I’m not quite sure what to make, conceptually, of the fact that as the USA bubbles – wondering whether to boil over or become mush – haute couture is having a Moment.
Perhaps nothing may be made at all. Quite simply, two of the greatest houses, Chanel and Dior, have new designers. Matthieu Blazy has taken over Chanel; Jonathan Anderson, Dior. (I truly did not know how to punctate that last sentence.) New designers must seek a moment, it’s why they are hired, after all.
Or maybe it’s precisely the state of the world that drives the desire for beauty and change. Can’t know. Can know that these guys are doing some fantastic work.
Blazy’s couture runway has been lauded for its revisioning of the Chanel tropes – tweeds, embellishment, pearls – into something light as Faerieland. Complete with runway toadstools, apparently. I’m a sucker for sheer. And irregularly spaced dangles at the cuffs. Hoo boy.
A “tweed” suit. I’d wear the top and jacket with pants. To be clear, I will never be wearing any of this. We’re in Faerieland, remember?
Oh my gosh this is just so pretty! Albeit covered in more toadstools.
Blazy did show a few sculptural pieces, but this didn’t feel to me like his heart’s territory.
Jonathan Anderson, on the other hand, does sculptural. Not the most wearable, but he’s all in at Dior. I’m honor-bound to Team Anderson, but given I’ve always loved an intellectual designer, this serf-hood isn’t hard.
All in, I say.
I say. Gosh those sleeves are pretty. There’s a story behind the florals to do with Galliano that’s out there on the internet if you’d like to know more.
Anderson can also do simple shapes, ornamented like art. The final swoop of this hemline. Take that, Nike! Fie on you, Amazon!
He ended his show with the traditional bridal gown. High WASPs say “wedding dress,” but nobody cares about that. Flowing, folded, graceful like a waterfall. Sigh.
Anderson included a similar piece for the rest of us, in pale blue. The rest of us who buy couture for events that warrant couture. Or, I say, for those of us who are glad to know that beauty and craft carries on.
I could look at this for hours.
But there’s work to do, and many miles before I sleep. Not really, but you get my drift. Have a wonderful, useful weekend everyone.
Images for Chanel via Vogue, Elle and Purseblog
8 Responses
The runway – a place of dreams.
It would be interesting to see what the first two turn into when they’re shown in venues where people might actually be buying them. Will that tweed be gossamer with a lining underneath, or a light as a feather wool, with eyelashes?
I wonder how/if haute couture filters down to ready-to-wear. These pieces will be only made to order for clients of the houses, as I understand it. The extent to which they can be customized in that process, I don’t know! But what influences Anderson and Blazy will take from these shows into their RTW remains to be seen, I guess?
This is the break my eyes and brain needed! I’m a little torn about the significance: on the one hand, stratospheric couture as related to wealth inequality; on the other, joy and beauty and creativity as resistance, or just survival. (How ’bout that punctuation?)
Thank you for the lovely interlude. Be well. Back to the fight!
Just what I was thinking Maria-a little torn at the significance yet also delighted and in need of respite… thanks.
Love that pink bell-shaped homage to The New Look
Lovely photos and designs! Picture no.1 reminds me of an Indian princess (her private, not public clothing). Private as in at-home entertaining, or very private, as in a different kind of at-home entertaining.
Picture no.2 – her face makes me wonder if she is a Sturdy Girl at heart? Maybe she has a silky skin-colored top or slip she can wear as a more modest lining for public wearing. As shown, it could be some rather magnifique, outré, outer wear – maybe to a sophisticated event like a Met Gala?
In the Anderson/Dior – third from the last photo reminds me of the iconic picture of Picasso’s muse, Françoise Gilot, walking along the beach, with Picasso* holding a parasol over her.
*But for a more complete picture of their relationship, including his mental and physical abuse of her, read her autobiography. All is not necessarily well in Faerieland.
Hello Lisa, Your punctuation is correct. Two related independent clauses are connected with a semi-colon.
Your second clause, “Jonathan Anderson, Dior” is short for “Jonathan Anderson has taken over Dior” with the parallel repeated words removed via ellipsis.
You are your father’s daughter. You naturally went for the correct choice.
About fashion I have absolutely no opinion, so I will rely on you on that front.
–Jim
If you haven’t already, read Vanessa Friedman’s “Chanel Celebrates Grown-Up Women” in NYT. The clothes make your heart melt and help you know beauty still exists in the world.