I am not a huge fan of couture. With only around ten designers and houses showing, there isnt a whole lot to get excited for. This season managed to be same old shit despite a few interesting things like the first Dior Couture show without Galliano, Giambattista Valli's first couture show ever, and Alaia's first show since 2003. If you have an ear in fashion you know Dior put on a pretty horrible show. The styling looked like some Henry Holland or Jeremy Scott shit and the clothes weren't enough to distract from it. Alexis Mabille, who i don't pay much attention to but am often fond of, put out an even worse collection in my opinion. so what else?
Giamattista Valli: was nice (top photo via vogue)
Valentino: there was probably something nice here but i've forgotten
Chanel: goofy but boring
Elie Saab: red carpet dresses blah blah blah
Armani: bleh
Jean Paul Gautier: I've never been a fan
and then there were a slew of collections that left me asking why bother?
Givenchy:
A beautiful collection that i recommend viewing as close as possible. i am particularly fond of the back of the dresses as you can see. with all the talk of the over-the-top pace of fashion, it is nice to see Riccardo sticking close to what he's done the last two couture collections. which leads nicely into my finale,
Alaïa:
This collection is really the one that i've kept thinking about. it's a very nice collection of dresses and coats. after ruminating on it for a while i came to think that what really pulled me into this collection was nostalgia. there is a certain circa '06 feel to this collection for me that i can't quite explain. certainly it has a lot to do with the images themsleves. they are not available in HQ for some reason and it reminds me of when i first discovered style.com and the collection pictures were all just 320X480 pixels. it feels like a collection that has been around but i have only just discovered it. this reminds me that while viewing some of my favorite collections i didn't used to be able to see if the model had stray eyebrow hairs or not.ah, fashion has certainly changed a lot since my glory days.
