love alphabetically

I always found it hard to classify or pick favourites, partially out of scepticism – there’s always the little something to criticise, partially out of objectivity – don’t want my personal taste to win over the respect to one or another designer’s work. There’s no better way than to see them all with amazement and indifference equally. Here’s what I like – in ALPHABETICAL order.

A
Acne’s new season made me think of nothing else but the Matrix trilogy…strangely enough while looking through their Spring/Summer 2011 lookbook I noticed that all the sunglasses are named after the Matrix characters – there’s Neo, Morpheus, Cipher… Clearly the season is looking into the future, but I love that slightly 90’s appeal of the collection. The most beautiful looks are in grey, me thinks.


A.F. Vandevorst made me look forward to finally meeting this amazing grey trouser in person. Only a few months left!



Alexander Wang is just may be more loved than the others – the tailored silks, calf length, THAT colour-palette of ochre and cement mastic and THOSE shoes. The perfect summer wardrobe in the Perfectland – someone take me there.

B
Balenciaga has done something really different, but I can’t help to like the final silhouettes of the catwalk – the more typical Balenciaga looks with the right amount of veneer and sheer. The shoes are robust and structured – probably the perfect complement to any girliness that might show through all other season’s collections.

D

Staying with the shoe subject – Dries Van Noten holographic heels would go fantastically well with any of the grey tones that every designer seems to do for spring.

Damir Doma and Hannah Marshall show what to do with a transparent skirt – wear another skirt over it, finish off with a long blazer. That’s a look to adopt…and to contrast with those fabulous Alexander Wang heels – ah excuse me, I’m floating away to the Perfectland again.

J-H
Hussein Chalayan and Raf Simons for Jil Sander are the only two who can make the lightest shade of mint look so attractive. I love Raf’s hyper-minimalism - just imagine the Dries Van Noten heels worn with that look…

M

Marios Schwab, alongside with Proenza Schouler (which deserves a separate post) is full of reference to the 90’s again. This time around to the punk and the grunge in the massive load of textures, lace cut-outs, tie-dye and tattoo motifs, but surprisingly both are making it elegant. I’m not a fan of the styling and make up at Marios’ catwalk, but nevertheless the pieces are marvellously detailed. I find the entire gothic trend revived a bit too soon – we’ve seen it happening now and then in the course of the noughties – but somehow the new gothic references are more pagan than Catholic (look at the result at Givenchy) and somehow less cliché than in the previous years. Could it be that we have really plunged into the world crisis head to toe and are not willing to see any light? We are consumed by the dark, the occult and the apocalyptic moods… no surprise that some catwalks like Jil Sander or Prada explode with colour – it’s just a counterweight.

Maison Martin Margiela…stop, wait, pause… this team of assistants is really genius! Too bad it’s not consistent and we still can’t expect the miracle to happen season to season, but this collection (and of course my selection of the beautiful greys) is so far their best work. The logical continuation of the winter and its XXL waistlines gets even more surreal as the catwalk progresses developing into the most simple of the shapes – a square – in other hands it could have been banal, but here it’s genius.

P

Proenza Schouler:

Well, here’s the collection that has blown my mind this season. It reminds me of Toga’s early work and Undercover circa 2007 – just enough girliness proportioned with weirdness.

R

Rodarte with the 70’s veneer and gold is principally different from the beautiful zombie of the previous seasons (just when everyone else has caught up on it!), and I can’t find the silhouette I like enough – let’s wait a couple of years to digest.

V

VPL is one of the New York’s catwalks so rarely referred to here in Europe. I can hardly think of any glossy that uses VPL in the photoshoots and just as hard is to find a decent retail point. The recent collections are reminiscent of the last ones of Veronique Branquinho – the sporty/elegant mix of floating silks, nude tones…less mystic, more brave.

Y

And to finish off with Yves saint Laurent – or Stefano Pilati, to be honest, because it’s his work that I really admire. The sleek black and the fuzzy nude here could once again go so well with the Balenciaga shoes.
Cheers from the Perfectland.