4th March 2010
One of those days that are interesting for the whole world, but unfortunately I haven't been a good witness – what with not being someone who would run after Anna Dello Rosso to see her parading around in a full SS/10 runway look, and being a working boy, I haven't much to share with you today....
So yes, Balenciaga is definitely the future of fashion, which means, er, that it is what NOW should look like - Parisian, hard-edged, feminine, clever and questioning. At least someone here is shaking things up and not just using old recipes.
I guess a lot of people were expecting something special from Balmain, but I have the feeling that the shock value there is actually starting to wear off (short, very short, even shorter, glitter, sequins, sparkles, those shoulders, and now ….a bit of fur!), I’m even getting used to it - sometimes more is… well, not enough, so we need more of that bad taste again, thank you.
Second highlight of the day: Rick Owens. Moving on from his widely-copied look is a necessity, and also a challenge for a brand that built up slowly on an extremely efficient series of products - just think of that ubiquitous distressed leather jacket and those washed out colours and you'll see what I mean. His influence has been so strong in the last couple of years that I can say with a lot of confidence that he is the most copied designer of the decade – or maybe just the most influential (I can even see it in much bigger companies, details, cuts, and fabrics that are very close to his). I’ve been waiting for a few seasons for that show where he grows out of his own field and takes us (and his brand!) somewhere else...and that happened today. I’ve also always thought that the day Rick starts working with embellishments, he would also open up a new direction, and again, he did that today. I can't really indulge you with pics, but as they are already everywhere, you can judge for yourself.
Like Nicolas G, Rick O is building a house that no-one has seen before, and the storeys keep going up, up, up...
On a more personal note, Manish Arora - a good friend of us here at Maria Luisa's - cheered us up with his show full of colours, sequins, graphic make up and crazy hair, (amazing hat-bobs by Justin Smith!) and what felt like a tribute to McQueen, a designer I know he adores. The fun part was that the show was held in the fantastic library of elite French school Henry IV on the left bank, where I was a student in the 90's, which is a surprisingly short time ago to make me forget how unfashionable the students were (hmm, I used to wear Patrick Cox shoes, which seems horrifying now) and how happy I was that I never had to hang out with them afterwards....
Robin Schulié.