calvin klein, resort, 2010

ah, resort season. all the fuss and bustle of the spring and fall collections seem to dissipate with resort collections, thus why so few designers even bother designing at all for the summer months. honestly, that might be a good thing - many resort collections are a little too vivid for my restricted palette, and any sort of innovation of design is immediately substituted for saleability (hence all the showroom presentations). as always, francisco costa never abandons his niche for understated minimalism with subtle detailing, a signature element of all calvin klein designs. the resort collection, in my opinion, mirrored the wisphy organza found at jil sander's spring '08 show, which comes as no surprise - raf simons' streamlined aesthetic coincides nicely with ckc's purity of construction and material.

some highlights, right off the runway:

view the collection in its entirety here.

london shows, a/w 09

i was a little late in making the transition from a spill canvas for incredibly inane personal baggage to a minimalist-chic (although sometimes not) fashion blog thingy. i don't know. daul kim has a blogger. you know that?

i digress. anyway, the London shows finished today, and i must say that some of the looks i witnessed were positively heinous (read: select pieces from luella, vivienne, house of holland.) my aforementioned favorites have potentially reached the point of insanity.


"the breakers palm beach" is all that comes to mind. i feel like henry holland pulled back a lot for this collection, to his detriment. the shapes and silhouettes were interesting, but the horizontal stripes, fugly colors and strange monochromaticity left something to be desired. admittedly, those tights are fabulous; but they should be mutually exclusive to the outfit, to be sure. i like his nod in the direction of the minimalist characteristics of, say, calvin klein or jil sander, but come on! this is henry holland, not francisco costa. in the words of brian wilson, be true to your school.


dowdy as hell! i love vivienne westwood's constant utilization of fabulous, ethnically and anatomically diverse models in her shows, but she missed the mark in the flattering one's shape and mixing plaids appropriately department. that poncho looks pilled, and it's (supposedly) a brand new item! but that's why we love her, right? loving her overall aesthetic does not coincide with purchasing her designs, unfortunately. but cheers to pam anderson as the face of westwood's s/s 09 advert!


well, it is true that halloween comes around in fall; but i don't think it's appropriate for fall collections to mimic the same shit you can find in the pathetic halloween store that's only open 2 months out of the year. gold lame? really, luella? and the jumper is rather childish, too (not in the refreshing, "i feel seventeen again!" manner, either). i believe she missed the mark on both quality of construction and appropriateness of material. everything just seemed really cheap. be a recessionista in mindset, not in execution! just my opinion (which has been likened, like everyone else's, to assholes).

in summation, let's get one thing straight: what else could one desire from experimental fashion? everything was incredibly refreshing, despite some serious misses. i expect nothing less from my motherland. i cannot wait to fullfill my anglophile wet dreams in the not-so-distant future (but i'll have to make damn sure new york doesn't kick my ass first!)

favorites from the week will be published shortly.