FASHION BY THE RULES: SPRING 2011 MILAN – Gucci, Ferre, Prada, Etro

Gucci, Frida Giannini, has returned to her rockstar collections and has once again mined the 70’s along with several icons of the time like YSL and Guy Bourdin. The result was an extremely colorful collection with moments of neutrals and then, of course, the must have black segment. The clothes remain close to unwearable as well as being unbelievable technical feats of workmanship and construction. The theater of it was superb, and the rest is inconsequential as she does what she pleases and as long as Gucci keeps selling bags and shoes, the clothes really take a back seat when it comes to the bottom line.

Prada, Miuiccia Prada, manages to do exploit a theme even when it is the emperor’s new clothes as this collection was really not so much about the clothes as it was about the colors and the overall look. The patterns and colorations were over the top while the clothes may have approached a more wearable standard. There was great humor here to accompany the palette with those comic book colored fox stoles and the platform sneakers. Who doesn’t smile when they see monkeys???

Versace, Ms. Donatella, delivered a tough as nails collection complete with hard lines and rigid construction as well as “hard geometry.” The clothes seem to be simple but are complicated by the cut outs and the awkward straps, not to mention, the hideously cheap looking prints. There were moments of brief respite with a few peeks into what she is really capable of doing before all the junk gets in the way. This certainly was not a stellar moment for the house of Versace.

Gianfranco Ferre, the Aquilano and Rimondi boys, needs a serious recalibration to get straightened out. Save for a few passages, the clothes remain graceless and reminiscent rather than cutting edge, slick and sophisticated. Where are the tailored components, the precision, the drama and the grand gestures that the namesake made a house staple. These guys need to really examine their ”M.O.” or the new owners will be showing them the door very soon.

Etro is one of those brands which has carved an identity for itself and stuck to its DNA season after season. Here, it is never boring and before you enter you already know that you will witness a full tilt visual assault on your senses. The prints, the mash ups, the silhouettes are all part of the glory of Etro and this season there is a far more approachable outlook. There seems to be just a bit of holding back which has certainly worked to their advantage and certainly plays to the DNA of the brand.

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FASHION BY THE RULES: NY Fashion Week, The Good, the Bad, The Ugly

VICTORIA BECKHAM returns for Spring 2011 with a looser, but shapely and still sexy silhouette. There is no mistaking the feminine body conscious shapes that have become her trademark. She has shown us that she is quite capable of producing very alluring and salable collections while sticking to her original design philosophy.

MONIQUE LHUILLIER is well known for red carpet confections and bridal gowns, this season she revs it up for those camera ready moments. From cocktails to drop dead evening extravagance, Ms. Lhuillier has kept the bar high for any occasion after 5 PM.

RALPH LAUREN consistently delivers incredible collections season after season and is forever mining the archives and refining his designs until they are perfection. The urbane couture cowgirl for Spring is no exception. In pristine whites, beiges browns and silver think of prairie skirts, suedes, cottons, concha belts, whip stitching, cavalry shirts, ruffles, lace, Navajo patterns and then just throw in some bugle beads and silver lame and you have all the ingredients of the collection. There is no stone unturned and not one element missed. He cannot be praised enough for salable, chic, endlessly appealing collections.

OSCAR de la RENTA remains the favorite for socials, starlets and the perennial best dressed ladies of the world. The pinks, the neutrals, the crispness of black and white and a few nods to Chanel will keep Mr. de la Renta enthroned for a while longer. He certainly has accentuated the waist and maybe even brought a bit of retro to the collection but nothing gets in the way of his exquisite gowns and those Latin influenced ruffle numbers.

NARCISO RODRIGUEZ might need to examine this collection and ask why. His usual structural and architectural looks were replaced by a bunch of disappointingly soft and slouchy looks. Yes, it is Spring and no one wants to be harnessed in to some tight ass constructed garment but there has to be some common ground between what he presented and what was his usual fare.

REED KARKOFF is insistent on being a designer entity unto himself despite his success with Coach. In his namesake collection, which is in its second season, the DNA has not yet been fully developed and that’s where the issues begin. One can assume that the collection will remain on its minimalist path but when Mr. Krakoff veers off that path, then we see trouble. Again we see the folds and the origami work of so many collections but here we see it become clumsy. Even his use of red jolts us as with his black: they become odious under his hand.

STEPHEN BURROWS has presented Spring 2011 in a very relaxed, if not amateurish setting and seems to have lost his way. This is the man who was king of sexy matte jersey and the King of Henri Bendel when Geraldine Stutz ruled the roost. He would be far wiser and certainly better received if he would only dig into the archives, as so many have done and continue to do, and give it a fresh twist. So much more is expected from a designer of this caliber.

Don’t forget to check in with www.style.com for full photo coverage of all the collections and you can always find me on Facebook  as well as http://jeffybruce.blogspot.com/  and now at http://www.examiner.com/user/2062506/2038116/articles  so please subscribe.

VICTORIA BECKHAM

MONIQUE LHUILLIER

RALPH LAUREN

OSCAR de la RENTA

NARCISO RODRIGUEZ

STEPHEN BURROWS

REED KRAKOFF

NEW YORK SPRING 2011 Wu, Gurung, Siriano, Altuzarra

JASON WU  presented his ever evolving collection of chic and soigné apparel with great mastery. He has shown us his sure hand in a mix of stripes, prints, and khaki, black and white while incorporating the sophisticated tailoring and soft draping that Mr. Wu has become known for. There is a European sensibility which is most apparent with his ruffles, stripes and crisp organza blouses.

CHRISTIAN SIRIANO  delivered a collection of surprising sophistication and even more surprisingly with some very pretty wearable clothes. He has managed to shed his misguided vision of ready to wear and turned it into a viable slick collection that is well suited for the retailers of the world albeit the extreme OOPS at the end of the show.
PETER SOM – OOPS!

PRABAL GURUNG presented a vibrant and immensely appealing collection   for next Spring. In a very short time, he has managed to exhibit his talents for flawless execution and a taste level that harkens back to the days when shows were all about the clothes and not who wore them and not who sat in the front row. The superb quality of the collection is more than evident and one can only hope that all of these factors will be enough to ensure the longevity of this collection. If you are knowledgeable of your fashion history, you can see the references of some of the past greats, and note to designer, more simple shoes are better

ALTUZARRA needs to rein in the apparent wow factor of the clothes and use his talents toward creating fabulous clothes that can be taken to retail with the confidence of the buyer. There is great talent, great craftsmanship and even great ideas and inspiration, but they all need to be refined in such a way that makes the clothes more approachable and less in your face. The future is bright as, hopefully, this designer will evolve into a first class creator.

ALEXANDER WANG, well, it is much ado about nothing. He is a great stylist but hardly a designer. The glaring references to the Japanese designers and to Helmut Lang can only reinforce that stylist quality. Yeah so it is white and there is no black. It is not as if he is the first or the last to present Spring with a mostly white palette, if he needs to make a point, then present Fall with no black!

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