>> Rei Kawakubo's Spring 2009 mainline for Comme des Garcons debuts today, but in a remarkable coincidence, so has full Comme des Garcons for H&M lookbook. You can peep the polka dots, baggy shorts, and $350 dress to your heart's content . . . and plan which piece you will grab first on the Nov. 13 drop date.
*image: source
We loved the Care Bears as children, something about their optimistic "if you just care hard enough the world will be a right, warm and loving place" ways spoke to us as children overly concerned with justice (it's just not fair we would holler) and so too does Nicolas Ghesquière apparently with his Tender Heart Bear style dresses. Care Bear Stare indeed. Though Natalia Vodianova doesn't really seem like the fuzzy type.
>> THE MODELIZER —Natalia Vodianova may be semi-retired from the catwalk, but that didn't stop her from opening Balenciaga this morning (Iselin Steiro was there, too). And that's not all for Natalia — "I am also going to be collaborating for a line of lingerie with a French brand, and I hope that it will be a success." Here's to wishing her all the success of Elle Macpherson Intimates. [WWD]
Its usually the Americans that go the bigger is better route but it seems as if the Italians were on something of a supersize kick for Spring 2009 with the catwalks showcasing more than a few larger than life options; Frankie Morello had giant dog tags, Fendi showed enormous belts, Moschino did oversized bows and let's not forget the bizarrely outsized necklaces at both Marni and Burberry. But the real winner of the bigger is better prize? Agathe Ruiz De La Prada showed an entire collection that made us feel like we were childrend again, staring up at some bigger, better, and bolder world.
>> The same heart-shaped motif from Versace showed up at Balenciaga — but treated in a whole different way. Nicholas Ghesquiere continued his ode to futurism with shrink-wrapped tops, strapped-in dresses, shiny structured jackets, and even a little surprise in the form of menswear, which was added for promotional purposes. Most intriguing in this show about absorbing and reflecting light were the shoes — or the non-shoes, rather — tights pulled over platform soles; Instead of introducing a new round of "it" shoes like the Balenciaga runway usually does, Nicholas turned the attention to bags, showing them on the runway for the first time: "The collection is a bit out there, so I wanted to bring it down to something women would really wear."
Maison Martin Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto, Vivienne Westwood, Rick Owens, Cher Michel Klein, Lie Sang Bong, Bruno Pieters, AF Vandervorst, Sirivannavari, Gareth Pugh and Kris Van Assche all showed dramatic monochromatic looks for Spring 2009.
We almost hate to make a critique of Maison Martin Margiela on their Twentieth Anniversary but the reliance the house has on the intellectual chestnut of anonymity has grown stale for us even as fashion conformity grows as a problem in identically merchandised style capitals across the globe. At no time is critiquing the sameness of fashion more necessary and yet never has it felt more stale to literally wipe out any traces of personality or identity when conceiving a catwalk. Yes, how clever, fashion obscures as it reveals, Frederick Jameson's photorealism and artistic simulacrum in a dress, the representing and the represented. It's been done, and while everyone loves a "best of" show the collection leaves us unsure, amid the rumours, that a future is even warranted.
In the twenty years since the house begun the fashion landscape has changed, leaving behind unsteady footing for the avant garde. Barbarians are at the gate and an army of amateur editors lay waste to the minutiae of every gossipy detail. And so it is no longer enough to have one issue, no matter how salient, as an intellectual rallying point. We simply do not have the attention span (and even if we did we would question anonymity as one that needs to be reiterated season after season).
Many designer have gotten past this attention deficit conundrum not through better designer or stronger inspirations but through celebrities, political innuendo and skillful public relations. Perhaps Martin Margiela is too good for these gambits or perhaps he is not quick enough to operate on this new playing field. It is no coincidence that no one has even seen his photo and yet we must say that rather than heightening the allure it makes us say perhaps the emperor has no face. He has let us in on the joke and it turns out its not very funny. Post Modernism is over Martin.
