, and McQueen, the women are covered.

[Faust]

Personally, there are no brands/designers like this. For me, fashion likes and dislikes are instantaneous and impulsive... which is how I think it should be. Fashion is art, it should either strike a chord in you or not and I don't think it should be forced or contrived beyond the initial feeling you get. I never question the taste of others because I feel personal style should be just that; personal. I'll never understand the way of trying to like something, I think people should trust their instincts, it's the only way to find your own true and pure tastes and style.

Having said that, do you examine the clothes of Dolce and Gabbana as closely as Yohji's?