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  • Faust
    kitsch killer
    • Sep 2006
    • 37852

    Fashion Week Ramblings - S/S 2016



    FASHION WEEK RAMBLINGS - S/S 2016
    by Eugene Rabkin

    “Nothing,” answered a prominent New York buyer when I asked her what she liked during this past men’s fashion week. While I wouldn’t go this far, the Spring/Summer 2016 season was decidedly mixed.

    The overarching question, which began forming in my head during the first day of shows in Paris was, “What makes a good collection?” Is it the theme or its execution? Do we look for a designer to tell an interesting story, to interpret a theme worth exploring through clothes, or to produce beautiful, interestingly constructed garments? Ideally, both.

    Quite a few designers failed at this, beginning with Raf Simons. His own line has had a resurgence lately, as Simons seems to have finally realized that his fans want exactly the thing he’s been so good at since the beginning of his career – reflection of youth culture on the catwalk.

    Simons picked as his inspiration the short cult film “Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore,” which was also an inspiration for the recent Jamie xx solo album. Not a bad theme, but Simons’s execution in both the clothes and in the show’s production left much to be desired. It was not so easy to concentrate on the clothes with the models virtually running down the narrow elevated catwalk. Between their pace and the rags that covered their faces it is no wonder that some of them fell off the catwalk and into the crowd.

    As for the clothes – who will want to wear the super-tight cropped sweaters and exaggerated high waist bell-bottoms is a mystery beyond my humble analytical power. The long belted coats with grommets were fine, but they were overshadowed by the cheesy looking plastic chains.

    There were failures the other way around, too, at Dries Van Noten and Junya Watanabe. Both are masters of their métier, but even these two immensely talented designers cannot save a collection from an ill-chosen theme. At Dries Van Noten it was Marilyn Monroe – sad but true. In the pantheon of themes that should not be touched by anyone Monroe reigns supreme, along with Hitler, Mickey Mouse, and Kurt Cobain (all for different reasons, of course). That Van Noten sent down looks without even an attempt at reinterpretation (suits printed with photographs of Monroe all over, anyone?) has only made matters worse.

    So was it at Junya Watanabe, whose show was held at the Museum of Immigration. As the show began I poised my camera for a shot that I never took. Watanabe’s theme was… well, I don’t really know.

    What I saw were wan white boys in straw hats, clothes with African prints and African tribal jewelry. This fluctuated between absurd and politically insensitive, depending on how charitable you want to be (Guy Trebay said as much in his review for the New York Times). Images of English colonialism and everything that came with it flashed in my head. To be sure, Watanabe’s execution was flawless and his mastery of construction evident. But it was also a waste, and I could not help but wish that one day Watanabe would unleash his talent onto a better theme.

    Julius was a brand that failed at both concept and execution. While I welcome Tatsuro Horikawa’s much needed departure from the slick, robotic cybergoth he’s been doing for the last few seasons, I fear he has taken the wrong turn. The show’s tribal theme felt forced and there were way too many loose, drapey things on the runway and too few garments a modern man could relate to.

    Things did not look any better in the showroom. The entire collection looked like a diffusion line. Julius’s clothes used to be intricately constructed and of very high quality. Not this collection. Besides, as one buyer rightly said, you’d have to be basketball-player height to wear most of it...


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

    StyleZeitgeist Magazine
  • Faust
    kitsch killer
    • Sep 2006
    • 37852

    #2
    Please discuss! Would be happy to hear your voices.
    Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

    StyleZeitgeist Magazine

    Comment

    • Shucks
      Senior Member
      • Aug 2010
      • 3104

      #3
      "as the show began I poised my camera for a shot that I never took" is a brilliantly evil line. whole piece was an entertaining and interesting read. nice to see that u still call it exactly how u see it - even julius gets a smackdown.

      i would maybe have liked to hear a bit more about ur experiences of volume/silhouette/shape etc. of garments and looks.

      Comment

      • Ahimsa
        Vegan Police
        • Sep 2011
        • 1879

        #4
        Couldn't agree more Faust.

        I saw nothing that really excited me. I was especially disappointed to see Julius move to mostly draped silhouettes, as I absolutely love some of the pieces from Prism, though I'm sure there will be something once I see the buys.

        Thamanyah appears to be coming into their own, however, as I thought some of the new pieces really stood out compared to SS15.

        One thing I noticed was how many of the men's shows had quite a few female models in them. Is menswear making a move towards being even more androgynous?

        The greater issue that troubles me is the lack of newness and showmanship (though this has been for quite a few seasons now). I haven't been blown away in quite some time and it feels like there's little new to the scene. Perhaps it's just a dry spell in design, but Jun's throwback to older collections and how interesting it is in comparison worries me. It might also be that fashion has become so saturated, or the market so hard to enter without investors, that so much of the creativity and risk takers are just not there anymore.
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        • aussy
          Senior Member
          • Jul 2011
          • 555

          #5
          Originally posted by Ahimsa View Post
          It might also be that fashion has become so saturated, or the market so hard to enter without investors, that so much of the creativity and risk takers are just not there anymore.
          I'd say this is true of Paris, but not necessarily other fashion weeks (I assume because of the more accessible point of entry). Menswear designers are still taking creative risks, though they rarely translate into a coherent and cohesive vision or good clothing.

          If you quickly skim Fucking Young for their more inclusive coverage, you'll find and endless supply of designers and shows whose aesthetic I can only label as streetstyle photo bait, the new fashion victim. Too many ideas without restraint or contrived showmanship and styling. One could call this a failure in execution, much like Raf's latest collection.

          Though, I'm sure your aware of this section of fashion and perhaps choose to ignore it as I often do.

          Edit: Are there showrooms during other fashion weeks? Are they covered by any publication or individual?
          Last edited by aussy; 07-03-2015, 08:36 PM. Reason: question

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          • Ahimsa
            Vegan Police
            • Sep 2011
            • 1879

            #6
            Originally posted by aussy View Post
            I'd say this is true of Paris, but not necessarily other fashion weeks (I assume because of the more accessible point of entry). Menswear designers are still taking creative risks, though they rarely translate into a coherent and cohesive vision or good clothing.

            If you quickly skim Fucking Young for their more inclusive coverage, you'll find and endless supply of designers and shows whose aesthetic I can only label as streetstyle photo bait, the new fashion victim. Too many ideas without restraint or contrived showmanship and styling. One could call this a failure in execution, much like Raf's latest collection.

            Though, I'm sure your aware of this section of fashion and perhaps choose to ignore it as I often do.

            Edit: Are there showrooms during other fashion weeks? Are they covered by any publication or individual?
            I generally choose to ignore them, yes. I get sent various lookbooks quite often and there's nothing worth really looking at there most of the time.

            Though this is where the saturation comes in. It's a situation of there being so many brands, that it prevents a number of creative brands from entering and generally being ignored outright due to there just being so much. You end up having to break through a lot of noise. This is prevalent in the SZ aesthetic as so many of the new smaller brands are just very derivative. Even having a huge social media following does not necessarily translate to sales.
            I think London fashion week is a good example of an over saturation of poor taste.

            I view the current barrier to entry like the end of concert. The doors are open, but everyone is trying to get through the doors at the same time. So unless you have solid financial backing, it's hard to stay afloat.
            Last edited by Ahimsa; 07-03-2015, 11:08 PM.
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            • aussy
              Senior Member
              • Jul 2011
              • 555

              #7
              Thanks for the clarification regarding the over saturation of brands and good point. I haven't been around here long, but I feel that sz once offered a break through point for brands that aligned with its standards. Now it has become, as you said, flooded with the noise of derivation and trend chasing.

              London fashion week feels like a pissing contest of brands just screaming for attention. Maybe the dream and showmanship that is a fashion show is too often romanticized and pursued by immature designers. If designers were forced to simply sell their clothes first and only exhibit these creations in showrooms, would we still be subjected to this incessant crap? Maybe designers should give up their rockstar dreams or simply learn the virtue of patience and go the way of a diy, college, bedroom singer songwriter.

              Comment

              • Shucks
                Senior Member
                • Aug 2010
                • 3104

                #8
                Originally posted by aussy View Post
                Thanks for the clarification regarding the over saturation of brands and good point. I haven't been around here long, but I feel that sz once offered a break through point for brands that aligned with its standards. Now it has become, as you said, flooded with the noise of derivation and trend chasing.
                could you clarify a bit where/what you mean by this? i'm not sure i see it really that way, but maybe i'm missing something...?

                Comment

                • DudleyGray
                  Senior Member
                  • Jul 2013
                  • 1143

                  #9
                  RE: Junya, I'm not certain it's all that bad. Rick caught a little flack for Vicious maybe being exploitative, but he acknowledged that potential interpretation and thought it secondary to the core message being conveyed. Compare that to Junya's 2015 sapeur-influenced collection, which didn't make any exploitation waves even though he used a predominantly black cast of models. If he used another all-black cast, couldn't that be interpreted as some sort of pigeonholing, that black models are only good for African-inspired fashion shows? And couldn't a mixed cast be seen as tokenism? I think when black culture is bring appropriated for fashion, there's just no clean answer, maybe cast non black and non white models, but are there that many of those to go around?

                  Whatever the case, I think the fact that he's Japanese does take some of the edge off of the taboo. Both FW2015 and SS2015 definitely could have looked awful from a house like Louis Vuitton or whatever.
                  Last edited by DudleyGray; 07-04-2015, 07:30 AM.
                  bandcamp | facebook | youtube

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                  • DudleyGray
                    Senior Member
                    • Jul 2013
                    • 1143

                    #10
                    Oh right, what an ironically ignorant thing to say on my part, haha.
                    bandcamp | facebook | youtube

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                    • Nickefuge
                      Senior Member
                      • Nov 2014
                      • 860

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Faust View Post
                      Please discuss! Would be happy to hear your voices.
                      The only thing I noticed is a formal "flaw": you posted a picture of each collection you mentioned except for Junya. Otherwise it was as pleasurable as always. :)
                      "The only rule is don't be boring and dress cute wherever you go. Life is too short to blend in."
                      -Paris Hilton

                      Comment

                      • Faust
                        kitsch killer
                        • Sep 2006
                        • 37852

                        #12
                        I only posted those to which we have copyrights.
                        Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                        StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                        Comment

                        • ian+
                          Senior Member
                          • Dec 2011
                          • 746

                          #13
                          May I add the absolutely horrifying Y Project and Slimane doing Kurt Cobain again and again and again...

                          Did you went to the Lost & Found showroom? I have completely lost my interest to be honest but always hope for something different from Ria.
                          ...bombing the bass, blasting the beat

                          Comment

                          • Faust
                            kitsch killer
                            • Sep 2006
                            • 37852

                            #14
                            I haven't gone to L&F for two years. Not interested.
                            Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                            StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                            Comment

                            • ian+
                              Senior Member
                              • Dec 2011
                              • 746

                              #15
                              Originally posted by fit magna caedes
                              Oh yeah, Y project was seriously bad (again). Ugly, ugly, ugly.

                              I stopped buying L&F (except some older season stuff) but I heard that the recent stuff had improved again. Anyone confirm that?
                              Y Project sent moccasins down the runaway
                              ...bombing the bass, blasting the beat

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