ALEXANDER McQUEEN GOES UNDER THE SEA
Unless you were hiding under a rock somewhere when M. McQueen showed his Atlantis-inspired runway presentation in Paris last October, you could have sensed a sea-change when his elaborate production crashed the Showstudio website (where a live feed was being broadcast) and a certain pop phenom by the name of Lady Gaga debuted her then yet-to-be-heard smash single "Bad Romance" at the show's end. The underwater alien invasion vibe that permeated the designs were both romantic and a bit frightening; McQueen is a master of color, texture and above all, tailoring, but it was in the high-def prints on the cocktail dresses (close-up butterfly-wing patterns, organic flourishes washed over with nuclear radiation) that he found a compelling narrative. Of course it was the "shoes" that ultimately stole the show:
RAD HOURANI
While the name might ring a bell, Rad Hourani is considered a newcomer to the fashion world, even though the Canadian designer has shown his work in previous seasons. It was his of-the-moment interpretations on extreme androgyny and luxe minimalism that put Hourani on the map with this collection, shown during NY Fashion Week, and fashionistas are drooling over his shredded leather leggings. The runway soundtrack remix of Suicide's "Ghost Rider" was pretty awesome too.
RODARTE'S BIRDS OF PREY
Rodarte has been pushing an envelope or two (or three) for years now. A critical favorite season after season, the Rodarte ladies (Kate and Laura Mulleavy) always turn out increasingly complex works of wearable art, and this collection was no exception. Inspired by a strange story concept (a woman dies alone in the desert only to be resurrected as a phoenix), the show was heavy on drama: austere makeup and hair paired with tattered leather, patches of burned fabrics and glinting metallics. And tribal tattoos. While the tribal-print trend seems a bit late in the game at this point to me, the Rodarte designers executed their vision with their signature whimsy, writing a dark fairy tale that will likely remain out-of-reach for the masses. But, hey, you can always snag a piece from their capsule collection for Target if you can't bear the RTW price tags.
PRADA: DEATH AT A BEACH PARTY
My first impressions of Prada's Spring 2010 collection were the various (and snarky) critical reviews I read online before I had a chance to see the show footage myself. Lying in direct contrast to Rodarte's witchy dreamscapes and McQueen's conceptual theatrics, Prada represents the gold standard of subtlety; functional luxury with high-brow humor and trend-eschewing dedication to detail. While I definitely have an affinity for all things Prada, I'm usually a bit underwhelmed by 70% of their runway presentations. The Prada hallmark is a highly refined attitude toward the creation of luxury goods that really need to be touched and experienced in person, wherein the "small stuff" lies the selling point.
It was a pleasant surprise, then, to be totally turned on by Miuccia Prada's gloomy, dancing-at-the-edge-of-a-volcano spring looks: frayed silks in black, ocean blues, bright purples and pewter-gray made into paper doll holiday ensembles replete with screen-prints of blacked-out palm trees and kitschy beach motifs. The accessories (always the highlight of any Prada collection) featured lucite and plastics that, when combined with the youthful and slightly nerdy hair and makeup, made this collection a surprisingly hip standout.
BALMAIN-IA CONTINUED
Balmain designer Christophe Decarnin hit another home-run for the revived house of Pierre Balmain, bookending a year of non-stop "Balmain-ia" that has alternately captivated and enraged fashion critics the world over. Yes, Decarnin's glitzy, disco-era sequined-explosions have been photographed on every pretty young thing from Rihanna to Lindsay Lohan, but it's also telling that Michael Jackson chose Balmain for his obviously-defunct arena show wardrobe ... and you can't forget the Demi Moore/W Magazine cover-shot controversy. Any way you slice it, Balmain has been maybe the most coveted label on earth for a good year now. I was relieved to see the Spring show since I had grown tired of seeing the same F/W '09 $22,000 biker jacket on everyone but myself, and Decarnin stoked the media fires anew with his usual trashy-luxe offerings: sequined jeans, military-style jackets with gold-fringed epaulets, perfectly distressed tops and tons of leather/hardware creations. Balmain will undoubtedly remain the party-crowd favorite for the foreseeable future.
To be continued ...
