Bye bye studs and goodbye sequins. It took Marc Jacobs’ recent Spring/Summer show to shake up the fashion world and for all to realise quite how tiring these trends had become in recent seasons. His collection was like a breath of fresh spring morning air.
In stark contrast to his Autumn/Winter collection – where the only light in the room shone on the models as they paraded the runway and the collection itself had a gritty, grungy eighties vibe – and designer Christophe Decarnin at Balmain, who is sticking to his sequinned, shredded, leather guns, Jacobs is giving us a much needed fashion wake-up call. The ‘meaning’ of his show is individuality. If we ignore the trends emerging from his collection (shiny trench coats and pastels a la Burberry anyone?) he makes this message very clear by abandoning the cliché’s that many designers are clinging onto in these tough economic times, and playing with fun frivolous ruffles and layers, and making contradictions that you would never thought of.
The only problem is that his usual market isn’t those who need the message the most. The girls trying too hard to be individual seem to think that edgy is the way forward. Edgy has been through the fashion cycle, and now that even Primark is getting tired of it, it is definitely time to move on.
Jacobs reminds us about the art of mixing it up and good old spring layering. The underwear as outerwear trend we saw at Dolce and Gabbana and Prada for Spring/Summer ’09 is being brought forward into a perhaps more wearable way (unless you’re Lady Gaga), by teaming sandy quilted high-waisted knickers with baby blue satin panels and a baby blue satin bra with a peach buttoned up long sleeved shirt with a white ruffled collar poking out. Then we have an army of trench coats and military jackets in khaki and navy, layered over barely-there playsuits that come in layers upon layers of floral ruffles in forest greens, royal blues and the summer staple white. Sheer lilac, white and nude leggings were worn under equally sheer embroidered handkerchief style halter neck dresses and under satin knickers with shiny trench coats.
The shoes were definitely a talking point of the show, mostly because a description for them is so hard to pin down. Think half ballet pumps – half flip flops, with a platform running halfway across the underneath of the sole. They’re reminiscent of traditional Japanese footwear and very different for the Western world indeed, particularly in a world where the statement shoe is overtaking the selling power of the statement handbag, and the chunkier and taller the better.
Perhaps Marc Jacobs is using his namesake brand to produce his quirky ideas, as an outlet for the inspiration he gains from his repeatedly cited designer idol, Rei Kawakubo. After all, the Louis Vuitton customer is unlikely to be seen wearing these odd shoe designs, and in this climate designers don’t have much room to play around.
In a world where fashion houses and publications are closing their doors on an almost weekly basis, and in New York where designers like to stick to the safe, neutral choices, it’s a relief to hear that Marc isn’t worrying about whether his collection will really sell.
"Let's not think about that, it's about fantasy."
Images: Style.com
Post Title → The Weird and the Wonderful
