From Chanel's bird cage to Balmain's mouth

Yes, I am committed to making The Fashion Standup go beyond the industry’s current mainstream. Therefore, this text is not a review of fashion month, but rather a sharing of emotions and thoughts recorded while watching images from some of the shows of the “main” fashion weeks. These may not coincide with the views of critics, journalists, experts, Substackers and writers in other media.

Some reflections may be at odds with the inspiration or the core of the messages that the creative directors intended to convey. As Malcom Barnard states, fashion is communication based on messages — sent and received. But a single message does not always have the same meaning for the sender and the receiver.

A few days after this newsletter has been running for a month, it is clear that the articles that most arouse your interest are those that take just over 5 minutes to read, so I am going to cheat and this article will have two parts.

Reservations concluded, let's go to fashion month with the perspective, SEO would like more of POV, from The Fashion Standup:

1 — Dior

I was scrolling through Substack and saw a note (a short Substack post) asking someone to tell Maria Grazia Chiuri that the Olympics are over. But in fact, Dior’s current consumers, the wealthy women (OK, I could have written economic power, but it’s not quite the same thing) who like to wear “sports” clothes far beyond the gym, would love to do so in Dior. Let’s talk about the collection from a more aesthetic point of view — it’s clear, as the reviews remind us, that Chiuri is returning to her own legacy of Hellenic inspiration.

2 - Alexander McQueen

If he were alive, Lee McQueen would not want a creative director for his brand when he retired. As that is not the reality and with awareness that it would not be easy to succeed Burton. Alexander McQueen without Sarah Burton is McQueen, only in the details, not as whole.

3 - Saint Laurent

The interesting thing about the inspiration from Yves Saint Laurent himself is that it is, to a certain extent, a reversal of the idea that the designer creates his brand and builds a visual language, which often does not reflect himself. The expression of what is presented through another dressed body (mannequin) is not necessarily the same or similar to that which this (designer) transmits or intends to transmit when he dresses. Not forgetting, however, the caveat made by Angelo Flaccavento — that taking into account the debate on female representation through what is worn — some outfits bordered on cosplay (personally, I think this is true of looks that are not inspired by Yves' own style).

4 - Nina Ricci

This may not be one of the hottest brands at the moment, but it does pique my curiosity. Although I had read that the collection was inspired by a revisit to the House's archives dating from 1962 to 1969, when I saw the images I thought: “Are we going to Studio 54? With Grace Jones?!” As you know, I like to combine Fashion and Humor, and I have an internal commitment to not have a “like/dislike” discourse regarding the collections… In other words, this does not include the texts I have read — I loved the analogy made by Mark Holgate between the fourth season of Harris Reed at the helm of the aforementioned French Maison and the Netflix series “Emily in Paris”.

5 - Richard Quinn

The London designer’s style has become a settled affair, like finding what you’re looking for and feeling at peace. This romantic extravagance is idiosyncratic and noteworthy, without Quinn having to “reinvent the wheel”. In this 1930s ballroom, the intention was to extol “the art of event dressing”.

6 - Bottega Veneta

I confess that my first thought was an urgency to discover what was beyond a sit-down that went viral on social media. Beyond concepts, the “play” of pattern making is an enormous aesthetic and visual delight. The use of the word play was not in vain, since from the contextualization of the creative director Matthieu Blazy’s own work I highlight the following: “your first experience of Fashion happens when you try on your parents’ clothes”. And if there are times when my opinion goes against what is written by the correspondents of Vogue Runway (don’t worry, it’s not my only bibliographical reference!)… This time I deliberately bump into Nicole Phelps, because even though I didn’t see the show, she echoes the statement: “ I think the reason we all left so jazzed is because it gave us back the feeling that propelled many of us into fashion as young people in the first place. ”

7 - Giambattista Valli

Giambattista Valli discovers the modernized fairy tale, with the dressed body as an agent of power rather than an adornment. And who said that the fairy tale is what happens to us and not what we do? The designer himself states: ““We are privileged to do what we do,”

8 - Valentino

When Lagerfeld was asked what his style was, in the series “Becoming Lagerfeld”, at least in the first episodes, there was no clear answer. Obviously, Alessandro Michele has a distinct style that shines through. Is it a Gucciification of Valentino? No! It is the identity expression of a designer in the role of creative director in dialogue with different legacies. If we had Gucci for Alessandro Michele, now we have Valentino for Alessandro Michele, since as he himself admits he cannot avoid being who he is.

9 - Balmain

Oliver Rousteing says: “The recipe of fashion is to be you.” It cannot be denied that the essence of the brand’s revival is Rousteing, and this designer’s childhood also served as inspiration, as demonstrated by the marinière stripes, which, in addition to being a French icon, refer to his childhood in Bordeaux.

Not allowing myself to classify anything based on my personal taste, I will just say that when there is a representation of faces embroidered with thousands of beads in the Balmain collection, I am far from being disappointed.

If I had to choose a single word to describe this collection, I would choose transversal. Its cuts and casting encompass various types of cuts and a wide age range, continuing the power dressing characteristic of the brand's “army”. At the same time, we find references to other brands and designers, far from being any kind of ‘copy cat’, but rather, tributes, without ceasing to be Balmain.

10 — Loewe

Jonathan Anderson has an almost heroic ability to combine creativity and high standards. Cool and relaxed, Andersson brings to the Spanish brand craftsmanship in design, new textures and textile surfaces and the use of new materials such as a mother-of-pearl dress. Something that is in line with modernized crinolines for an emancipated woman, at the same time as Bach and Mozart become pop stars. JW found glory at the end of the show in the applause of his peers, Sarah Burton, Nicolas Di Felice, Kris Van Assche, Pieter Mulier and Adrian Appiolaz.

Continues…

After Balmain's mouth, we will soon leave Chanel's cage.