Mil-yawn
I think I stole that one from another blog years back, but eh. Milan Fashion Week was so boring it hurts. After reading Tim Blanks' little circle jerk of fawning reviews on men.style.com, I thought I'd tell it like it is.
The standout by far, very far was Tomas Maier's show for Bottega Veneta. It actually occurs to me, he would have been the perfect pick to take over Gucci from Tom Ford, and actually, might yet (they were very close, Ford headhunted him for BV in fact). A really sexy sort of Havana-ish glamour (and Maier, like Ford, really lives the look himself) which continued nicely from his last show. The "pagoda" shoulders are a bit much for me, too early McQueen, but a minor gripe really.
Second and third, virtually by default were Burberry (below, left) and Costume National (right). Which looked like, well, Burberry and Costume National. There aren't a lot of surprises in either show, but really, are there ever (excepting maybe last winter at Burberry?). That really says a lot about how little there was that thrilled me. Not to be critical of either Chris Bailey or Ennio Capasa, not for a second, they make great clothes but they're not especially suited to arresting runway shows (fantastic in the flesh). Curiously, the styling on Burberry's advertisements is always spot on, but the runway doesn't do much for me (lots of grey this time, for example). The mitts were apparently based on a pair Burberry made for Ernest Shackleton, but if you look past the comic effect, the outerwear was probably the strongest part of the show.
I swore I would give Frida Giannini another season to impress me, after all, John Ray's first outing for Gucci didn't really make sense to me til six months on either. So far, not so good. The modish silhouettes are okay, albeit quite the departure from the wide lapels and flared trousers of her predecessors (maybe it's about time, I must say). The patterned fabrics are very appealing, probably the best part of the whole thing in fact. But the furry boots, the padded knees, the hiking shoes, were too gimmicky, too...there's no other way to say this...Dolce and Gabbana (whose show, by the way, oscillated between tacky, and the same slim suits we've seen a million times, no surprises there. We will not speak of it any further.). And the colours likewise jarred, too much dark green in just the wrong shade, to take but one example. A lot of great elements but the look fell just a touch short, with such a promising concept too! So close, yet so far!
I liked John Ray quite a bit, though he did get way too conceptual at the end. The rumour was that he just didn't deal well with the commercial pressure of being head designer. Bring him back as Frida's first assistant, I say!!
As for the rest, Raf Simons for Jil Sander looked like, well, Raf Simons. Fendi looked like Jil trying to do Raf trying to do Jil, which is a cool idea (take that Blanks, I too can make obscure conceptual remarks!) but not great on the actual clothes side of things. Can you guess which is which?
(Fendi left, Jil Sander right. The shiny bronze bag was a red herring. Clever aren't I?)
Prada also looks like Raf, though I think Raf took quite a bit from old-school Miuccia anyway, so that's probably less of a surprise. She had the good sense, at least, to introduce some texture, albeit fuzzy bath-towel texture. She also reminded us that she understands colour, a stark contrast to the acid trip of recent shows.
I liked Roberto Cavalli (left) quite a lot, in a Jim Morrison inspired outing. Although showing some similar shapes, he bested D&G for both subtlety and restraint, not two words typically associated with the house. Then again, Versace was more understated than D&G, and still trashy. Calvin Klein (right) was so understated you'd hardly know it was there, but still the most interesting thing I could find to fill a picture space with!
Everywhere else was essentially business as usual. Armani, Missoni, Etro et al all showed pretty much the same clothes for about the sixth year in a row. Marni even managed to bore me.
I am really lamenting the total absence of inspiration in menswear at the moment. I have high hopes that Paris will cheer me up, mostly YSL and Hermès. Given that Stefano often doesn't thrill me that much, but is nonetheless the highlight of my last couple of seasons, I am really fretting for the future. I miss Tom Ford (his new label seems very generic, basically Zegna with wide lapels and lots of black, but he might yet surprise me with a catwalk show), I miss Helmut Lang, I miss John Ray, I miss Hedi Slimane (whichever poser-rock loving Dior-ite is designing it, it's not the Hedi I used to love), it's all just too too bleak...
The standout by far, very far was Tomas Maier's show for Bottega Veneta. It actually occurs to me, he would have been the perfect pick to take over Gucci from Tom Ford, and actually, might yet (they were very close, Ford headhunted him for BV in fact). A really sexy sort of Havana-ish glamour (and Maier, like Ford, really lives the look himself) which continued nicely from his last show. The "pagoda" shoulders are a bit much for me, too early McQueen, but a minor gripe really.
Second and third, virtually by default were Burberry (below, left) and Costume National (right). Which looked like, well, Burberry and Costume National. There aren't a lot of surprises in either show, but really, are there ever (excepting maybe last winter at Burberry?). That really says a lot about how little there was that thrilled me. Not to be critical of either Chris Bailey or Ennio Capasa, not for a second, they make great clothes but they're not especially suited to arresting runway shows (fantastic in the flesh). Curiously, the styling on Burberry's advertisements is always spot on, but the runway doesn't do much for me (lots of grey this time, for example). The mitts were apparently based on a pair Burberry made for Ernest Shackleton, but if you look past the comic effect, the outerwear was probably the strongest part of the show.
I swore I would give Frida Giannini another season to impress me, after all, John Ray's first outing for Gucci didn't really make sense to me til six months on either. So far, not so good. The modish silhouettes are okay, albeit quite the departure from the wide lapels and flared trousers of her predecessors (maybe it's about time, I must say). The patterned fabrics are very appealing, probably the best part of the whole thing in fact. But the furry boots, the padded knees, the hiking shoes, were too gimmicky, too...there's no other way to say this...Dolce and Gabbana (whose show, by the way, oscillated between tacky, and the same slim suits we've seen a million times, no surprises there. We will not speak of it any further.). And the colours likewise jarred, too much dark green in just the wrong shade, to take but one example. A lot of great elements but the look fell just a touch short, with such a promising concept too! So close, yet so far!
I liked John Ray quite a bit, though he did get way too conceptual at the end. The rumour was that he just didn't deal well with the commercial pressure of being head designer. Bring him back as Frida's first assistant, I say!!
As for the rest, Raf Simons for Jil Sander looked like, well, Raf Simons. Fendi looked like Jil trying to do Raf trying to do Jil, which is a cool idea (take that Blanks, I too can make obscure conceptual remarks!) but not great on the actual clothes side of things. Can you guess which is which?
(Fendi left, Jil Sander right. The shiny bronze bag was a red herring. Clever aren't I?)
Prada also looks like Raf, though I think Raf took quite a bit from old-school Miuccia anyway, so that's probably less of a surprise. She had the good sense, at least, to introduce some texture, albeit fuzzy bath-towel texture. She also reminded us that she understands colour, a stark contrast to the acid trip of recent shows.
I liked Roberto Cavalli (left) quite a lot, in a Jim Morrison inspired outing. Although showing some similar shapes, he bested D&G for both subtlety and restraint, not two words typically associated with the house. Then again, Versace was more understated than D&G, and still trashy. Calvin Klein (right) was so understated you'd hardly know it was there, but still the most interesting thing I could find to fill a picture space with!
Everywhere else was essentially business as usual. Armani, Missoni, Etro et al all showed pretty much the same clothes for about the sixth year in a row. Marni even managed to bore me.
I am really lamenting the total absence of inspiration in menswear at the moment. I have high hopes that Paris will cheer me up, mostly YSL and Hermès. Given that Stefano often doesn't thrill me that much, but is nonetheless the highlight of my last couple of seasons, I am really fretting for the future. I miss Tom Ford (his new label seems very generic, basically Zegna with wide lapels and lots of black, but he might yet surprise me with a catwalk show), I miss Helmut Lang, I miss John Ray, I miss Hedi Slimane (whichever poser-rock loving Dior-ite is designing it, it's not the Hedi I used to love), it's all just too too bleak...