Flashback: Dior Haute Couture Spring Summer 2000

To celebrate my 50th post, which, considering I started this blog one boring, sleepless night during fashion week is kind of a big deal, I'm going to look back at what was one of the most controversial fashion shows ever presented. It also happens to rank amongst my all time favorite collections.

The collection that John Galliano presented in the first month of the new millenium provided me with my very first hit of a wondrous drug known as Dior Haute Couture. I don't know how, why or where I first heard of this collection, a collection that has since gained a level of infamy within the industry, but I do remember hearing about it and after all, that's the most important thing. Even so, at my age and having not yet fully immersed myself into the world of fashion I didn't realize just how big a deal this collection was. The collection was inspired mainly by the homeless population that John frequently saw during his morning runs along the Seine, with inspiration also pulled from Charlie Chaplin's iconic "Tramp" character, Diane Arbus' photography of social outsiders and oddballs, mental patients, and the artist Egon Schiele. Pretty intense stuff, huh. But keep in mind that Galliano is nothing if not a romantic. From the earliest part of his career he has loved to concoct stories built around an impoverished, eccentric muse, whether real or imagined. As I've heard it explained by him in many an interview, including one for SHOWstudio.com back in 2001, he imagined that these people had chosen to live outside of society, to retreat from their lives and that out of their need they inadvertently created a kind of style all their own. Also brewing in John's head was a desire to expose the inner workings of haute couture garments, while also chipping away at the elegant, respectable image that Dior had always maintained.

The clothes themselves drew heavily on the deconstruction and reconstruction techniques championed by the Japanese and Belgian avant garde designers who first gained noteriety in the early 80s, as well as his own experiments with deconstruction from his days at Central Saint Martins. With his penchant for drama and romance, as well as the expertise of Dior's atelier's, Galliano managed to make deconstruction, something which had been firmly established as an aesthetic unto itself, all his own. Probably the most interesting thing about this collection, and for me the real genius of it, is the dichotomy between the impeccable craftsmanship and the worn, destroyed look of the clothes. That the garments were painstakingly crafted by hand using the finest materials and most precise handwork, and yet look as though they've been ripped to pieces and are libel to fall apart at the seams is probably the most brilliant bit of "high/low" fashion I can think of. Another thing is that this collection was shown to an audience that included some of the worlds most well-off women, with the hope being that they might buy the clothing, and yet the clothes themselves were inspired by poverty. I mean think about it, many of these haute couture clients give donations to or throw benefits for various charities. It's not unlikely that somewhere along the line they've done something towards helping those in need, and yet they're being offered a selection of incredibly expensive fashion to buy from that looks like the clothes worn by the very people they've worked to help. It's completely perverse really, a fashion mind-fuck for the ages. The controversy that resulted from this collection was so great that it was being discussed heavily outside of fashion circles. While I can understand some of the sensitivity that the public felt about the topic, I think that Galliano was dead on in that SHOWstudio interview when he pointed out how hypocritical it was for people to attack him for his perceived insensitivity and vulgarity in using poverty as an inspiration, given how so many of the go-to cultures and destinations that designers look to for ideas are completely poverty striken themselves. Besides, other artists have found inspiration in povery, but since fashion is often derided as vapid, useless and shallow it's a much easier target for criticism than contemporary photography or painting.

By far my favorite pieces in the collection were the four closing looks, inspired by Egon Schiele. The gowns were entirely de-and-re-constructed, featuring fans of fabric held up by exposed boning, asymmetrically sliced slits bound with lacing, angled seams traced with a shadow of black tulle and trains with lopped-off hems. Each of the gowns were streaked with paint in faded colors taken directly from Schiele's work, and the illustrative quality was enhanced by the aforementioned tulle, which was veiled over the fabric. That little trick gave the seams the look of dashed off brushstrokes, as well as making the creamy silk taffeta look a bit like canvas that had been ripped off of it's frame.

That was the real beauty of the collection, the romantic little details, from belts of twine strung with objet trouves (broken jewelry, books, miniature liquor bottles, love letters) to the raw edges on the fabric which had been delicately frayed by hand, one thread at a time.

To this day I think that this collection was one of Galliano's best, and certainly most thought provoking. It was such a huge departure from the elegance, drama and overt glamour that he built his reputation on and which had characterized his work at Dior up until that point; that alone was risky. Combined with the subject matter and the inherent social commentary within it you have to at least respect just how far out on a limb John went. Even though I don't believe he was deliberately trying to push buttons (that just doesn't seem his style) he had to have known that there would be some reaction to this collection. The fact that he stuck to his guns and did what he felt without hesitation is proof, to me anyway, that he is one of the few fashion designers who truly is an artist.

all photos from Corbis.com

Not A-mused...

I finally took the time to go up to the Met and check out this years Costume Institute exhibit, The Model As Muse before it closes this Sunday, and as promised here's my $.02. Honestly there was a part of me that was debating whether or not to even bother since it's such a schlep up Madison by bus to get to there. I just wasn't as interested as I've been for past exhibits, and the only reasons I went were a) because you're not required to pay the full admission fee at the Met and there aren't many things to do in Manhattan for $3 and b) because I haven't missed an exhibit since Chanel in 2005, and I wanted to keep that track record going. Plus, I figured maybe I'd be surprised and it would be better than I thought...didn't quite work out that way, such is the power of positive thinking. I'm sure I'm making it sound like it was just a train wreck, and that's really not the case. As always Julian d'Ys did an amazing job with the wigs, masks and "makeup" that adorned the mannequins, and the set design was pretty good, particularly in the "Grunge" room (graffiti on the walls, dim lights and Nirvana on the sound system). But on to the subject itself. Being that the focus of the exhibit was models there were a lot of photographs, more than any other Costume Instititute exhibit I've seen anyway. There was everything from prints by Penn, Avedon, Newton and Meisel to archival issues of Vogue displayed in showcases. Getting to see such iconic images, like Avedon's "Dovima With The Elephants" or Erwin Blumenfeld's January 1950 Vogue cover of Jean Patchett up close and personal was actually pretty cool.

"The Doe Eye" by Erwin Blumenfeld
Vogue Jauary 1950

Sunny Harnett in Gres by Richard Avedon
Harper's Bazaar September 1954

"Dovima With the Elephants" by Richard Avedon
August 1955

Marisa Berenson by Hiro
Haper's Bazaar February 1966

Twiggy at FAO Schwartz by Melvin Sokolsky
1967

"Fetching is Your Dior" by Chris von Wangenheim
Christian Dior advertisement 1976

But the photos were just part of the story. The other part of the story was the clothing. The exhibit was divided into rooms which each housed a decade, and therefore represented a "look". It started with post-war Paris, since really the mid-to-late 40s were when the idea of the supermodel was born. In that room there were poised, haughty looking mannequins with arched brows and red pouts dressed in clothes from the golden age of haute couture like Balenciaga's "shawl" coat and sack dress, and evening gowns by Charles James. The next room focused on the 60s youthquake, the mod era of Pierre Cardin, Paco Rabanne, Rudi Gernreich and early Saint Laurent. The centerpiece of this room was three aluminum dresses worn in the movie "Qui êtes vous, Polly Maggoo?" rotating on a platform under psychedelic lighting. Then came the 70s, which was pretty much glossed over with one small display showing what was supposed to be a V.I.P room at a club, but struck me as looking more like a painfully hip Williamsburg loft space than Studio 54. Lounging on a couch were one group of mannequins in gilded peasant blouses and ball skirts from Saint Laurent's Ballet Russes collection, and another group in slinky Halston jersey. Like I said, the 70s disco era was completely glossed over in terms of clothing. Then of course came the 80s and the supermodel era, which you'd think would be treated as some sort of holy grail kind of experience given that everyone (not including me, however) worships the supermodels. Here's what the supermodel era amounted to as far as Harold Koda and his team of curators is concerned; a couple of Versace, Chanel, Armani(?), Ralph Lauren(??) and Donna Karan (???) looks in front of a projection of George Michael's "Freedom" music video. That's all. The pinnacle of the model obsession and all we got was a music video and some clothes. I can't imagine why Azzedine Alaia wasn't featured in the exhibit given that this room was so utterly flat. I mean, are Ralph, Donna and Giorgio really the designer names that come to mind when you think of the supermodels? Where was Mugler, or Galliano, or Dolce and Gabbana even? After that came the phase of alternative beauty embodied by grunge and unusual looking models. The clothes were nothing special, mainly just some grunge looks from MJ's infamous Perry Ellis collection and some Anna Sui with a side display of Prada and Helmut Lang to cover the "minimalism" end of the 90s, but the room itself was pretty cool and completely blew the f-ing supermodel section out of the water.

The post-war years: Balenciaga (left photo), Charles James (right)

The 60s Youthquake


The late 70s


Alternative beauty - 90s grunge

One thing that was done in an attempt to really combine the two concepts of models and clothing was to recreate iconic images using mannequins and the actual clothes that were photographed. So there was a life-sized recreation of Dovima with the Elephants or a group of models dressed head-to-toe in Charles James photographed by Cecil Beaton, Peggy Moffit in Rudi Gernreich's "monokini" from 1964 and Brooke Shields' infamous Calvin Klein jeans ad. Unfortunately these little vingettes were limited, and the majority of the clothes were really just like a brief walk through fashion history, and were basically incidental to the pictures of models wearing them. Ultimately they weren't the focus, and about halfway through the exhibit I found myself thinking that the theme would make for a much better photography exhibit than a fashion exhibit since the images were what it all boiled down to.

All in all, not a great exhibit. Like I said in my post about the Gala back in May, I think calling the exhibit "The Model as Muse" is completely misleading because the truth is that the models didn't actually inspire the clothing, they merely embodied an aesthetic that the designers were striving to achieve, so to imply that Peggy Moffitt inspired Rudi Gernreich to bare a woman's breasts, or that Gianni Versace never would have printed Warhol's image of Marilyn Monroe on a gown had it not been for the models he surrounded himself with is simply untrue. The most that can be said about the women to whom this exhibit was dedicated is that their images defined an era in fashion, which is nothing to scoff at. But ultimately that doesn't have anything to do with clothing because the clothes would have come about with or without the models who wore them. This wasn't so much a fashion exhibit as it was an examination of changing ideals of beauty throughout the second half of the 20th century. I stand by my statement that this subject would have made a much better photography exhibit, since that was really the focus here. But since there was also a Francis Bacon exhibit open, I wouldn't consider my $3 completely wasted.

condenaststore.com, vam.co.uk, staleywise.com, harpersbazaar.com, wornthrough.com, missomnimedia.com, flickr.com/the metropolitan museum of art

Pussy Galore...

Finally the Lanvin campaign has debuted, and for the first time I'm truly excited by a campaign since the F/W 09 ads began to surface. That's not so surprising given that Lanvin campaigns have the unique distinction of never being truly bad. Oh of course some are better than others, but because each season looks so distinct (which means they're unpredictable) and the ideas are always so interesting (which makes them stand out) it's a sure bet that you'll never be let down. Since 2005 Alber Elbaz has used Steven Meisel to bring his visions to life, and the results have produced some of the more creative fashion advertising that I can think of. This campaign is no exception.

Picture this if you will; supermodel Kristen McMenamy, elegance, madness, a touch of Bourdin and a pair of black cats. The result is sort of Crazy Cat Lady: The Early Years...before her beauty withered and her surroundings became squalid. As for those black cats, they bring to mind so many different things; mystery, the occult, danger as well as the legendary Chat Noir in Montmatre. For me though the whole thing kind of brings to mind the scene in Batman Returns when Michelle Pfeiffer is killed and then transforms into Catwoman, particularly the first shot.

As of right now I'm going to call it; I love these ads. I love the look of insanity etched on Kristen's face. I love the severe lighting, white skin and odd, angular poses that recall Guy Bourdin. I love that the only color is the red lipstick, and most of all I love that the ideas used in the campaign combine to create something completely unexpected. I mean, can you honestly say that this is what you would have expected to see given the collection of vaguely '40s Parisian elegance Alber delivered in March? I certainly wouldn't have, and yet, the ads suit the collection perfectly.

images posted on theFashionSpot by surrealseven

The not-so-glamorous life...

So even though I completely railed on the Gucci F/W collection (and I stand by that review) I admit that I was looking forward to seeing the ad campaign for it, which mainly had to do with the casting. The female models include Raquel Zimmermann, Anja Rubik, Abbey Lee, perennial Gucci droid Natasha Poly, Myf Shepherd (couldn't pick her out of a lineup if my life depended on it), Ernest Hemingway great-granddaughter Dree Hemingway, Freja Beha, vintage Gucci Girl Jacquetta Wheeler, and unexpected curve-ball Jamie Bochert. Now, in my opinion Frida Giannini's taste in models skews pretty bland for the most part, not to mention almost exclusively white (no change there, unfortunately), so I was thrilled to hear that this collection would break the cookie cutter Gucci mold of late with seasoned Gucci veteran Jacquetta and quirky underground fave Jamie. And I'll admit that even though the clothes shown on the runway were beyond tacky, they at least make for lots of visual interest, as well as having a built-in nightclubby vibe to them. So needless to say I was expecting something really fun, really glam, and maybe even a little sexy or edgy...not unlike the F/W 06 campaign shot by Craig McDean. My expectations were high, higher than they've ever been for something that Giannini's had a hand in doing, and I was eagerly awaiting the finished result. The result, however, was so anticlimactic that I now find myself wondering why I was ever interested in seeing this campaign to begin with. Like I said in my post about the Givenchy campaign, I'm not an Inez & Vinoodh fan. Their appeal usually eludes me. I don't really get a distinct point of view from them, and more often than not I find the results of their work completely unimpressive. In fact the only times I can think of where I've liked their work was their Balenciaga campaigns from the early 00s, and the one Gucci campaign they did with Tom Ford back in 2001. Other than that, nothing, and this campaign has done nothing to change that. What all of the glitter, glitz, camp and trashiness of the runway amounted to was a white backdrop with black platforms and an overcrowded group of models striking random "unposed" poses while never interacting with each other. That's one thing I can't stand, intentionally random stuff that looks like it was meticulously planned. I'm fine with meticulously planned perfection, and I'm fine with meticulously planned randomness that looks effortless, but I HATE meticulously planned randomness that looks rehearsed, and this does. Plus, could the concept be more boring? If you're going to latch on to a cliche, and at this point that's exactly what the whole 80s nightclub thing is, then ride it 'til the very end. In all honesty, with less models this would make a decent enough editorial concentrating on graphic clothes or something like that, but as an ad campaign? How does this really differ from the mind-numbingly boring studio shoots that Anna Wintour is repeatedly lambasted for doing at Vogue? This is just as boring as far as I'm concerned.

After seeing three of the final shots already, I have a pretty good feeling that this won't get much better than it is now, though I'd be thrilled if I turn out to be wrong about that. Oh I'm sure that there will be at least one good shot among the lot of them, but I doubt if it'll be anything worth remembering. In a strange way I can't even fully blame Frida for this campaign. Yes, she had final say in everything, but that F/W 06 McDean campaign was worlds better than this, and I believe she had final say in that as well. I don't even think I'd care as much if it wasn't for the fact that Frida, I&V and both of their creative teams responsible for creating this campaign from start to finish had all of the right ingredients at their disposal; a decent mix of models, visually impactful clothes and accessories, and a fun theme to work with as well. What made them decide to go for the most basic possible result will probably remain a mystery, and one that I'm not even all that interested in figuring out. Consider the lesson learned; never, EVER get your hopes up where Gucci is involved. It's pointless.

images from vogue.co.au and NothernStar @ tFS

I ♥ MJ...

The appeal of Marc Jacobs ads, consistently shot by Jurgen Teller, usually eludes me. I don't want to say I never like them, for instance I thought the campaign for Spring Summer 2009 with Raquel Zimmermann was beautiful, but generally I feel like there's something I'm not quite getting, and that's never a good thing to feel. Given the delirious, over the top, glammy, clubby collection that Jacobs put out for fall I found myself really interested in seeing what the outcome for the ads would be. Then the first image (or rather, a collage of four images) was posted on the Fashion Spot back in June, and my interest was piqued. It was exactly what it should have been, if that makes any sense. Teller's signature washed out photography and candid shots combined with the gritty New York backgrounds and party clothes made for a perfect combination. Now the full series is up on marcjacobs.com, and for the first time ever I can honestly say that I love a Marc Jacobs campaign.

Like I said, the look of Teller's photography (that poorly done candid kind of look) suits the mood of this collection perfectly, and honestly I don't think the campaign would have been nearly as good were it shot by someone else. And even though I'm not usually a model person, I really love the casting here. The five girls, Natasa Vonjovic, Olga Sherer, Kamila Filipcikova, Irina Kulikova and Ajuma Nasanyana, really delivered, bringing life to the fun, chaotic mood of the photos (especially Natasa who is working the wild-child party girl vibe for all it's worth). I do wish we would have seen more of Ajuma, since she's kind of a favorite of mine and the fact that she was cast in such a huge campaign is kind of a big deal, but that's really the only complaint I have. Sure, the technicolor makeup and mega-sculpted hair from the runway has been toned down and disheveled, but I'm willing to overlook that since it adds to the trashed mood of the images, and they do create quite a mood. I absolutely love the whole "night out" vibe, with shots that go from waiting in your tacky, gaudy apartment or hotel suite to meet up with your friends, to wandering the graffiti covered streets and drunkenly hanging off of the scaffolding (admit it, you've done it too), to the next morning, wandering home in the same outfit you went out in the night before. They're almost like the party photos taken by those inhibition-free, exhibitionistic Facebook devoted youths, just with better clothes. All that's missing is the silly little caption underneath the images. Best of all though, I finally feel like I "get" a Marc Jacobs campaign. It probably won't last, and I'll be completely out of the loop by next season, but nothing good ever does last very long, does it?

all images from marcjacobs.com

Flashback: Versace Haute Couture Fall Winter 1997

In July of 1997, twelve years ago to the very day, I was eleven years old, and I can still remember what I was doing when I heard that Gianni Versace was killed. It's kind of like how people my parents age remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard that President Kennedy was killed. It's one of those memories that remains crystal clear among the haze of other moments in your life. At the time I knew the name Versace, thought I had no idea just how significant he was and how big a deal his death would be. As it turned out, Gianni's swan song, shown a mere week before he was killed, made for quite a final statement. I doubt anyone at the time, including Gianni himself, could have realized just how forward this collection would turn out to be. I mean, being ten years ahead of fashion is like being 100 years ahead in normal time. Now over a decade has passed, and only a blind person could fail to see how influential this collection has been. The biggest story in the collection, both literally and figuratively, was Versace's attempt to bring back the mega shoulder pad of the 80s. Everything including jackets, razor sharp LBDs, knit tops worn with mini skirts and Versace's signature slinky goddess gowns were built on a padded shoulder. Looking at the pictures, these are clothes that could easily have turned up on any number of catwalks in recent seasons. Also, you can't help but notice the similarities between the sharp shouldered black tailoring in this collection and the sharp shoulders that Margiela has been pushing since 2007. Though you can credit Margiela for helping to jump start the current shoulder pad obsession, credit is due to Gianni for putting the idea out there that 80s-style shoulder pads even could be brought back. Not to mention that some of the looks are just uncannily similar to things that Margiela has shown. You'll have to draw your own conclusions from that.

Along with the sharp, aggressive tailoring and major shoulder pads there were floral brocade cocktail sheaths, sparkling crystal mesh mini dresses, padded tubular straps, asymmetric mandarin collars, Japanese floral and Byzantine cross embroideries, corseted leather and gold chain mail mini dresses. The whole collection was distinctly Versace, but from what I've seen of Gianni's archival work this collection is a bit harder and darker than his usual fare...which of course means I love it. Because of the fact that there's virtually no patterns/prints, much less color and embellishment and a predominantly strict silhouette, this collection comes off as almost minimal by Versace standards. Of course, knowing what would happen to Gianni after this collection was shown the dark, severe, borderline somber mood of this collection takes on a certain poignancy. It's a shame that the world never got the chance to see what Gianni would do next, because this collection and the RTW collection shown before it hint at a harder, darker, more streamlined direction. I honestly don't know what the general consensus on this collection is within the industry, but for me this makes for an amazing final gesture from a legendary designer.

Here are all of the images from the collection. Obviously they're not in order, but they're worth looking at anyway.

And unfortunately since YouTube is run by fascists you can no longer hear the music in this short clip of the show, but it was "Smack My Bitch Up" mixed with a bit of opera. Good stuff.

all images from Firstview.com

Under the sheltering tent...

Givenchy

It's been interesting, over the last month or so, to see the way that the three Givenchy collections presented in the same time frame have related to each other. It started with the Resort 2010 collection, continued with the Mens show for S/S 2010 two weeks ago, and culminated with the F/W 2009 couture collection shown yesterday. All of these collections, which are worked on simultaneously at some point or another, have been influenced in part by North Africa, though in Tisci's hands you can bet that you won't get something all that literal. After seeing the resort collection in June, and then the mens show later in the month, I felt pretty confident that the couture collection would be in a similar vein. It wouldn't be the first time that Tisci's resort collection has been an indicator of the couture show that's shown after it, but even still, knowing the vague direction that this couture show would go in I didn't know what to expect, and in a way that's become one of my favorite things about Riccardo Tisci. He keeps your attention.

The show opened with a double breasted black velvet coat that had an exaggerated hourglass silhouette and a sheer hood, and right away I loved the look. It reminds me a lot of a coat Nicolas Ghesquiere did in his F/W 2001 Balenciaga collection, same wasp waist and all. That's not a put down though, and the silhouette feels somehow fresh for Riccardo. Then came a second coat in strips of exotic leather with a similarly curvy shape, followed by a velvet jacket with built out hips worn with matching trousers. These few looks, though easily the most simple in the collection, were also some of the ones that excited me the most. Don't ask me why, I couldn't tell you. Then comes look four and you're pretty much whacked over the head by the impact; a black hooded cowl top with full, draped zouave trousers accented with huge golden bibs, facemask and bangles, a look clearly inspired by traditional womens fashions in Muslim and Islamic cultures. After this look there was a black velvet jacket worn with ballooning trousers embroidered with gold beadwork in a vaguely Moorish/Moroccan pattern. I honestly hate the silhouette, but the beadwork on the pants is absolutely gorgeous. There was a flowing black draped chiffon mermaid gown, worn with that same heavy gold jewelry which was followed by my favorite look in the collection; a black turtleneck top paired with a high-waisted black mermaid skirt covered in sequins that had sculptural detailing at the waist. There were jet beaded zouave pants (which looked just as unfortunate as the ones Balmain showed for fall), and a stunning high-necked long-sleeved jet beaded gown with spikes protruding around the chest and shoulders.

If you view the collection in order, look 10 comes as quite a shock after the black looks that opened the show. A pale beige gown with strong shoulders and a plunging neckline was decorated with inexplicable hot pink beading around the shoulders and below the waist. This dress was followed by another with cutout sides and a keyhole neckline, this time embellished with bright green jewels at the hip and scattered down the skirt. Both of the dresses were really quite pretty on their own, and the fabric had some kind of subtle design woven into it, but those garish, cheap looking embellishments made me cringe. In all fairness the green version is slightly more appealing than the hot pink one, but still, it's like taking a beautiful painting and putting it in an ugly frame; the accent ends up taking away from the beauty of the artwork. Then came an ecru jacket cut with asymmetrical flyaway panels at the hem in signature Tisci style worn with tapered trousers. The jacket was embellished with red beadwork in a tribal kind of pattern that was pretty, but having seen an HQ image I have to say I would rather that the detail had been embroidered in thread rather than the chunky plastic beading. It would have been more refined looking. Following this was a strapless gown in degrade silk that went from ecru to intense red at the hem. Compared to the garish neon beading, this use of color actually made sense in the context of the collection. Another look had a top in white with an asymmetrical train draped off the side and back that had illusion sleeves embroidered with more of that red tribal bead-work. Again, I wish the beading had been done more subtly. Even changing the beads to smaller shapes would have helped. I'm just not digging the chunkiness of it. Billowing white veils covered two strapless, embellished bustier looks, one with pants, the other with a sheer skirt in chiffon that I can't wait to see in motion once the videos start popping up. A white sheared fur jacket was embellished with gold studs and chains, and here I thought the chunkiness of the embellishment worked. A strapless white dress was also embellished with gold studs and had an underskirt in black peeking out. And the final dress, strapless, white with embroidered patterns on the fabric and an angular infrastructure giving the silhouette a jagged sort of shape, was kind of dull compared to everything before it. It definitely wasn't a "finale" look, that's for sure.

First for the positive; I love pretty much all of the black looks that comprised the first half of the show. They were beautifully understated and kind of fresh for Tisci. I also love the inspiration behind the collection, and in Tisci's hands it yielded some interesting and beautiful results. The mystery, drama and sensuality of North Africa combined with the incongruent elements like spikes, studs and corsetry worked surprisingly well, and it's nice to see him playing with ideas he's toyed with less successfully in the past (hardware and fragility being one of them). Now for the negative. First, there were just too few looks. Givenchy has majorly skilled workrooms and plenty of people working in them, so there's really no reason why the collection should only contain 21 looks. I'm not asking for some lengthy 40-plus look parade, but 21 is cutting it way short as far as I'm concerned. Besides that, the less looks you have, the less room you have to really say what you're trying to in a coherent way. That was another negative, the coherency was definitely lacking here which is unusual for a Givenchy couture collection. Even when he throws different looks and different ideas out there in one collection there is almost always a good progression, and everything makes sense. But that wasn't the case here. It was too scattered. What did those two neon embellished gowns have to do with anything else he showed? Why was that corseted tailoring that opened the collection dropped after the first few looks instead of expanded upon? I awaited this collection with the standard he set last season weighing heavily on my expectations and unfortunately it didn't quite live up to them, which is disappointing. Also disappointing, but maybe not really worth complaining about, is the fact that a lot of this collection is familiar coming from Tisci. Yeah, the look and details aren't the same, but unlike last season this is all stuff we've seen him do before, and my policy on that is if you don't improve upon something then you shouldn't bother revisiting it.

all images from Style.com

Behind the seams...

Christian Dior

Haute Couture. Just mentioning the words conjures up images of intense beauty, mind-blowing workmanship, and unbridled drama....ideally at least. Unfortunately these last few years the situation has been anything but ideal where Dior is concerned. Instead we've been treated to a string of collections singularly obsessed with the Dior archives. Don't misunderstand, there's nothing really wrong with scouring the archives for inspiration - that's essentially how fashion works - but how many times can the viewing public stand to have the significance of the f-ing New Look jammed down our throats? Seriously, one more season of a Bar suit reprise and I may snap. It's both numbing and painful at the same time. This season, besides finding inspiration in (read; rehashing) the New Look, Galliano found inspiration in backstage images of Christian Dior's cabine models while they were getting ready for a couture presentation, specifically in the state of undress captured in the images and the lingerie that the models were wearing. His desire, as it has been for quite some time now, was to show the inner workings of traditional haute couture. It's a nice notion, but it's not newsworthy in the least. Ever since his infamous Spring/Summer 2000 Hobo collection Galliano and his ateliers have worked to expose the inner secrets of couture clothing. Since that show nine years ago John has ripped clothes apart, exposed linings, boning and padding, turned things inside out and upside down, and rendered the clothes in complete transparency so that every stitch is visible, all with the goal of showing the work that goes into making a couture garment. So this season that means showing padded bar jackets in unsophisticated colors paired with black or flesh-toned garters, satin tap pants and stockings. As a look there was a little jolt to it that was a welcome respite from the stuffy faux elegance everyone has come to hate, but the truth is that this was just a styling trick. Honestly, there was no real undercurrent of eroticism or vulgarity to these looks. They were safe and unthreatening, a kind of sterile, PG-13 soft-core sensuality where any hint of something perverse or even truely sexual is hinted at only in passing. There isn't anything to really read into the looks, which probably accounts for why they're ultimately benign. And let's be real here, exposed undergaments are something that designers like Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Miuccia Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Tom Ford and Galliano himself, notably with his S/S RTW collection for Dior, have already done. Those are just the names off the top of my head, there are countless others who have done it at some point as well. I'm not saying that since it's been done a;ready that no one else can do it, but considering that the arena we're talking about right now is Haute Couture I expect more than just pairing a jacket with stockings. If that's all I wanted I could just buy Vogue Paris. Besides those looks, with jackets that ranged from hot pink, lime green, and yellow to zebra stripes and nude with a black dotted tulle overlay, there were tailleurs with jackets that had a garter built out of the jacket hem, transparent flaring skirts in tulle or pleated chiffon, draped dresses and tops covered with embroidery and a truly hideous deflated orange bubble skirt worn with a black bra and opera length gloves. Even though there wasn't anything remotely fresh going on with the clothes, a simple change of the colors would have made all the difference. If John would just ditch the dowager pastels and tacky brights the clothes would probably feel much less dated than they do...though the drag queen makeup, Irving Penn poses and silly hats that always accompany these collections don't exactly help either.

There were, of course, a number of dresses. A blush and black dotted tulle cocktail sheath looked like the A.B.S. version of the stunning nude and black embroidered transparent dresses John showed back in 2005, while a cherry red organza dress with a frothy top half covered in embroidery was sheer enough to show the stockings underneath. The stockings were nice. The dress...not so much. There was a hot pink pouf skirted dress, the top half of which was a beige bustier, some knee length numbers in some very off shapes that weren't quite draped but weren't truly structured either, and finally a selection of debutante-ready gowns. One look in draped white chiffon had a panel of leopard print down the front that was, to put it plainly, tacky as all hell. Another was a lumpen mass of embroidered pink faille with a skirt that was split open in the front to reveal the garters underneath. A pale lemon tulle skirt was scattered with crystals and worn with a nude colored bra. I get the point of that look, but it's execution is kind of tactless, no? It just looks awkward, and kind of immature as well. The rest were in a similar vein, pairing a corseted top with a full skirt in tulle, lace or one in faille draped in swags and seemingly suspended from the garters attatched to the corseted top.

This was yet another season of territory that has been covered by Galliano before with much better results. I'm truly tired of this obsession that Dior is having with a world that doesn't exist anymore. The days of the salon and the cabine, of gloved hands and outfits that are always finished off with a hat are long dead. I could say it's time to move on, but given that Galliano didn't start his career at Dior obsessing over these things it would seem odd to say that. What he needs is to let go and stop giving the suits what they think Dior needs. There's nothing wrong with looking at the past, but you need to run the inspiration through a sieve so that all that's left is what's essential, and if a businessman is telling you otherwise then any designer worth their praise should know better than to listen. I'd be repeating myself at this point if I expressed how utterly frustrating it is to see this creative rut play out, so I can't even think of anything else to say. The whole formula is stale, and the only thing to do with something stale is to toss it. I just hope that John and/or the Dior execs realize that sooner rather than later.

Paint it black-ish...

Alexander McQueen

Last season was only the second time since launching his menswear line in 2005 that I was impressed by an Alexander McQueen mens collection. The first time was with his F/W 2006 collection, and not surprisingly there were quite a few similarities between the two. You could say that they were both "very McQueen", encompassing all of the things he's built his name on, delivering interesting, beautifully made clothing and inspired creativity in one dramatic package. So I was pretty excited to see what he had in store for S/S 2010, and wouldn't you know it? I was entirely let down, not to mention further reminded of why you should never, ever get your hopes up when it comes to fashion shows. This season McQueen opted out of a runway presentation, and that was strike one against him as far as I'm concerned. McQueen is a great showman, adept at creating an environment unto which he can project the clothing. Instead of his usual runway theatrics he and photographer David Sims collaborated on a short film (a growing trend lately, with Viktor & Rolf, Gareth Pugh and Stefano Pilati all getting on that bandwagon recently). I don't necessarily have a problem with creating a film to accompany a collection, so long as it's not some pseudo-arty piece of tortured soul b.s. Unfortunately that's exactly what we got here, and there isn't one moment in the clip that actually shows the clothing, unless McQueen is launching an underwear line now. By all means, go to alexandermcqueen.com and check it out for yourselves. It's short enough that it won't kill you or bore you senseless. My opinion? The film was an ultimately useless expression of the frustration that come along with being creative (seriously, the only thing I could think after watching about half of the clip was "yeah, been there and didn't make a mini-movie about it"). The clothes, presented in a lookbook, seemed to take inspiration from the life of an artist, meaning that a lot of them look like the kinds of crappy, beat up basics that an artist throws on to stand in front of an easel for hours, paint splatters and all. Needless to say the clothes were nowhere near McQueen's creative level. Honestly most of them weren't even marginally creative, let alone works of art in their own right. Sure, the tailoring was sharp, but even there it was done in such a run-of-the-mill kind of way. There was no surprise, no "how did he and his patternmakers do that?" shock, unless you want to count a ribbed athletic cuff at the hem of wool trousers as a surprise (and that's been done, it's nothing new). There were a few jackets that had brush-stroke edging to give the look of the piping or binding that comes on traditional English schoolboy blazers (also something that's been done), a white shirt with a sketch of an eagle printed on the chest and faded and bleached khaki trousers worn rolled up. For the most part these clothes were just that, clothes. I don't think you could really call them fashion. Judging from what I can see they just don't seem to cross that threshold into being something more than a garment.

Other pant options, besides the checked wool work out pants, Ralph Lauren looking khakis and bland, traditional trousers in bland, traditional fabrics were navy pants stained with paint splotches (again, been done by everyone from D&G to A&F). A shirt and jacket appeared to be assembled from god only knows how many pattern pieces that had the look of a quilt, unless it's in fact a print or some kind of woven design in which case they're far less remarkable. Then there were two looks, one a navy suit another a white shirt and navy pants, that had paint stains in the shape of hands on the chest and crotch, you know, cause no artist or house painter can resist groping a dude in dull tailoring. These pieces in particular were slightly offensive to me, and not because I've become some prude overnight. They offend me because the joke element of the hand prints is so utterly low-brow. It's cheesy, juvenile and gimmicky. The only thing I can credit McQueen with is actually having the balls to make them in the first place instead of letting that little blip of creative silliness pass. There was a suit that appeared to be streaked with silver paint, but the streaks were in fact woven into the fabric as opposed to painted on. It was kind of beautiful looking, though as a suit there is an unfortunate Tin Man effect that I doubt was desired. The last two looks were the most, or depending on how you look at it, only interesting looks in the collection; a vest/shirt combo and a jacket/shirt combo in an abstract digitalized mirror image like the prints McQueen used for his S/S 09 womens show. I'm actually kind of curious to know what images were manipulated to make the prints. Beautiful as they are though, I don't think I'd ever want to wear them. They're very busy, too busy even, and ultimately not something I see many men wearing very convincingly.

Overall, I don't think it would've been possible for me to be more let down than I was. The collection is brief, bland, not particularly creative, and lacking in the kind of beautiful, perfect clothes that make you overlook those things. For all of the tortured artist mumbo-jumbo that the video alludes to the collection sure as hell doesn't make good on what's promised, at least not as far as I can tell. What's most upsetting is the thought that last season, and F/W 06 for that matter were simply fleeting moments of creative clarity when McQueen's head was in the right place at the right time. It's depressing really, that one of fashions greatest contemporary talents has gotten to a point where his output is so uneven. Maybe Lee's more of an artist than anyone realizes, his creativity slowly burning away in his head and driving him to self-destruction. Hey, weirder things have happened.

Prada

So apparently for S/S 2010 Miuccia Prada sees life as one big gray area, and really, what could be more apt given that the world is broke, people aren't buying clothes and for the last few years most men's fashion has been stuck in the midst of puberty, giving guys who don't fit the gawky boy-man mold (ahem, me) a complex. But oddly enough, given that her collection was almost exclusively rendered in shades of gray the statement itself was as black and white as they come. There was a formality to the collection, with echoes of late 50s/early 60s menswear, but it was broken apart and softened to make sure the look wasn't retro. Prada stated that among her inspirations were black and white movies and the desire to make men feel "sexier, more beautiful, more sensitive—he wants to be vulnerable." and I actually think that, at least on the first two points, she succeeded. There was a certain sexiness to the looks (if you ignore the Lurch-like models blankly glaring into the camera). The show started out quietly, dully even by Prada standards, with a single breasted graphite colored jacket with narrow lapels worn with trousers in a slightly lighter gray and a deep v-neck top instead of a shirt. Then another variation on that look, the jacket now in charcoal. From there the jackets went from single to double breasted, only it was a single button double breasted look which, imo, isn't all that great looking. Combined with the drapey, straight cut it looked kind of sloppy, and one thing that a double breasted jacket should never be is sloppy, not to mention that the single button look strikes me as kind of dated. Much nicer were the infinite cardigan combos that were shown. Some were classic with sleeves cropped at the elbows and the hem of the white tees underneath peeking out for some contrast. Others were sleeveless, worn over sweater vests and sleeveless button downs with ties. Then with look 7 the detail that would be Prada's obsession for the season made it's first appearance. It was that same sleeveless cardigan, sweater vest and shirt combo, only now the cardigan and vest were perforated to look like mesh.

From there the perforations took over, with everything from coats, crewnecks, sleeveless mock neck tops and polos, right down to the shoes and occasional fedoras that topped some looks. There were four looks that combined jackets or parkas with short-shorts (a look I'm still not behind when it comes to menswear). Those looks were some of only a handful that had any kind of pattern or print to them in the form of small checks, dense paisley-ish patterns and what looks like some kind of digitalized herringbone. Aside from those pieces the rest of the collection was done entirely in solids. After this there were more iterations on the tailoring and knitwear that opened the show before Miuccia fully gave in to her obsession, sending out entire outfits in black that were marred with perferations which gave the pants a transparent look not unlike the organza bellbottoms she proposed for women back in Spring of '08. I wasn't exactly fond of the pants, mostly because I think they're just silly. Transparency for women serves two purposes; it creates a feeling of lightness and softness which serves as a foil to the seductive nature of see through clothing. You can be the Madonna and a whore while wearing the same dress. However men's methods of seducing aren't the same as women's, and seeing the silhouette of a pocket and knee high dress socks doesn't exactly have the effect of whipping me into an erotic frenzy. Who knows though, maybe it works on women. Anyone care to elighten me?

In all fairness, those perforated pants were really the only missteps in the collection. The rest of the clothes were essentially just good looking, well tailored classics tweaked through both fabric and cut. Even those perforated knits look completely believable to me. I can totally see those working as layering pieces for any number of urban males. Ultimately though this collection doesn't make as strong an impact as last season's menswear collection did. They were both based on the same premise, transforming classic staples of men's clothing as a means to transform the wearer, but while that one left so much room for interpretation, this one doesn't seem to have a very strong subversive undercurrent, at least not one that I've picked up on yet. I'm not about to knock it for that though, because ultimately the clothes look good and that should be the real gauge of whether or not a collection was successful. Who knows, it may prove smart on Prada's part that she didn't propose anything threatening this time around, because the next time she chooses to it'll pack even more punch than usual.

All photos from Men.Style.com

Want. Need. Now...

It's always kind of a good thing that the mens collections for the following spring are shown just before the current summer even hits it's peak. It means that guys like me who love fashion and don't want to wait 'til next year can update our wardrobes as the shows on the runway unfold. I mean, I can't be the only one who does that, can I? The Milan menswear collections for S/S 2010 are under way and so far things are looking up. Maybe it's the current crappy weather that has been hovering over New York for what feels like a month already, but I'm definitely needing a bit of lightness, ease and color, and some of the collections so far are doing a pretty good job of keeping my attention.

Bottega Veneta

There are always those collections, few and far between as they may be, that leave me with no other thoughts but "I like it". It's rare. I'm one of those people who always has a thought on fashion shows, as this blog proves. But this season's Bottega Veneta collection has left me simply liking what I see, no thought process or deeper meaning necessary. To be honest, even if there is some kind of story or message at work in this lineup of looks, I don't care enough. I'm too distracted by the pieces. BV is always a good looking collection, even when it slips into predictability. This season however, on top of looking good, things were also quite a bit less predictable. The mood was a bit more youthful and casual, the colors were more bold and the whole thing came off as kind of playful and (gasp) fun. Leather baseball jackets, colorful polos with contrasting bands around the sleeve, safari jackets, floral wallpaper patterns and tie-dye were some of the things that made an appearance, and that was just within the first 15 looks. There was a great tie-dye cardigan in cocoa brown, sage green and seafoam paired with olive green shorts, tailoring in grapey purple, poppy, and brick, sometimes worn as full suits, other times worn with bright pink or orchid colored v-necks for contrast. Preppy striped fabric was dyed with splotches of blue, red and pink, and a ridiculously gorgeous aubergine washed leather jacket may very well have been designed specifically with me in mind. Seriously, that's one of my absolute favorite colors, and unfortunately it's pretty uncommon for menswear. There was also a leather baseball jacket like the one that opened the show in that same shade of purple with sleeves in pale blue. Soft, drapey tees and fine knits came in a variety of reds, coral and oranges, and were worn with tapestry patterned cropped pants that were oddly cool looking, though they're not exactly a look I'll be trying to replicate. And for evening preppy navy blazers were paired with checked shirts and creased jeans worn cuffed at the hem.

The one thing that I always appreciate about BV, both for men and women, is the ease. Even if it isn't always my taste I like that the clothes always look comfortable and easy to wear an yet completely pulled together. It's worn in and familiar, but never sloppy, the perfect look for a summer wardrobe. The whole collection is filled with pieces that I'd like to own and wear asap. Hell, it even has me wanting to wear bright color, and that, my friends, is huge.

Versace

What is it about the exotic clash of cultures and time periods in North Africa that keeps designers so transfixed? I've never been to the region myself, but my fantasy images of sun-bleached villas, bustling souks and barren sand dunes baking in the heat are enough to sustain me. It was this imagery that the Versace collection was drawing on for S/S 2010, and boy did it have an intoxicating effect. Shown in airy shades of white, cream, beige, gray, and khaki with shots of rich tan, inky blue and black the collection was a wonderful mix of ease and formality. The opening look, a crisp white suit with double breasted jacket and wide cut slouchy trousers was worn with a knee-length djellabah/shirt hybrid tunic. A creased suit in buttery cream was worn over a taupe t-shirt that almost, almost had the look of being stained by sweat, but in a romantic, swarthy, non-gross kind of way. A beautiful ivory suit had a jacket with patch pockets on the front taken from safari jackets, and one of those airy tunics worn open underneath. There was a fantastic collarless cardigan (or unstructured jacket, hard to tell) that had toggle closures up the side which was worn with one of the many great looking pairs of pants in the show, not too tight, not too baggy and with a slit at the ankle to help it break over the foot. After the whites and creams came looks in dusty grays, taupes and streaky, tone-on-tone tie dye or reptile skin prints. A matte snakeskin jacket with asymmetric button closure was particularly lust inducing, as were the boys in itty-bitty, teeny-weeny earth and animal print bikinis. When it comes to Milan you've gotta love the guy candy, but that's material for an entirely different kind of blog.

From there the clothes moved from soft, warm earth tones to cool, soothing shades of gray. There was a gauzey dip-dyed button down worn open over a deep v-neck top with pants that had a bit of sheen to them, a streaky printed tunic worn under a dove gray trench, and a sleeveless shirt with military epaulettes paired with wide leg pants. As with the rest of the collection the looks had a languid ease to them, though the color palette was decidedly more urban looking than in the first half of the show. By this point those djellabah/shirt tunics started to seem like a pretty good idea. Honestly if I had Versace-type money burning a hole in my wallet, I wouldn't be entirely opposed to trying the look out. It's very Saint Laurent in Marrakech, lounging on a pile of pillows smoking some kind of pipe or another. The final passage of looks was all in black and geared more towards evening, but even here there was nothing overly formal about the clothes. Options included black and white striped blazers worn over one of those printed, sheer knit collared sweaters, a cardigan with some kind of frogging or toggles down the front (not nearly as silly looking as it sounds) paired with sharp black trousers, and a final version of that omniprescent tunic in glazed black fabric (likely cotton) paired with a classic jacket and pants.

I kinda loved it. The mood was right, the looks were right, the colors and prints were right and best of all the lineup was filled with pants for men who have thighs. But even better than that, the pants were good looking too!!! The whole package was just really desireable. As practical and unthreatening as the clothes and colors are, there's still a sense of fantasy to it all due to the subtle ethnic and militaristic touches. Were I offered whatever lifestyle it is that these clothes portray, I'd be hard pressed to turn it down, especially in this horrendous weather.

All photos from men.style.com

Crusin II...

Marc Jacobs

In a riotous mix of color, print and eras (though not as riotous as S/S 09) Marc Jacob's collection for resort 2010 was a mix of old Hollywood, vacation cliches like sailor stripes and souvenir prints, mid-70s Parisian bohemian, and mid 80s party girls. Sailor striped tops were embellished with tropical flower motifs, intentionally cheesy floral printed bandeau/skirt combos and jackets were right out of the tourist-in-a-tropical-locale handbook, and cropped trousers in vintage geometric or paisley patterns could be right from the flea market. A red and black party dress was covered in a print that, from a distance looks like some kind of flower but up close is actually made of colored scribbles. A sheer black mini dress had bands of neon across it that kind of looked like barbed wire. It was paired with a gray tweed jacket edged with shredded neon fringe. And a black cap sleeved wrap dress covered in pop colored parrots had the same feel to it that Saint Laurent's 40s collection; vintage, a little trashy and flirty.

From there things became a bit more decadent. Orchid pink satin shorts were paired with a cropped black jacket trimmed with what looks like passementerie that recalled late 70s era YSL. A blue short sleeved jacket with a slight peak in the shoulder was paired with more of those cropped trousers, now in a shiny jacquard. Ochre satin high-waisted shorts were worn with a printed blouse with billowing sleeves, and the final piece was the dress worn by Kate Moss to the Costume Institute Gala back in May (I still love it, though it fit Kate better than Olga). I'm currently reading "The Beautiful Fall" by Alicia Drake, about the Paris fashion scene of the 1970s, and this whole second half of the collection looked like how I imagined Saint Laurent muse Loulou de la Falaise to have dresses back then, a mix of high fashion with the bohemian spirit of Biba and Ossie Clark in London. Every single look was paired with massive platform sandals that made me think of the shoes Jodie Foster wore in "Taxi Driver". So there you have it, a mad mix of looks that spans who knows how many eras, trends and personalities, but could you expect anything less from fashion's favorite mix-master?

Miu Miu

In contrast to Prada's kitschy, almost cartoony take on destination dressing, the Miu Miu collection was a slightly more sedate affair. Still sticking with a vaguely "life of leisure" vibe combined with the 70s infused bourgeoise sensuality of the F/W collection, the look was a mix of athleticism and glamour. Think Saint Tropez, the rich, fashionable Parisian elite on holiday spending their days by the pool or on the tennis court court, lacquered red lips and all. The main portion of the collection was built around maillots, worn as layering pieces under short tennis skirts, slouchy track jackets, and beachy cover-ups for day wear. Shown in muted shades of beige, cream, pale celery green, and a super pale blush pink. Two sheer halter gowns in a gorgeous retro Calla Lily print (worked in two different colors for the top and bottom of the dress) were worn over plain maillots and had a blouson effect at the waist that billowed in the back.

Long v-neck halter dresses were shown in black or a dusty lilac version of that Calla Lily print, while seperates took on an even sportier feel shown in crisp white, navy and black paired with high lace-up athletic looking stilettos. The Calla Lily print made it's final appearences as a short red on black shift, a red on black maillot worn with a pink on black A-line mini, and a black on lilac full skirted mini dress. Closing the show were three short dresses in the same pale solids that opened the collection trimmed with bands of taupe and embellished with oversized buttons. Like I said, the whole thing had a very 1970s life of leisure feel to it, clean, sporty, a bit louche but tinged with undeniable glamour. I have to admit I'm loving it, probably even a bit more than Prada, but mostly because this collection has a whiff of decadence and vanity to it that Prada didn't.

all photos from Style.com

Cruisin...

Prada

This season for resort Miuccia Prada has returned to one of her recurring themes, the quirky mid-century suburban housewife. This time around she, her husband and their two-and-a-half kids have packed up and headed to a warmer climate on holiday. Bright, beachy colors like candy pink, lemon yellow, coral, sky and cerulean blue, red, and orange were mixed together in eye watering combinations that are definitely not for the faint of heart. Draped batwing tops were paired with short, layered A-line skirts. Mini shifts had color blocked bands around the skirt hem. And bikini briefs with ties on the side (very Malibu Barbie) were layered and worn with two-tone button down shirts or sweater vests.

After the bold solids there came a retinal assault of prints. Vaguely wallpaper prints, bold geometrics borrowed from Prada's F/W 2003 collection, overblown paisleys and illustrated tropical florals were used for everything, from wrap skirts with ties on the side, blouson tops with contrasting trim, preppy button downs, v-neck mini shifts, more of those A-line skirts and dropped waist chiffon chemises, and in almost all of the looks there were at least two prints used at a time. Combined with the Carol Brady hair the whole collection had a fun, kitschy vibe to it. It reminded me a lot of Miu Miu's S/S 2003 collection, just in a more extreme form. Overall I'm not in lust with it like I have been with Prada lately, but I'm definitely intrigued to see how, or if, this collection has anything to do with the S/S show.

Calvin Klein

Francisco Costa's recent collections for Calvin Klein in the last few years have managed to preserve the integrity of the house by making contemporary, clean, timeless clothes for an urbane, unfussy type of woman while also taking the identity of the house forward. While I admire the fact that he does such good work channeling the house DNA in new ways, there are occasional times when I've longed for the ease, simplicity and cool sensuality of Calvin himself, not to mention that I have grown a wee bit tired of the lack of color on CK runways in recent years. Granted, Klein himself was never known for bold, intense color, but he didn't use exclusively black, white and shades of gray either. For resort 2010 Costa has brought a little bit of that easy sensuality back to Calvin Klein in a collection that was much more light and easy than his recent work has been. Eschewing strict tailoring and severity for transparency and soft volume, Costa used a subtle palette of different whites and parchment, smoky grays and slates, and a handful of what I call "hybrid" colors. One was a sort of faded citrus yellow/green, another was a dusty mauvey-nude, and yet another was a pale creamy tawny orange. Like I said, they're hard to describe, much like Calvin's own color choices were back in the day. Separates consisted of narrow cropped transparent trousers, sheer organza jackets and coats that closed asymmetrically, and simple textured tops. Those trousers appeared throughout the 24 look lineup alongside occasional skirts with an unusual drape to them. More than separates though this was a collection of beautiful dresses, many featuring off-the-shoulder necklines that highlighted the collar bone. With subtle transparency and volume in the skirts they were extremely feminine without being the least bit girly.

A stunning shift in a slate gray had the transparent portion worked over the arms, while a strapless dress in charcoal had a deflated bubble shaped skirt with pleating across the front. Ivory or beige dresses had a soft drape over the hip and hems that fell to mid calf, while two full length gowns in shimmering gray or ivory organza closed the show. The whole lineup, even the pants, was a reminder of Calvin Klein's obsession with underwear and his penchant for making a sexy, unassuming little slip dress. The only real flat note (if you'll pardon the pun) in the collection was the shoes. Boyish lace-up oxfords or ankle high pixie boots did nothing for the clothes, and rather than doing what they were likely intended to do, contrast with the lightness and softness of the clothes, they just looked awkward. The clothes weren't all perfect, but it was the most "Calvin" collection Costa has done in a couple years and I really hope that he continues on this train of though for spring.

all photos from Style.com