We Need To Talk About Dior

Obviously, Dior is a show that needs to be discussed. I've been thinking about it for ages, and I still don't really know what I think about it, not really. Because, like, there were good parts, but then there were also, like, bad parts? It's confusing!

Me, still looking at Dior

But although it got reviews both good and bad, even the good reviews had a tinge of defensiveness about them. Like the reviewers know that there is something wrong with it, or that everyone else overwhelmingly believes there's something wrong with it. Because while there were aspects that I loved, there were some shocking moments too. And I have to admit, when I first saw it, I thought it was lacking one of my key ingredients to a strong collection: cohesiveness.

But let's start with the positives. It was the tiny details which tipped the collection into a success. They unexpectedtly popped up in dress-suits (the new pant-suit) and would have been completely lost on the viewer were it not for stage lights subtly glinting off them. These details, diamante lines and daisy embroidery, ranged from the relatively obvious:

To the very discreet:

Also excellent (I think. Not entirely sure) were the so-wrong-they-are-good mullety tails! Despite the odds, pretty elegant.

On the other hand, I have no idea what Simons was thinking here:

No no, seriously Raf, wtf? You think Kirsten Dunst or Marion Cotillard are gonna wear that on the red carpet? Think again.
So, a collection that doesn't entirely fit together, which sucks in places, yet... thumbs up from me. Maybe it's just that difficult things are more interesting than the easy. I'll be thinking about this for a while, so hats off to Raf for that at least.

all images from vogue.com

Rodarte's Back to Kicking Ass

Thank the lord! Rodarte's gone back to being fun and fantastical again! Fantasy role playing, what an awesome - not cool, awesome - starting point. And they did it right too. I'm actually really glad that they've tackled medieval fantasy, because in illustrations and comics and movies the costumes are always awesome, but anyone who has been to pop culture conventions knows that IRL attempts to dress fantasy fall way, way short. Now the average convention goer can just pop into their local Rodarte store! Right.
Now I'm kind of waiting for this pink ensemble to show up in Final Fantasy.

But then there were definite sci fi vibes - I can see Daryl Hannah running around 2019 L.A. in those leather pants - so I guess the Mulleavy's decided to deal with nerdiness in one fell swoop. And they really picked up on what is so great about role playing and fantasy and sci fi! Laura said it was about "being who you imagine your best self could be". I have a confession to make guys, that is almost exactly like my personal motivating motto. When I'm having a down day, feelin' bad, feelin' sad, I tell myself that I am the best version of myself I could possibly be. And then I usually just feel awesome, like a "you go girl!" to yourself. You should try it sometime.

When the collection gets really medieval the baddassery levels are high. Lara Mullen and Katlin Aas always appear a bit formidable but in these threads they look like they can talk the talk too - as in they could wield a sword and/or magic while also looking grumpy.

In the flippy skirts you could see a bit of last season Proenza Schouler which means you could see a lot Balenciaga in general (there was even the familiar pumpkin colour cropping up), but I'm not saying that's a bad thing. They've treated those influences in their own way, and Balenciaga is pretty synonymous with sci fi these days. Maybe the Mulleavy's felt obliged to reference them! And back to those flippy skirts, they may be very Proenza Schouler, but can't you imagine how perfect they'd look, flipping about while riding and/or slaying dragons?

P.S. Skrillex hair is hilarious but I am also totally digging it at the same time.

all images from vogue.com

Miu Miu S/S'12 (Hate to Love #3)

I must admit I was a bit grumpy at Miuccia Prada when she proudly announced that the Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2012 collection was designed and created in only 15 days. She said it like it was some great thing, however I wanted to yell (did yell, at my computer) "this isn't Project Runway people!". The statement bothered me because I felt like it cheapened the whole process of designing - it's not a race after all. There are already too many collections in a year and there is enough of a rush, enough of a focus on the 'new', without Prada stepping it up a notch.
Because of this I couldn't look at the collection without thinking about its rapid creation, and in a misinformed act of protest I just dismissed it. Only now, five months after the show was presented, has my head cleared and I can assess it without an angry bias. And with this distance, I have realised it is TOTALLY AWESOME.

I've cropped the images in this way deliberately because the hair, make-up and accessories, while maybe not being objectively ugly, certainly distract a huge amount from the clothes (please notice the diplomacy in my wording, it takes a lot of self-control).

I can pin the excellence of this collection down to a few distinct elements. The first is the upper body wrapping that featured throughout. They've been generally described as stoles, but they depart quite a bit from the traditional night-at-the-opera staple. Nevertheless, for whatever reason having your chest constricted is very elegant, as Ashley Olsen seems to have already figured out.

Another great element of the collection was the off-the-shoulder looks. To be honest they don't seem very practical, but they were what helped push this collection off-kilter for me, and that is always a good thing.

The a-line shape has been a bit of a trend for a while now, but Prada, in the way that only Prada can, completely transformed the silhouette by its own exaggeration, via not just skirts but cape-like coats too. And I have no idea how Prada chooses her colour palette for a collection, but I'd love to be a fly-on-the-wall for that process because none of the colours for this show made much sense, yet they all worked amazingly together. I can't help stealing the description of colours from Nicole Phelps: "oxblood, cherry red, cerulean blue".

The patchwork assembly of graphic textiles was also a stroke of inspiration paired against unlikely colours such as metallic lilac (look up). The women of the show were likened to "snarky" (thanks Cathy Horyn) Hitchcock-esque anti-heroines, but I think those interpretations were due solely to the twisted hair, makeup and shoes. When left alone the vaguely folk-ish collection of prints, along with the metallics and crazy shapes and details, speak more for themselves than for some hypothetical character.

Original images from vogue.com

The Row Pre-Fall 2012

I thought I was done and dusted with Pre-Fall but then Mary-Kate and Ashley went and did a wonderful thing with The Row. This is one of those collections in which you don't just admire the clothes, but want to be the women that these clothes will make you.

Definitely worth mentioning is the commendable colour palette. Varying shades of navy and burgundy is somewhat of a revelation, and to then to go and throw in some salmon pink - how unexpected! How exciting!

I've been thinking about them a lot lately, and I have a theory as to why The Row is just so successful. Ok so obviously the main reason is that the Olsen's are good designers, but I believe that part of their appeal is due to how serious they are. I don't mean that they are serious about their vocation as designers, but that the whole tone of the label is deadly serious, and seriously earnest. Just look at the photos above to start with. Instead of the generic look-book assembly of photos you usually get for pre-fall, here we are presented with "A Portrait of Women in Clothes". It is almost unimaginable that their models will ever jump on the latest trend for smiling and their runway shows are more than - the set design, lighting and styling elevate everything to more of "A Study in Taste".

The Row is sometimes compared to Celine for their elegant, intelligent take on 'clothes for the real woman', but while I can find Celine's pretentiousness irritating, with The Row it is wholly endearing. Maybe it's got something to do with the difference between New York and Paris. East of the Atlantic you have enough big houses pompously prancing around with their hundred years of history and archives and highfalutin' traditions - you don't get more serious than Paris and Celine doesn't help. New York on the other hand has carved out a completely different niche and it's all street savvy labels like Alexander Wang and Rag and Bone (clearly I'm omitting labels like Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta but I'm trying to form an argument here!) who carry with them a good sense of humour and large amounts of irony. There's not much solemn sincerity in NY, so The Row fill that gap nicely. And while it's easy to make fun of earnestness, at the same it can be totally refreshing.

I don't know if you guys know the band Xiu Xiu but they've got the same earnest thing going on. When they released Fabulous Muscles in 2004, Room on Fire had just been released a few months earlier and The Strokes were totally the rage. Back then everyone was digging this cool New York irony and laughing at Xiu Xiu lyrics like "I want you to like me". I was pretty impressionable at that time and assumed that The Strokes had the right idea and that Xiu Xiu were mildly embarrassing. But then a wise friend said something along the lines of "I would rather listen to someone earnest and sincere who commits completely than listen to some smug assholes who consist entirely of sickening levels of irony" . And that changed everything because I realised it was ok to care.

I will repeat this because it is important and everyone should always remember: it's ok to care.

And so bringing this back to The Row - they care, and that is cool.