Despite my high hopes, for the most part, this weekend's shows have read...Angelino. Of course, many BIG HOUSES won't be trotting out garments until weekdays, which accounts for (some of) the lack of lustre. But, really, there's a whole lot of designer-stylists making down(ish)-market luxe right now—the sort of clothes that belong on racks, in closets, in the mix, but not whole, total, look-to-look-to-look on a runway (not enough theater or architecture or MONEY, by miles).
Last month, on a lunch mission to buy this incredibly smart, wool double-breasted jacket, I came across two Alexander Wang satchels, one in slashed-up, buttery, dull, black leather, the other with a sort of pewter lamé treatment. They're $900 each; so, for me, no dice. But I was quite impressed. They were useful and beautiful. They had a nice weight, felt tremendous on the shoulder. They were cool and urbane and unfussy, real New York items, American Sportswear sans the Prep. However, I found myself "not getting" his Saturday showing. "Not getting" is a thing I don't think I do much. I'm no genius, mind you. I just am never that preoccupied with "getting," compartmentalizing, encompassing. I'm quite comfortable with loose and dead ends, with disconnection and collage. But here, though the "vintage football" theme is clever, the clothes just do not make any damn sense to me. The items look stiff, awkward, tailored against (not for) the body, not so much to invoke art or gender politics, as to appear modish-via-inelegance, the dullest and tiredest of hipster tropes.
The other most-buzzed as of Sunday A.M.: Ohne Titel. I have an even harder time with this stuff. Again, I dig the stated origin point of the collection, mummies. But the clothes cloy. They are of the "body-con" school, which I find severe and socially irresponsible and DONE. And--speaking of "DONE"--this haute, 80s-tinged tech-sportsgear feels very, very Balenciaga to me. These garments are over-designed, lacking permanence and...relevance?
These two, and a few not-so-worth-mentioning others, didn't take me anywhere but down the block (to some godforsakenvelvetropedbottleservicelounge).
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