LUXE TREND 24
WOMEN'S WEAR S/S 2017
The issue with watching close to 75 fashion shows, rather than seeing the collections in person, is that one often misses the touches of design brilliance that go into the manufacturing of certain pieces. Similar to admiring a fine automobile from a photograph, and then actually being able to experience its design flourishes in person, looking at a collection from afar strips you from that opportunity. On the other hand, the opposite can also be true since some collections are made better than others. We always try to balance our views by visiting the stores where the collections are delivered to judge for ourselves if design innovations and high quality find their way to the final product.
This season, NYFW started a day ahead of schedule with two shows of diametrically opposed style views: Tom Ford and Kanye West for Yeezy. We had to cover these two shows immediately (link to previous trends piece) after they premiered because they were eagerly anticipated.
New York fashion week had a few standouts - Alexander Wang, Marc Jacobs and Thom Browne. The innovations in New York had more to do with the changes of shopping habits and how fashion companies are changing to accommodate fickle shoppers. The new trend of See Now - Shop Now was embraced by Ralph Lauren who staged his fashion show in the middle of Madison Avenue. Ralph. immediately after the show, invited a (confused) crowd of attendees to enter the mansion and shop the collection that was just shown.
That same trend was most successfully executed by Alexander Wang for his first collection for Adidas. The day after the show, delivery trucks were dispatched at different points of Manhattan to sell the collection. While it’s hard to predict how this new trend will influence the selling of luxury fashion, for a collection like Alexander Wang’s it was the perfect delivery vehicle.
Moving on to Milan, the mood was decidedly more exploratory. Prada, sent out a collection that will either be influential in about 3 years, or it will be written off as a misfire. It received generally positive reviews mostly because of the design tenacity Miuccia Prada continues to exhibit with each collection. For SS 2017, Prada reminded me of a cinematic wardrobe designed for a Wes Anderson sci-fi movie. As always, there were some interesting mixings of patterns, yet it seemed that the whole collection served as a backdrop for what will definitely be sellouts: the new Prada bags and its other accessories.
Versace presented what was probably the best collection since Gianni's passing. Bang-on in terms of color and mood, it was futuristic, modern and wholly respective of the house's DNA.
Fendi’s collection was also impressively well-timed. Indeed, along with his current collection for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld continues to be on a streak of innovation, capturing the spirit of youthful modernism. For Fendi, the color palette and overall styling of the collection were a paragon of modernity.
The standout luxury collection for SS ’17 was Bottega Veneta. This is quiet, refined luxury at its best. Tomas Maier presented a collection that combined pieces for Men and for Women. It proved that a skilled designer who understands the lifestyle of his target customer ought to present pieces for both sexes.
In Paris, the anticipation of collections by designers who took over the helm at major fashion houses was overwhelming. Lanvin by Bouchra Jarrar, Dior by Maria Grazia Chiuri, Valentino by Pier Luigi Pizzi, all helped their respective brands turn a corner. However, some corners are sharper than others, and all three collections had their own individual problems.
At Valentino, the trend of the little necklace bag appeared on every model. To be fair, that devilish little bag, the potential equivalent of next season’s fanny pack, was shown on so many collections, I started to feel there really is a secret cabal of designers who conspire to establish a trend. Even at Hermes, the little statement bag appeared, albeit with a lot more panache. As a matter of fact, Hermes is bound to have a bumper crop of accessory successes in its future, judging by the variety of bags they showed with their latest collection.
Despite a tendency to move into costume territory like deities at Valentino and the Corsairs that Sarah Buxton showed at Alexander McQueen, clothes appear to be longer and more fluid for next summer. Margiela, Ackerman, Dries Van Noten, Marc Jacobs, all showed collections that made that point clear. The mixing of patterns at the beautiful collections at Givenchy and Dries Van Noten, brought to mind African influences, interpreted through an Occidental aesthetic. Indeed, Africa has been poised to be luxury’s next frontier. There is a tremendous amount of artistic inspiration to be found on the continent, as well as a tradition of crafts and manufacturing that could also make economic sense to luxury brands.
For the immediate future, luxury brands are seen to continue their efforts to try to solve the issue of declining sales. In this age of the instant download, consumers are no longer interested in having to wait for a desirable object they saw six months ago. Modern luxury has to do with availability and access, in as much as it has with innovation and style. Maybe consumers will settle for buying something that is a couple of seasons old, as long as it can be had within 24 hours, or even sooner. This is the conundrum that is keeping luxury executives up at night. So far, and based on what we saw this last season, they have their work cut out for them.