Ahead of the curve

I don't know much about the new designer at Balenciaga and I can't say that the Spring/Summer 2017 collection was entirely my cup of tea (but of course maybe in 3 seasons when huge shoulders and the resulting triangular silhouette is everywhere I'll eat my words). 

That said I did have a certain fondness for this weird latex-looking hooded cape. It reminded of a favourite French and Saunders sketch where a school girl, sponsored by Curly Wurly, sets out to sail single-handedly around the world and makes a video-diary but gets no further than the edges of Poole harbour. At the onset of some bad weather she is forced to do up her waterproof coat and when things clear up can't unfasten the hood. It's a classic.

French and Saunders were always ahead of their time. Maybe Demna Gvasalia is too.

Old world charm offensive

Stella Jean's collections are beautiful and romantic and elegant and in a world that is increasingly none of those things I'm touched by the sense of old school charm.

This collection was like receiving a vintage postcard from a mystical Caribbean locale that brought with it the sounds and scents, the tastes and warmth of a sultry summer afternoon. It reminds me of a scarf my gran had folded in a drawer that she had brought back from one of her trips in the early 1960s in a pea-green boat called the "Delight" that they took down through the Continent.

Different times and days of naive innocence evoked through Stella Jean's easy silhouettes and pitch perfect colour palette.

And ps those stripy mules are to die for.

Alessandro Michele's Runway for Fantastically Wonderful Clothing

Oh my god what a snore-fest it's been. Until now. Until Alessandro Michele revealed the most fantastic parade of eccentric Gucci clad characters you've ever seen on one plush pink wall-to-wall carpeted catwalk.

It's like David Bowie and a tin of boiled sweets meet some of the weirder kids from Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and time travel to a disco in their favourite get ups from the past, present or future.

There are so many brilliant looks to choose from (75) but here's a few gems. I want to live in his world. I want to wear a shiny pink suit with a 4" ruffle from cuff of sleeve to hem of pant. I want to go out to play with the weird kids who wear Gucci.

Power to the people.

I recently read an op-ed piece in The New York Times by David Brooks about the Revolt of the Masses which gave some context to the political shit-storm that's going on in the UK, the US and further afield too I suppose.

The working classes are repressed and skint and are finally using the vote to make their voices heard and to take a stance against the intellectual elite and a world where manual labor is looked down upon while the suits are celebrated and rewarded, where instant vapid celebrity is valued over craft and hard work.

Which wouldn't generally provide a segue in to the very elite world of couture but the collection Viktor and Rolf presented was a celebration of the beauty of something clearly made by human hands. Strange, magical and idiocyncratic with a slight tinge of "fin de siecle" about it. As if ragged ghosts from the French revolution had wrapped themselves around the models just as they stepped on to the runway.

Couture is one of the last reaches of fashion where hands do all the work. The "petites mains" of the work rooms are the skilled builders who help the designer achieve their vision, they bring it to life and in this instance they breathed life back in to disused fabrics and clothes to create fresh beauty.

Re-birth. Re-naissance. Re-volt. Vive la revolution!

The Vampire's Wife

Susie Bick was one of those models who was truly captivating.  She wasn't a household name - except in the coolest households - and while still a model she's also a designer and has used the title of an unfinished novel by her husband (only Nick Cave) as the name for her line.

Inspired by vintage pieces and guided by her own elegant tastes, The Vampire's Wife offers a small range of styles but each one looks like it has its own story.

They're like pieces from a film by Fellini or Sophia Coppola. The skirts are so swishy, the dresses so romantic and perhaps this is me getting distracted by the name but the collection has a wonderfully bittersweet film noir feel. I love it.

Float on

It's Coachella out in the desert this weekend and although I'm quite happy not to be there, a big part of me would love to be wafting around in a selection of these beauties.

The Spring 2016 collection was inspired by the 1990s and starts with a full sportswear look I suppose as a nod to the music scene of the time but it's these whimsical, colourful magical pieces that make me want to lie back in the long grass and stare at the little fluffy clouds.

And when it would rain it would all turn, it, they were beautiful
The most beautiful skies as a matter of fact
The sunsets were purple and red and yellow and on fire
And the clouds would catch the colors everywhere

 

The Power of Advertising

I shop a lot for my work.  I spend a lot of time looking at images, and magazines, I still pay attention to which models are in which campaigns.  I just opened my newly delivered Vogue and flicked through the Kendall Jenner annex.. Oh brother.

It's like if they show us something or someone a lot we'll gradually grow to like it.  Even if we don't want to it just sort of wears us down until we submit and accept and like.  Because being liked is everything..

Sometimes I'll leaf through pages and see whether I like something based on how it actually looks rather than the brand or designer who made it and I'll question my taste if I like something by say, Michael Kors or Tory Burch. These are labels that don't speak to me, with their "You're An International Hair And Lifestyle Michael Kors Woman" or "So You Wannabe Upper East Side Like Tory Burch" language.

Sometimes I wonder whether I just end up liking the stuff on the pages because that brand's hand-writing is everywhere so you end up feeling comfortable with it - whether you want to or not.

I suppose the thing in this age of Brand Power is not to accept, to keep looking around, look elsewhere, look up, look at art, look at nature, read, think, meditate and try to escape the all prevailing screen. It's a challenge. Think on.

Prada World

In Prada World women are tough magical creatures (who can also layer clothes and bags masterfully); they are timeless, yet use historial and futuristic accents; they are ladylike even in tough boots and can probably swear like a sailor whilst striding around in heeled sandals.

The glorious mixture of fabrics, textures, proportions and influences suggests a global vision from and for a woman who travels, reads, looks, sees, listens, absorbs and knows herself. 

Prada Fall/Winter 2016 presents a wardrobe for today's woman.

Precision layering

There are a few labels that bring out the nerd in the male clothing consumer. Stone Island springs to mind. Maharishi is another, as is Engineered Garments.

Like Manrepeller-style clothes, this is the sort of stuff that leaves most birds wondering what the hell Him-indoors is wittering on about; three kinds of weave in a wool blazer, single needle stitching on a shirt, special stitches around the neck to stop it from stretching.. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful thing to hear a dude bang on about threads.

Engineered Garments work with heritage fabrics (Daiki Suzuki has a long standing partnership with Woolrich), heritage and military clothing (Suzuki has a huge vintage collection) with a relevant modern take for Today's Man regardless of age.

I'm digging this collection for FW16. The tones and colours, the textures, the attitude and the beard.