Taking It All In. . .

What is undeniable is that the international round of collections for fall 2007 was dizzyingly filled as usual, with enough variety to suit any taste (though maybe not every pocketbook). What is also undeniable is just how subjective it all is.

While there are times when most fashion insiders will find a common ground on which to agree, very often, there are various takes on a collection. This was exemplified last season (for spring 2007), when Cathy Horyn 'lambasted' the Mulleavy sisters who design for the label Rodarte...while WWD front-page praised them. And just recently, Eric Wilson of The New York Times proclaimed that "Christian Lacroix veered way off course..." while WWD thought "the dark side allowed Lacroix to anchor his collection with an au courant sense of empowerment."

Along these same lines, I have to say that I completely disagreed with Cathy Horyn with regards to Nicolas Guesquiere for Balenciaga. She apparently found his fall/winter 2007 collection disappointing (and palling by comparison to that of John Galliano for Christian Dior, both of whom she reviewed on the same day), complaining that Balenciaga was a bit too, well, understandable and relatable and lacking in the creativity and innovation that defined his last two romps. As she stated in her February 27th review, "We should always ask ourselves when looking at the new fashion of a first-rate designer if these are clothes we want to wear on the street. If the answer is an enthusiastic yes, then the designer has not done his job. All he has done is to meet the most meager of our expectations."

The Washington Post's Robin Givhan saw it differently, saying, "He does the most fundamental thing that a designer is supposed to do; offer alternative ways of thinking about attire." I agreed. In fact, it's precisely this ability to throw the fashion flock off by effortlessly vacillating from museum quality couture level collections to ones that are perhaps a bit more grounded in reality that makes Guesquiere so alluring.

And his disarming adeptness at taking seemingly banal, 'common' or basic elements of sportswear and street wear, if you will, and making them irresistibly 'beyond fabulous' is one of his strongest characterizations. And if you didn't notice, this happens to be a time when many designers are celebrating the classics and going back to basics (Marc Jacobs was one early proponent followed by Miuccia Prada in Milan), offering that customer who would rather eschew tricks and trends in favor of something more familiar, a viablealternative. There is always a need for this sort of thing, maybe even more so now, and it certainly looks good to my eye.

Of course, this is also something which quite frankly should be the provenance of American sportswear designers. But let's face it, no matter how hard we try, the shows here in the U.S. (the productions, staging, and fashion) will never match the French in terms of excitement, innovation, and pure creativity.

For me, Guesquiere's latest collection is the quintessential modern mix: one part preppy/collegiate ('think' Ralph Lauren), one part ethnic/globally correct ('think' Dries Van Noten), one part ladylike/refined (think 'Chanel'), and one part athletic/sporty ('think' Nike). It's the kind of thing I wish Ralph Lauren were doing, rather than the perfectly nice, but highly predictable and commercially based fine tuned classics that he presented last month. (Come to think of it, perhaps this WOULD be what Ralph would in fact churn out after smoking a joint or two to 'loosen' him up a bit).

By the way, speaking of disagreeing with critics, the undisputedly over the top, fantastical, colorful, exuberant, couture based collection shown by John Galliano for Christian Dior was a hands down critics favorite. While there is certainly no denying John's sheer creativity and technical expertise, or the highly visual eye candy aspect of the show, my impression is that it was a bit too theatrical and costumey for the times and out of sync with the more restrained, subdued mood elsewhere. Dior seemed old fashioned and rather irrelevant. Not that everything has to be dark, somber, and austere. Far from it.

But I do think that what looks good now is playing down luxury, not magnifying it a la the 80's. How many women these days really want to walk around in hot pink hourglass suits with massive, hot pink fur sleeves? A fellow named Jeremy, a fashion 'outsider' I presume, who responded to Cathy Horyn's review of Balenciaga and Dior on her daily blog, "On the Runway", (a brand new feature added this season), echoed my sentiments precisely. As he put it, "I'm slightly surprised you liked the Dior show.

My perspective is a bit different. Galliano's sensationalism, his big volumes, his bright colors, it's all fun I suppose, but when you say that Nicholas Ghesquire didn't think of anything we couldn't already, I felt that to be truer with Dior. Big bright dresses, overt embroidery and beading, rehashed looks from archives, it came off more as a drag show than wearable fashion. He constantly relies on the same theatrical devices to gather a crowd; the retail reality is often less than stellar.

Once this collection hits boutiques it will be so mundane, I'd even prefer a West Hollywood drag rag than what these clothes are going to become. And it's not even as if there's much to disseminate into practical ready-to-wear. The evening wear looked straight from Dynasty, the day wear was uninspiring, and the shoes, well, it's not the first time Galliano has lifted something from Vivienne Westwood.

-Marilyn Kirschner
NY Fashion Industry Report
www.lookonline.com

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