The New Fashion Editorial

Taken from style.com Fall 09 Report.

On Junya Watanabe:

He never allows himself to run so far into the outer reaches of theory that the practical value of the original article is lost. In this collection, suffice to say, there are warm winter coats that are just warm winter coats, and those will sell as functional classics.

On Comme des Garçons:

As to wearability? Once dismantled and seen on a rail in the Comme des Garçons showroom, Kawakubo's work normally becomes easier to incorporate into a real wardrobe. At a guess, there will be many coat options, and the netting pieces could translate as useful styling accessories over cocktail or eveningwear. And anyway: Kawakubo is so smart at retail practice that she will undoubtedly (as always) be rendering the ideas in this collection down to a line of T-shirts.

On Lanvin:

However, nothing at Lanvin ever comes at less than top price. In a tanking economy, that would seem to contradict Elbaz's stated aim to embrace "realism" and the generality of women's daily concerns. It all depends, though, how pennies are counted, how long clothes can be worn, and whether they're destined to be made obsolete by fashion within six months. With this collection, Elbaz deliberately built a defense against that lack of confidence, going back to re-do pieces (like the raw-edged charmeuse dresses) he first came up with five years ago. His message: What was good then is just as good now, and what's bought now can have just as much value years hence. In a year when all other financial investments look like a joke, a Lanvin one is as rock-solidly trustworthy as fashion can be.

On Balenciaga:

The word, in the end, was sophistication: Ghesquière didn't pull back on the Balenciaga insistence on developing couture-level handwork, but there was also a sense of reality that sent cohorts of pressured buyers out onto the Place de la Concorde with relieved smiles on their faces. "Wearable" and "money in the bank," they were calling it. Not compliments they're throwing around easily in these strained times.

On Marc Jacobs:

Will fashion as outrageously ebullient as this—in some cases, make that just plain outrageous—sell in the harsh reality of the late aughts? (And talking about harsh: More than 1,000 people were nixed from the invitation list this season in a cost-cutting slash and burn.) Jacobs insists that he wasn't thinking about the economy when he was working on the collection, and maybe he wasn't. These days, wagering that women will splash out on feel-good clothes is as good a bet as any.

On Gucci:

Frida Giannini's populist approach to Gucci has the ability to divide opinion between girls all over the world who see nothing wrong with buying into her accessible channeling of trends, and critics who wish for something more directional at this level of luxe. Still, in these extreme times, maybe that's splitting hairs. When a designer sees her market, it would be insanity not to go for it...