Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law, Science & Technology: February 2014

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What Does Indulging in A Fashionable Candy Crush Moment Say About Modern Women?

During London Fashion Week we saw food logos appearing on bags, and the trend continued on the Milanese runways with gowns printed with images of candies and sweets packagings. Paris didn't escape the sugar rush: Manish Arora's collection was indeed a triumph of sweet delicacies.

Candies, cupcakes, ice creams, lollipops and candy cane-evoking red and white stripes appeared on tops, skirts, dresses and socks. Multi-coloured sneakers with thick soles called to mind layered slices of cakes and hats evoked pieces of candied fruits or were decorated with plastic jelly beans and doughnut-shaped beads; cherry-topped furry headdresses also made an appearance. It was a triumph of eye-catching colours, crazy prints and fun accessories.

Yet, rather than provoking a sugar overdose the collection gave you a strong sense of déjà vu, as if you had seen it all somewhere, though not on a runway.

In fact, if you thought about it, you had probably seen it somewhere - on the big screen. Those bright colours, vivid nuances and candy madness called to mind the digital world of the fictitious Sugar Rush videogame as seen in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph.

At times Arora seemed indeed to be channelling into some of his models the look of Vanellope von Schweetz (candy sprinkled hairstyle included); at others, random Sugar Rush racers including the detestable all pink Taffyta Muttonfudge.

There were maybe hints at the rave culture (ah, if only we had had flashing LED lights on sneakers and handbags in the Second Summer of Love...), but the sporty energetic looks also pointed at the cart racers in Wreck-It Ralph.

For a change the second part of the collection introduced a sort of ethnic theme: there were indeed references to traditional costumes including Peruvian circle skirts (or were those upside down cupcakes?), Chinese, Indian and Russian costumes (or were the snowy references hinting at Adorabeezle Winterpop, the racing and skiing fanatic riding the sugar-covered slopes of Sugar Rush?).

Those strange chicken-like furry/feathery headdresses sitting on the heads of the models also called to mind Ching, the best friend of Pucca, and her magic-egg laying chicken Won sitting on her head.

You can clearly see how such an eye-catching collection works extremely well on the runway, on the Internet and on the social networks, and how a basic shirt or a bag in techno fabric and hyper-real prints could easily lure consumers, but you honestly wonder how many grown up women would like to go around as Taffyta Muttonfudge, Candlehead, Rancis Fluggerbutter, Snowanna Rainbeau and Crumbelina DiCaramello.

Though fun and optimistic, the main inspiration was indeed a bit too literal, and maximalistic, verging towards Katy Perry's kitsch "Candyfornia" (View this photo) or giving the impression you had just stepped into Will Cotton’s paintings showing imaginary cotton candy/liquid caramel landscapes and candy stick forests.

Sure, this is a collection aimed at a young audience, but most women (even young ones...) don't have an exterior of polished peppermint or strawberry cream. The extreme saccharine levels of the collection also tend to point towards childhood, almost hinting that women are cute if clad in marzipan-like layers of fabrics.

Research-wise there is nothing new here, no innovations in fabrics or textures, but just a sugar overdose. Funnily enough, though, while till last year animation films seemed to look at fashion for the outfits of the main characters, now it's the other way round, with fashion borrowing from animation characters (think about the over-exploited SpongeBob SquarePants appearing in Moschino's A/W 14 collection).

In some ways, you find it hard justifying such a collection, also bearing in mind there are no plans for the umpteenth cinematic remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at the moment, though such clothes could turn out quite handy for Carnival or at a masked ball (seeing it's extremely difficult to find costumes for the Sugar Rush racers in adult sizes...).

Fashion has accustomed to seeing on the runways amazons and prostitutes, sensual fatal ladies, vampires, street urchins, fairies and princesses living a unicorn land and now childish cupcake/candy floss women. You really wonder if these are the roles we're all being cast in as modern women and if - and in case when - we'll ever see real working women on the runways.

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Posted at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fabric for the Unskilled: The Easily Irresistible Allure (and Drawbacks) of Neoprene

There is an entire generation of crafty women out there who used to make clothes for their dolls when they were kids and who wish they had had bits and pieces of neoprene fabric/sheets at the time to quickly create made-to-measure wardrobes for their dolls. While neoprene is difficult to sew, it is easy to glue and, though it's not good for draped or pleated effects, it can be easily used even by a child to mould a dress, top or skirt on a doll.

Hailed as a futuristic fabric, in the hands of a young generation of designers, neoprene has turned into the fabric of the unskilled: since it is more rigid than organic fabrics, you won't need complicated patterns to cut out a neoprene garment. If you check out the collections featuring neoprene garments, you will see the same rounded and cocooning shapes and sculpted silhouettes, since it is the thickness of this material that dictates the shapes. This is for example the case with the collection of a young designer, Simon Porte Jacquemus, showcased on the opening day of Paris Fashion Week.

Praised for his "simplicity" that won him fans and the favour of hip stockists, Jacquemus creates very basic and at times stark silhouettes. For his A/W 2014 collection the designer gave his guests white smocks with splotches of colour and asked them to put them on. The main point of his request was making them look all the same, erasing any possible social class difference (a recurrent theme in his creations). Simplicity and uniformity reflected not only in the audience but throughout the collection that was based on badly drawn circles that looked as if they had been made by a child.

Appliqued on tops, pencil skirts and coats, the circles often looked more like the imperfect ovals in Alexander Calder's mobiles or like the primitive pebble-like shapes you get on downloadable sheets explaining kids how to build a Calder mobile.

The most puzzling thing about this collection apart from the avoidable repetitions, though, was not this vague connection with Calder's mobiles (more vivid maybe in the final navy coats with a grey sleeve, a series of strips on one sleeve, and an oval yellow pocket), but the exaggerated and oversized shapes and volumes of some of the neoprene jackets or the awkward and clownish shoulder line of some of the tops that seemed to constrict the models rather than liberating them.

Yes, most times fashion is terribly uncomfortable, but functionality is one of the main requirements to produce great and timeless garments and, while neoprene may be the fabric of the future, many young designers should also remember that it has many drawbacks that should be taken into consideration. It can't indeed stay folded for a long time, since it easily develops permanent creases if put under too much stress, and it's also an environmentally harmful material, so it would be better to avoid overusing it. And while it's perfectly fine to be excited about the young energetic vibes currently electrifying the Parisian fashion scene, you feel like hoping that the fashion scene will soon be in the hands of young designers with a better knowledge of of fabrics.

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Posted at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(Hilariously Tragicomic) Fashion News Round Up

Call the Risk Manager? No, Just Opt for the Fashion Police

Kering - the French luxury-to-lifestyle conglomerate formerly known as PPR led by chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault and controlling brands such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane, Pomellato and Brioni - recently reported a 95.2 per cent drop in net profit in 2013.

Though Bottega Veneta and Yves Saint Laurent sold quite well, sales at Gucci and Puma recorded weak performances.

According to Kering, the setback was foreseen and was caused by the charges to withdraw from retailing and mail-order, and refocus the business on its high-end luxury products and markets.

Yet you don't need a financial expert to point out the reasons behind Kering's slump and Gucci's weak performance.

Why calling a financial expert indeed when you can easily explain losses by just looking at this picture showing Salma Hayek at Gucci's Autumn/Winter 2014 catwalk show? Carnival is around the corner in Italy, but Salma Hayek anticipated it in Milan, clad in Gucci from head to toe and managing to look simply unstylish.

Hard to say if it's more offensive one specific item in her outfit or the entire outfit, but, if Hayek looks shit in luxury clothes, it's probably not her fault. It's indeed the fault of the luxury clothes she is wearing and the time to call the fashion police has come.

In the meantime, Kering has announced that there will be an "ambitious" relaunch of the Puma brand this year after the sponsorship deal with Arsenal and its plans to raise the brand visibility during the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil. Which in fashion lingo usually means: a celebrity elected as Creative Director and a collaboration with a high profile blogger who licks everybody's feet. Isn't language fabulous?

New Partnership, New Protégé, Old Acquisition Strategy

Youthquake has been the keyword at Milan Fashion Week. As the event started, a new Italian government led by centre-left politician Matteo Renzi was being formed and, as the fashion event closed, the government was sworn in. At 39 Renzi is the youngest Prime Minister in Italian history. His faults? Well, apart from a rather annoying Twitter addiction, he considers Tony Blair a role model (proving he is definitely not left wing...) and his language also belongs to the semantic field of marketing rather than politics.

Anyway, maybe encouraged by this Italian future "youthquake" (in marketing not in politics...), LVMH bought a "significant" minority in Marco De Vincenzo's label.

The partnership was spearheaded by LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault's daughter, Delphine. De Vincenzo who has worked as a consultant for Fendi, where he worked in accessories, launched his eponymous label in 2009. He is the latest young designer to join the dark forces of fashion - pardon - the conglomerate after British labels Nicholas Kirkwood, JW Anderson and Christopher Kane, and as Paris-based Maxime Simoens.

LVMH is terribly busy at the moment recruiting more fresh blood around. In May the winner of the LVMH Young Designer Prize will indeed be announced. Launched in November by Delphine Arnault, the prize consists in a €300,000 grant and a year of "coaching" from an LVMH executive in areas such as intellectual property (ah-ah, imagine Marc Jacobs teaching you about intellectual property...hilarious; mind you, he should give lessons on topics he is good at such as how to avoid copyright issues while still infringing intellectual property rights...), marketing, production and distribution. The LVMH Prize will also award three young graduates of fashion design schools, who will each receive a €10,000 grant and have a chance to join the design team at an LVMH brand for one year.

While we all need money, especially young designers and graduates, you wonder where will the old acquisition strategy of these huge groups lead these young brands. Will they be allowed to grow up intellectually and professionally or will they just be marionettes in the hands of a predatory puppet master?

Ni-hao, Krizia

It's simply tragicomical that, right when animals become fashionable again on dresses and jumpers, the Italian queen of animal knits gets sold to China.

Founded by Mariuccia Mandelli, Krizia SpA, was recently sold to Chinese fashion retailer Shenzhen Marisfrolg Fashion Co. Ltd.

Details of the transaction will be finalised in late Spring, but for now we know that Shenzhen Marisfrolg's owner, entrepreneur Zhu Chongyun, will become chairperson and creative director of the brand, while the debut collection is scheduled to appear at next year's fashion week in Milan (where the brand will still be based).

The revamping plan also includes opening new flagship stores in China, and reopening in Europe, Japan and the U.S.

Mandelli used to reference a lot art and architecture in her creations, borrowing from Malevich and Warhol (who also portrayed her), designing for the stage as it happened in the '80s when she created the costumes for Antonio Syxty's Famiglia Horror (Horror Family; a play with sets by Alessandro Mendini and music by Franco Battiato). Interested in literature, Mandelli also bought a share in a publishing house in 1984, mainly because she loved the women writers included in its catalogue (Woolf, Stein, Sackville West and Blixen among the others).

As Italians say "arrivederci" to Krizia, and the Chinese market welcomes it with a "ni-hao", you can already see more or less a disastrous future ahead (I mean an entrepreneur as Creative Director? You joking?). Ah, Famiglia Horror indeed.

Older and (Maybe) Finally Wiser

Oops, she did it again. Anna Wintour the ruler dictating Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (Italian Chamber of Fashion) how many days Milan Fashion Week should last, and putting pressure on Italian designers to showcase their collections on the dates she fancies the most, finally managed to piss off Giorgio Armani.

Armani's show was scheduled on the last day of the Milanese fashion week (the only major label scheduled on the last day) and Wintour missed it leaving early. During a post-show press conference, Armani stated "There are some who prefer to snub the Giorgio Armani show and go to Paris… She took an airplane, dumped Mr. Armani and went to Paris."

Armani's sources were wrong, though, as Wintour wasn't heading to Paris for the local fashion week, but went to London where she was spotted having lunch with Christopher Bailey, Burberry’s chief creative officer and chief executive-designate.

Rather than vapidly complaining, Armani should have just told the press, "who gives a shit about Anna Wintour?". Yet the fact he dared to complain is actually a good sign, since, at last, he is finally reacting and he may have even realised he has been consistently photographed in the last few years next to a money thirsty vampire.

The designer also criticised Italian brands that focus on fantasy rather than on function as their approach could be "really dangerous", pointing out how the media mainly end up talking about collections that are not produced nor sold (well, that's a key point actually...) adding "It's very easy to do a V-neck dress with a bold print. It's more difficult to make a suit or a jacket look new.". Older and (maybe) finally wiser?

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Posted at 07:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fashion VS Geometric Abstract Art: Gabriele Colangelo A/W 2014

Among the young Italian designers currently showcasing their collections during Milan Fashion Week, there is one who is actually more talented than your average Proenza Schouler or Alexander Wang, but who doesn't have the support young designers get in the States - Gabriele Colangelo.

Born into a well-known Italian family of furriers who boasts collaborations with the most famous Italian fashion houses and brands, Gabriele Colangelo has indeed the technical knowledge and skills to create coherent high quality collections, but he has also got the sensibility to rework his inspirations in interesting ways. The problem is that his inspirations usually get copied by other people who then end up getting the merit, the coverage and the support of the media.

Colangelo's Spring/Summer 2012 collection moved indeed from Gerhard Richter's over-painted photographs and themes such as reality and abstraction. Proenza Schouler reused Richter in their Spring/Summer 2013 (obtaining more or less the same textural effects Colangelo had achieved...). Richter reappeared more recently as the main inspiration also in MSGM's A/W 2014 collection.

So if you want to know what certain designers may use in their future collection we may as well check out Colangelo's latest designs.

For his A/W 2014 collection Colangelo moved from Kazimir Malevich’s "Black Square" and Joachim Bandau’s watercolours. The designer played around and revisited his main references in a clever way.

Colangelo turned in some cases Malevich's "Black Suprematic Square" (1915) into the pattern for architecturally functional dresses and outerwear; in other cases the black square was mixed with the white square of Malevich's "Suprematist Composition: White On White" (1918) to create stratifications of sheer chiffon in gradations that went from black to white passing through grey, perfectly evoking in this way also Bandau's grayscale watercolours.

Yet the interesting geometric effects created by the squares on the skirts also hinted at other artworks. That's actually where Colangelo's designs really draw you in: people who are familiar with Bruno Munari may spot in this collection Munari's xerographs or "methodical studies performed on an electrostatic copier", with those sheets of papers and assorted objects caught in movement by the photocopying machine. To create his xerographs, Munari used surfaces rather than lines; Colangelo did the same using his fabrics as flat horizontal surfaces to be used vertically on the body.

Other garments seemed to be related to the images Munari collected in his books, from grey/black abstract textures inspired by typography to Helmut Zimmermann's 1970s sequences that in this collection seemed to reappear in the studded and beaded patterns featured in two designs (see image 8 in this post), or the geometrical objects made with industrial parts designed by the Sulmona Art School in 1969 (as featured in a book by Munari) evoked by a fur intarsia motif on a sweater.

The good thing in such a collection is the fact that you can actually see other references in accordance with your own background and knowledge that go beyond the ones pointed out in the press release.

Despite the artistically geometric references, there was nothing cold or brutalist in this collection that, offering an interpretation of femininity in a modernist key, featured quite a few desirable pieces, apart from the dresses decorated with minimalist askew stratifications, including chunky black-and-white knitwear and bi-coloured boots

Art critics stated that Malevich's works denied love of life and nature, while fashion critics at times claim Colangelo is a cold designer. Yet Colangelo's biggest sin in today's world is not his alleged "coldness", but his fabric knowledge: in a world that only appreciates things that glitter, sparkle or make you look cute, his intellectual pieces will definitely take more time to be appreciated compared to instantly visually pleasing creations redundantly covered in sparkling embellishments or easly recognisable logos and slogans.

You wonder, though, would the media start considering him a "warmer" designer if certain powerful editors would suddenly support him more?

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Posted at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now Trending (as in the '70s...): The Middle Ages

"Once upon a time in Sicily" was the main theme of Dolce & Gabbana's Autumn/Winter 2014 collection.

The fairy theme was strong in this collection envisaged as a fantasy journey through enchanted Sicily with appliquéd birds, owls, swans, squirrels and foxes on tops and lace shifts (such animals reappeared in quite a few trendy collections in the last few years, including Valentino's Pre-Fall 2014, remember also Burberry Prorsum's A/W 2012 owls?); dresses with prints of keys to enchanted gardens or to the secret room in Bluebird's castle, and Little Red Riding Hood fur capes, all showcased on a background of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy".

Maybe realising that, while some women want to be fairies, others would be quite keen on being the protagonist of darker tales à la Angela Carter, the duo introduced other themes in the collection.

Dark Gothic nuances shifted indeed the collection towards other influences: Dolce & Gabbana referenced the Middle Ages in their Autumn/Winter 2014 menswear collection, and they opted to revisit this historical period in the womenswear looks through embroidered hoods and gauntlets.

Yet the Medieval theme is definitely not new in fashion: while we saw Rick Owens coming up with monastic rocket-shaped hoods in his Autumn/Winter 2011/12 collection, the Medieval times were relaunched in the '70s by the Sorelle Fontana.

At the time the three sisters came up with a collection that featured ecclesiastical styles directly borrowed from the Middle Ages, creating a series of gowns with matching hoods covered in intricate embroideries.

While there were no crosses and overt references to the church in general as it is customary in Dolce & Gabbana's designs, the collection seemed to reference here and there the skeletons of alleged saints covered in tulle, lace, pearls, golden thread and jewels seen in the volume Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, published last year.

Quite a few coats, gloves, bags and shoes in Dolce & Gabbana's collection were indeed covered in dense embroideries, beads and faux gemstones.

The duo stated that the fairy tales in the collection were directly linked to the Norman kings who invaded Sicily bringing with them their stories and traditions, but there were moments in which the lack of proper historical references to the kingdom of Norman Sicily (example the mingling of Christian and Muslim art and culture), pointed not to history, but towards a pastiche of romantic moods, Medieval designs from the '70s Italian fashion scene and striking visual images borrowed from art rolled with a few episodes of Game of Thrones.

That said, the Middle Ages remain a poignant reference to our culturally dark times in which many talented people are left behind while the less knowledgeable ones are pushed forward. So, for the next Autmn/Winter season let's hope that the Middle Ages remain confined to a fashion trend - what we genuinely need is indeed a fashion and culural Renaissance.

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Posted at 07:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now Trending (as in 1977...): Furs and Star Wars

Despite animal rights activists protesting, fur was a bit all over the place on the Milan Fashion Week runways, from Fendi (obviously) to Prada, Marni, Versace, Emilio Pucci, Roberto Cavalli, Blumarine and many more.

In the meantime, in New York and London we saw Rodarte and Preen opting to board the sci-fi spaceship and going the Star Wars way. Yet, funnily enough, fur and Star Wars were already a trend in 1977, as this editorial also proves.

Entitled "The Force of Fur", this funny editorial for Vogue (spotted on this site) featured models surrounded by assorted Star Wars characters - from monsters from the cantina to stormtroopers, Jawas stealing jewellery (well, they dealt in "used metal" as the editorial highlighted...), and, obviously, C-3PO and Darth Vader.

Yes, it's all a coincidence, we know, but if you're planning of investing into your education thousands of Euros/Dollars/Pounds a year and become a fashion designer, you'd better rethinking your plan and wonder if it weren't better to just buy a lot of old fashion magazine, invest in vintage pieces and then copy and re-vomit the lot.

If that's what fashion wants nowadays, why should you be investing in developing your creativity?

In the meantime, people who are into creativity, art, Star Wars, crafts and embroidery, but who aren't into fashion, may want to check out instead the Coruscant Tapestry by Aled Lewis.

Currently exhibited at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, this 30 feet hand-made piece is inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry and tells the entire Star Wars saga.

Buying it may set you back $20,000 - more or less the same amount of money a designer fur may cost you these days. But if you think about it, furs do not feature all the main Star Wars characters and best moments of the saga nor quotes in Aurebesh lettering. So, if you can afford it, leave the fur behind and go for the tapestry...

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Posted at 07:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Terribly Embarrassing Plagiarisms (Part II): The Strange Case of Francesco Scognamiglio and The Uselessly Horrid Corset

You honestly wonder why a designer who knows how to cut trousers (and that's no mere feat in today's confusing fashion industry) has got to embarrass himself by creating something that could be defined as completely and unnecessarily useless.

Having included in his Autumn/Winter 2014 collection wool coats with fur-trimmed sleeves, high-waisted trousers and sharp suits in a palette comprising wine and dove grey (plus plenty of his trademark lingerie-like looks), Francesco Scognamiglio decided to ruin more or less everything with horrid full-torso corsets with sculpturally detailed breasts.

Though he claimed he had designed them with an engineer, the corsets - in flesh tones, ice grey or in a bright orangey red - were too high, starting from under the chin and extending to the hips. In some cases they looked extremely tight, objectifying the models and giving their bodies the uncanny impression of being made of plastic; in other cases they looked unfitting and featureless especially when matched with well-cut suits.

Sculpted corsets appeared quite a few times throughout the history of fashion - think about Issey Miyake's 1981 breastplate or Thierry Mugler's sensually robotic or transparent corsets.

The most famous sculpted bustiers were created by Claude Lalanne for Yves Saint Laurent's Haute Couture A/W 1969 collection.

In Lalanne's case the sculptures were plaster molds of Veruschka's breasts, torso and belly covered in galvanized copper and incorporated then in two dresses, one in blue and and the other in black crepe voile.

Scognamiglio's seemed to be referencing other types of corsets, though, like the ones integrated in the dresses in Hussein Chalayan's Autumn/Winter 2009 collection ("Earthbound") or the pieces seen in Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer 1996 ("The Hunger") and S/S 1999 collections.

As some of you may remember McQueen sent out on his S/S 1996 runway a model with a transparent neck-to-hips bustier in which he sandwiched live worms, trying to make a comment about horror, disgust, fashion and sensuality; in his S/S 1999 collection, there was instead a moulded leather body corset matched with wooden prosthetic legs, an ensemble that hinted at the organic/inorganic real/artificial dichotomies.

Though you don't have to justify everything you put in a collection, Scognamiglio didn't even try to give his corsets a conceptual meaning or a reason to exist, they indeed seemed to be there for no purpose at all or maybe they were created with the secret hope that some obnoxious celebrity/pop star will wear them.

Here we have a mild case of plagiarism compared to yesterday's, but it's still rather interesting especially because it regards a completely unnecessary piece that didn't add anything to the collection as a whole. Yes, fashion is first and foremost frivolously unnecessary, but it must be "desirably unnecessary" and, most women will find it hard desiring to be encased in a (plagiarised) plastic-looking body trap.

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Posted at 05:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Terribly Embarrassing Plagiarisms (Part I): Fay A/W 2014 Vs Balenciaga S/S 2011

Season after season we get the confirmation that fashion works in cycles when we see garments that were fashionable twenty/thirty years ago reappearing on the runways and in the shops. Yet, at the moment, rather than working in cycles, most designers are plagiarising assorted things and what really surprises you is that they are not even copying designs that were produced many decades ago, but garments that we saw on the runways two or three seasons ago.

Unfortunately, Fay's latest collections are terribly embarrassing examples of such a perverse exercise in plagiarism: for the Spring/Summer 2014 collection Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi opted for tops with prints of Snoopy impersonating his Joe Cool alter ego relaxing under a palm tree.

The Autumn/Winter 2014 show opened with designs featuring Snoopy's bird friend Woodstock, almost to create a sense of continuity. Now, The Peanuts have been tremendously exploited by so many brands and fashion designers that such pieces are a bit too redundant.

Last year The Rodnik Band did a limited edition capsule collection featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock and many other characters; the previous year the Dover Street Market Ginza store launched the Black Peanuts collection, while, if you're looking for something cheap yet authorised, Italian High Street retailer OVS (Oviesse) produces between two and four times a year tops, sweats and shirts featuring The Peanuts.

In fact the real problem of this collection wasn't Woodstock, but the graphic and bold houndstooth designs, coats, jackets, skirts and tops in a black and white shiny fabric.

They were all incredibly similar to some designs seen in Balenciaga's Spring/Summer 2011 collection (remember the one featuring houndstooth outerwear with a pattern made from plastic-y faux leather?). The Fay/Balenciaga designs look more or less the same to the point that, if you put one collection next to the other, you find it difficult to tell which design belongs to which collection.

There were further interesting milder plagiarisms here and there in Fay's collection including red and white barber shop stripes, rugby stripes, varsity jackets and a Mongolian lamb coat that we may have seen already somewhere on UK Vogue in 1966.

The Balenciaga connection, though, is the one that truly stands out and that disappoints you the most. Did Aquilano/Rimondi think that fashion critics/buyers/consumers have short term memory or that you can get away by just altering a hem or a silhouette here and there? Besides, what's the distinction between a famous/established fashion house/label/brand and High Street retailers when the latter copy the former and the former copy each other? Last but not least, if we allow such levels of plagiarisms on a commercial runway, we will also give a bad example to students in fashion colleges/universities since they will start thinking it is possible and legal to copy one another.

It's annoying to think there are so many young talented people out there without a proper job who may have greater ideas for better designs, and you wonder why such things happen. Maybe it's just the fault of the industry: once it sucks you in, the dark forces of fashion obnubilate your mind obliging you to come up with this embarrassing crap. Who knows, maybe that's the case. What's certain, though, is that this is not fashion and an industry copying itself can't keep on existing in the long run.

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Posted at 05:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lost in the Supermarket: When Barcode Madness and Consumerism Hit the Runway

June 2012. Moschino is holding its Autumn/Winter 2013 menswear catwalk show in the aisles of the food hall of Milan's Excelsior shopping emporium, sending out models clad in suits, cardigans and shirts decorated with prints of Budweiser-like Moschino logos and "Fresh" detergent (spoof of Ariel washing powder). The garments reference at times Pop Art pieces such as Andy Warhol's Brillo Soap Pads, while hinting at consumer culture.

Fast-forward to the recent London Fashion Week where the supermarket/consumer culture theme reappeared on Anya Hindmarch's runway. The British designer turned her runway into a barcode-printed conveyor-belt on which salesmen danced and glamorous ladies shopped pushing their metal carts. The products weren't real, though, but they were turned into colourful handbags.

Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger appeared on a blue background on a tote; Bourbon cookies were transformed into small metallic bags, while Ariel/Daz laundry detergent boxes were turned into clutches.

In some cases the starting point for the bags was the shape of the packaging as it happened for a tube of McVitie's digestive biscuits that was turned into a pencil case-like bag; in others the logos, colours and symbols on the packaging were instead employed for the leather intarsia handwork.

Hindmarch stated she was inspired by the idea of finding beauty in the banal, explaining the enthusiastically playful mood of the show came instead from the will to celebrate small things and "get happy", as Judy Garland sang in the background, a feeling also evoked by the smiley faces (for that rave touch from 1989...) replicated on scarves and bags.

Hindmarch undoubtedly provided some entertainment with such a presentation and you can guess her soft leather bags in bright colours will soon appear on many editorials, but the designs also raise a few issues.

First there is a copyright problem here, and you naturally wonder if (and in case how much) the designer had to pay any of these companies to use their logos.

Second - after that instant thrill of joy at the Pop Art colours - you feel like stopping and thinking if turning yourself into an unpaid walking advertising board is really worth it. Third, this is not new at all: the history of fashion features indeed some glorious examples of novelty bags throughout the 1900s shaped like bottles, pieces of fruit or rolled glossy magazines.

In many ways this collection proves the fashion industry is completely "Lost in a Supermarket" as The Clash would say: it pretends indeed to be commenting upon consumerism while bulimically feeding off it, since, after all, the collection is using a product to encourage to buy another product (a IT bag, a new "must have" accessory).

That said, there is something hilariously convenient in such a collection: usually you have a guilty pleasure moment eating a digestive biscuit or buying a trendy bag, in this case you may have them both in one go.

The theme of consumption continued also in Milan where Jeremy Scott at Moschino opened his first collection as Creative Director of the Italian fashion house with Chanel jackets in McDonald's signature packaging colours, a top with the slogan "Over 20 million served", a restaurant uniform and a chain-handle leather bag shaped like a Happy Meal box.

In a way it was as if Scott had evoked the McDonald's Lady portrayed by Chinese digital artist Zhu Haibo (Zhuzhu).

American critics pointed out how this could have been intended as a provocation to Italian food culture, forgetting how, in the '80s, Milan was the home town of the Paninari, the fast food lovers celebrated by the Pet Shop Boys in their 1985 hit, who favoured Moncler padded jackets and Timberland boots.

Pop culture was celebrated through redundantly unnecessary SpongeBob SquarePants designs, Moschino's signature belts were used for layered bondage looks and, towards the end of the show, Scott opted for "consumer couture" with a series of duchesse satin gowns made with a fabric inspired by food packaging - from Budweiser to crisps, cereals, jelly bears, baked beans, cheesy bits and other assorted criminal delicacies in Tutti Frutti flavours.

The show culminated in a wedding gown with prints of nutritional facts labels complete with additives and artificial flavourings, a sort of variation of Schiaparelli's signature newspaper prints.

This pop and fun collection about a sugar rush was somehow linked to the A/W 13 menswear collection and didn't seem to have the satirical power of Franco Moschino (who till inspired the funny slongas "Fur Real" on a mink coat and "Cash Cow" on a leather suit with cow prints).

Shame these looks that seemed designed not by Jeremy Scott but by Scaredy Squirrel, the stacker working at the Stash 'n' Hoard supermarket in the eponymous animation series, were not employed to comment on fast fashion, but they were probably thought with pop celebrities à la Katy Perry (who was sitting in the front row at Moschino) in mind.

So, yes, barcode madness and supermarket culture are officially two Autumn/Winter trends, but don't complain if, while walking around carrying Hindmarch's bags or clad in a Moschino gown, you may end up looking like Captain Dash from that infamous '70s Italian TV advert. Then don't you dare saying we didn't warn you...

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Posted at 07:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Criminal Accessories: From the Tribal Blanket to the C***ish Blanket

There is nothing more annoying than fashion appropriating something from a specific culture and re-vomiting it on the runways in a cold and detached way.

Take the blanket. Different populations all over the world employ blankets to protect themselves from harsh weather conditions or for ceremonial purposes. Some of you may remember the wool blankets embellished with mother-of-pearl buttons and donned by the Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast as capes, or the blankets covered with symbolic motifs and employed as tokens of cultural identification in special rituals and occasions by the Basotho people in South Africa.

Donned in the past by bohemian fashionistas over coats and jackets to prove how relaxedly cool they were, in more recent years the tribal blanket has assumed a different meaning identifying tribes of logo/brand adoring fans. Branded blanket-like scarves, light blankets and plaids are indeed popular and functional runway gifts given during catwalk show presentations to prevent the guests from getting cold while watching the show.

Rather than ending up on eBay, such items have been quite often reused after the catwalk shows as comfort blankets or as "hunting trophies" ("I'm wearing it, so I was there and you weren't!") by a bunch of desperate fashionistas (the blankets/scarves at Kenzo events were often re-used for such annoying purposes...).

Emboldened by such silly trophies, in some cases quite a few of the above-mentioned fashionistas managed (obviously unbeknownst to them...) to achieve a strange resemblance with the hooded Marty Feldman in Frankenstein Junior (View this photo) especially after a certain time/in certain conditions of light and after catwalk fatigue took over.

The curse of the blanket look started on the Louis Vuitton menswear Autumn/Winter 2012-13 runway with a couple of coats cut from a Vuitton travel blanket, but stretched into the fahsion house's Autumn/Winter 2014 menswear collection with double-face cashmere coats with blanket-like stripes running around the edges that called to mind traditional Chilean costumes.

This week blankets reappeared on Burberry Prorsum's runway during London Fashion Week. Christopher Bailey's "Bloomsbury Girls" (a twist on the Bloomsbury Group comprising Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell, and Virginia Woolf) donned shearlings, jackets and trench coats covered in hand-drawn blooming and blossoming flowers and foliage.

Some languid looks were accessorised with wool and cashmere blankets in stripes/geometric patterns and colours going from pastel pink to olive green and turquoise. The models wore them as blanket shawls, hinting at Virginia Woolf but also at the relaxed style of the Bloomsbury Group's country retreat at Charleston, East Sussex.

The stellar cast of models in the finale (Cara Delevingne, Jourdan Dunn and Edie Campbell among the others) also donned blankets personalised with their initials (the next self-aggrandisement step for the blanket worshipping fashion-victim egomaniac).

And so happened that the blanket - an otherwise terribly impractical item especially on public means of transport (try to catch a train/the underground/a bus while the blanket unwraps...) - is now a criminal accessory, a must for boho hipters, an item calling to mind the romantically happy domestic cosiness that exists in our troubled times only for a fraction of the entire global population.

A final note for all those of you who may find unnerving the fact that the tribal blanket has now turned into the c***ish blanket: before you start a global petition against blankets, please bear in mind that - as Lucy of Peanuts fame teaches us - there is still something you can do to stop the plague of the "blanketed fashionista". But,remember, act NOW, before it's too late.