An Immediate and Potentially Reckless Reaction to "Saint Laurent"

The lovely Julia Nobis opening Saint Laurent (photo via style.com)

I've been awaiting Hedi's Slimane debut womenswear collection at the house formerly known as Yves Saint Laurent. Let's avoid a long, superfluous conversation about the name change. I don't like it. My knowledge of Slimane's contributions to the menswear at YSL and Dior is rather limited (just as my knowledge of menswear is), though I know he is revered for a minimalist and sort-of rock and roll aesthetic—the latter characteristic being more so where my interest in this collection resides.

I returned home from class just an hour or so ago, turned on my computer, and saw that Garance Doré had put up some images from the show in a post entitled "The New Saint Laurent Woman." Ever a fan of reinvention, I flipped through earnestly. The three photos were nice, but only showcased models from the waist up (or less), so I turned to style.com for the full story. As I looked at the images, I felt rather underwhelmed. Slimane's obvious 60's/70's I'm-a-rockstar-girlfriend inspiration should have excited me, as well as the masculine-feminine dichotomy that has always been present at Yves Saint Laurent (I am a fan of both), so why didn't it? The wide-brimmed hats, overworn by music-festival goers seemed so outdated, so tired. The voluminous bows on a majority of the looks were playful and dare-I-say classic YSL, but were not cause for recovery. The saloon vibes fell flat.

While I may sound aggressively critical—something I have openly tried to avoid here—I will say nothing was terribly hideous and I vocalized approval a couple times, but nothing felt groundbreaking. Hedi was installed at the house to breathe new life into it, though I find it necessary to say I don't believe Stefano Pilati failed the house. Instead, Slimane has given us a caricature of the young hip girl. I see past seasons of Balmain and Isabel Marant, in the heavy leather skirts and tight cropped pants, respectively, and I wonder: Where is the Hedi Slimane that "fashion people"/my tumblr peers so laud?

Sure, the reinvention of the wheel is a lot to ask, but that's what fashion is. Constant, back-breaking, brain-melting, eye-exhausting recycling and reworking in the effort to "create" something "new." One sometimes wonders if it's possible. Perhaps it's too much to ask. That said, I've been genuinely excited by some of the offerings certain designers (Haider Ackermann's move towards print, the Mulleavy sisters at Rodarte's reinstatement of the woman warrior)  have provided us this month, though none of them have been so built up by their absence. It may all come down this expectation, to a lack of time to process, and I may be eating my words later, but for the moment I'm disappointed.

Alexander Wang

Alexander Wang's latest collection is being hailed as his most grown-up and developed by a laundry list of critics and editors. I don't imagine having Gisele close his show hurt. It was certainly more controlled, leaving the Downtown, Model Off Duty aesthetic in the dust. That is integral to his image though that I wonder if Wang fans may be disappointed. I personally love that he typically errs towards that aesthetic, but it's often shrugged off by biggies within the industry as if it's immature.



The emphasis of the collection was on outerwear with pieces mostly in black and white with some deep burgundy mixed in. In a video interview with style.com, Wang spoke about his interest in Surrealism and fabric manipulation.



Tweeds were laminated, leather was shrink-wrapped, all so the textures provide for a skewed perception. Perhaps it was a comment on luxury? The shine of the clothes was a paramount point of interest, though runway photos do the textures little justice. The aforementioned style.com video provides a much better look.



The extreme coverage of the clothes—heightened by the mesh turtlenecks over most of the models' faces—might serve as a perfect armor for dealing with charity canvassers and people dying to tell you about Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. Unsurprisingly, the glazed black leather motorcycle jacket inspired pieces particularly caught my eye, as well as the boxy gun-case inspired bags. The latter again seems to challenge his typical aesthetic, as the bags have a vintage feel that I've never known Wang to explore. The white men's shirt-inspired fringe dress is another favorite that has not completely abandoned the party girl spirit. I can't say I would put this among my favorite Wang shows, partially because it seemed a bit too focused. But come next season, I may change my mind. We all have to grow up sometime—or at least that's what they say. Photos via style.com

Prabal Gurung F/W 2012

I've been far too absent as "Fashion Month" has come and gone, but pretending I'm studious has taken precedence. The casting of Prabal Gurung's show reflected his thematic interest in the journey from Hell to Heaven, with dark-haired girls in black opening the show and blondes in shimmering whites and golds closing the show. Nevermind what sort of implications that has for those of us that are not fair-haired. The darker section of the show included an eye-catching iridescent oil slick motif that I'd love to see in real life, as it looks a bit dense in photos. It may be one of those, "I like the idea, but the execution..." sort of things.



Gurung broke up the contrast with shots of blue, inspired by Japan's blue rose. The prints, which included cow skulls reminded me a bit of his fantastic Spring collection, which I regrettably left alone with the rest of the season's collections. That kind of recycling could be considered a bit redundant or conversely, focused, as Gurung hasn't exactly laid down a concrete DNA. Committing yourself to an aesthetic seems limiting to me, but that's another conversation. The strong colors and the intense, sometimes excessive details (print, ruffles, fur...) within different looks in the collection are really what I found compelling.



More than a few writers have suggested a bit of inspiration by way of Riccardo Tisci's work at Givenchy, which I don't think is totally baseless, but any sort of reference to organized religion (the Phillip Treacy hats in particular) might place any designer in danger of such a comparison. In any case, it seems that Gurung is certainly growing and finding his voice as a designer. I wouldn't usually expect something so tough from him, but it doesn't seem as if he's trying to be someone else. My hope is that he continues to explore, putting forth interesting collections that could be deemed beautiful on saints or sinners alike. Photos via style.com

Marc Jacobs's Valentine

Marc Jacobs presented his Fall/Winter 2012 Ready-To-Wear collection last night and as usual, he did not disappoint. More on that later. I'm still absorbing the fantastic work New York Fashion Week has put forth so far, so when I catch a break, I'll be sure to review my favorite collections at a more in-depth level.

For now, enjoy look 49, a mix of dark and light, fantasy and street, pilgrim and 90's rave culture (the hats were apparently inspired in part by Jamiroquai). Marc has got me thinking I should have put on more red today.


Photo via style.com