Fall Fashion 2012: What Went Wrong

For whatever reason, Fall 2012 was a difficult one for fashion designers. Enough so that pulling my ‘what-were-they-thinking’ picks was painfully easy. There are designers (ala Betsey Johnson, John Paul Gaultier)  that make their mark by presenting collections that are wildly out there and for that they’re recognized for putting on a show- which is all well and good. But when established designers present lines like these, that are clearly marked as READY. TO. WEAR, but are anything but, I have to cry foul.

 MaxMara- this one hurts because I have loved your edgy elegance for many seasons. I own pieces of your label, for goodness sake, and this is what you’re showing me? Especially, after last fall, which was a visual delight. A pinstripe jumper might have potential but not when it looks like a bolt of fabric wrapped around and fastened at the chest. And shin guards? Avant garde is one thing but ugly is another. Better yet, now you want me to believe that a camel mohair jumpsuit with CROPPED LEGS is going to look good? Really? It doesn’t even look good on the model! In both these cases some absolutely gorgeous fabric has been wasted.

 The theme for Givenchy’s collection was equestrian, which explains the militaristic cape, epaulets, and boots. Beyond that, this outfit is a train wreck. Not a single piece of it works. Dreadful.

Calvin Klein has been a champion of the female form for decades. Whether you liked him or not, his clothes were cut to flatter and they did. What happened here, I have no idea. This is only one example from a collection that was frumpy, boxy and shapeless—the antithesis of Calvin Klein. And please don’t tell me that it’s post-modern, deconstructed and all about the fabric because it’s a pantsuit and it is unflattering as hell. Very Mao’s China.

 I saved the best/worst for last. Marc Jacobs is a creative and talented man but I think the strain of designing three lines finally got to him. Louis Vuitton is restrained and minimalist and it looks to me that as soon as he finished that line, he barfed Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory all over the runway at his own show. There is no other explanation. Funhouse fur hats, out-sized glittery pilgrim shoes, padded hips, and cropped pants…the list of offenses is almost unending. This is not fashion and it is certainly not anything that will ever translate to ready-to-wear. Almost feel as if he’s making the case for an ‘exhaustion break’.