Runway Review

[img_assist|nid=4145|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=322] Another designer, whose runway show deserved more attention, was Tillmann Lauterbach. He was born in Germany, but raised in Spain and Switzerland. He studied in Paris and a great influence of this city is seen on his outfits. This season he presented his second spring menswear collection ever. It was small, but nicely conceived. The prominent designer astutely exposed a very fresh image - and that has ironic written all over it. Why? Because what I feel as fresh is the ordinary chic Pariasian aesthetic that is technically more than played out. I find this so weird, because it’s amazing how once we adore one aesthetic we can get detached from it. And we become so happy when we see it again on the runways, even though it should be the turn for something else. I appreciate the fact that he has used very light cotton fabrics. The feeling of the wearing a cotton garment of marvelous quality is extraordinary and they are perfect for hot heavy days - a versatile piece of great convenience on summer days. In addition, I find this line to be influenced by Burberry’s previous menswear line. I don’t know exactly why, but I’m almost certain that it’s because of the gigantic bags , the way the models carry them, and because of the color palette used. That kind of grayish blue is a staple on Bailey’s palette.

So we weren’t that wrong after all - referring to all of us who believed that Kris Van Assche’s personal spring 2008 collection would be a preview of his work at Dior. The color palette was the very same one; the signature aesthetic was the same one; he even used the very similar idea for the footwear designs. So what did change? Instead of oversized shirts, you have oversized pants . Everything is so vulgar. It’s just a collection of suits, with some hideous oversized pants, that only present changes in minor details or instead of being black they are gray. Even the models look vulgar; where is that freaky thing the models had that always characterized Dior’s runway shows? Changes are supposed to be for the best, so why on earth did they place a man with no creative ideas as the main designer of a fashion house with a vast creative past? I mean, it’s just absurd. The only “unique” item that represents Kris’s ideas is a pair of hideous black pants that look like the ones Mc-Hummer wore for a black tie event. This is just atrocious.

[img_assist|nid=4069|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=318] Another avant-garde designer to present his menswear line in Paris was Juun J. Born in Korea, Juun J became relatively famous in his home country by elaborating not-so typical silhouettes. Nevertheless, he presents his menswear line in Paris as a newcomer - a very talented one. His perception of how every minor little should be conceived and how to “construct” a garment have led him to where he currently is. He dazzles the eye of the spectators, making them believe that one garment is much more classical than it really is or, for instance, by presenting a short that isn’t really a short. With Juun J there is a lot of analysis to be made before you completely understand the idea behind a garment. And in order to truly see what “is” the piece you are looking at, you need to do that analysis. This season the most tricky item was the “once a piece of a trench coat” shorts. At first these looked as if they were just parachute-like pants with a little fashion twist. But as you paid some attention to them, you found out that they weren’t the shorts you thought, instead they were the bottom part of a trench coat! wow! This talented Korean designer has a bright future ahead - and that’s unarguably.

[img_assist|nid=4043|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=349] Kris Van Assche’s runway show was the fashion presentation, besides Dior’s, everyone was desperate to see. Fashion lovers thought that by watching Kris's own collection somehow they would assume how his future work for Dior would look like. Most of the people waited to see a preview of how Dior would “function” from now on. If the fits were going to be different than during Hedi’s “command” they would find out; if the color palette would drastically change they would instantly know; and so on with every other minor detail that you might occur. Therefore, my personal analysis will be based on this popular conception that it isn’t too far away from reality. The suits and vests look exactly as usual - gray or black boxy garments for the muscular. If this is how he will develop his work at Dior, every heroin chic boy should start crying because there will no more suits for them. Kris’s spring line was almost identical to his previous one - not the fall one, but the season before that. Nevertheless, there were some important innovations that do need to be analyzed such as the super oversized shirts. They’re hideous and let me tell you something, when Hedi designed crazy garments like that we called them avant-garde; but not because he was Hedi, but because he made them look refined and truly avant garde. I know that I shouldn’t compare every little piece of Kris’s work to Hedi’s creation, but there is nothing I can do about it. The man will be replacing a very talented designer, and when such events take place there is nothing that we can do but compare to the previous one. Therefore, I will go further on my analysis by comparing one pair of dotted shoes Kris included on his new collection to a very famous pair conceived by Hedi. What on earth are those? They look like a cheap Chinese version of the metallic dotted pointy shoes that rocked the scene last season - picture available above. I mean, if you want to appeal the eye of Hedi’s boys you’ll need to try harder, much harder. I hope for the sake of everyone that I’m completely wrong and the rumors on the “streets” are just mere nonsense. I want chic Dior Homme; a label who dresses the nice and slim.