there's always next season

Alber Elbaz for Lanvin closed Paris fashion week, or rather fashion month, with his sublime and darkly sexy fall collection. He's a natural standout to end the dialogue of the fall collections. His statement was grand and modern in his use of manipulating and constructing fabric as well as mysterious and feminine with the inky color palette. Collections such as his, and a few others, invite those who want to watch and will appreciate an artist really thinking about design, the body, and the world. The points of view of such designers as Nicolas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga, Stefano Pilati of Yves Saint Laurent, Miuccia Prada, Raf Simons for Jil Sander, Jun Takahashi of Undercover, Christopher Kane, and Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler make fashion intoxicating and tuned into something connected to beauty and truth. After absorbing their craftsmanship and thought, there's a punch-drunk feeling of surprise and satisfaction completely different from ingesting any other art form.

Breaking down the geometry and design of things that we put on our body to protect us, illicit a certain feeling or mood, or remind us of something gone by or yet to happen was the big story on many of the runway narratives for fall. You can really tell if something seems new and fresh if you're eyes get a little bigger as it inspects each look, which could be found coursing through the threads in several standout collections. It may seem like a simple notion, but when they're so much fashion out there available for us to admire and possibly own, there has to be some voices that speak with greater articulation than others for us to truly be excited each season. Take into consideration there's an undeniable recession looming and the cost of designer goods climbs a little higher each day, then it becomes a greater challenge to decide where, or if, to spend one's hard earned dollar on quality, special clothes. All of that might deter from the fantasy and appeal of constantly buying and looking at the trends in fashion, but true fashion followers must persist because fashion inspires us to keep thinking and relishing in the quiet sensation of feeling confident and comfortable with what we're wearing for the day. Every morning the hulking decision of what to wear can be reduced to a simple pleasure if you were to a take a cue from one of the many great working minds in fashion. I'm sure a woman is going to feel at ease in those sinewy Jil Sander winter coats or a bit like a Hitchcockian heroine in those Michael Kors camel coats. A woman will never feel sexier than in a Balenciaga or Naricso Rodriguez LDB, both with the appropriate air of a sexy beast and a demure urbanite. Men can never feel more masculine, despite the big trend that says otherwise, in smartly tailored suits by Duckie Brown or Nautica. Rag & Bone proposed something tougher and rougher for fall, which feels more align with how a man should look, not the twee version so many other designers tapped for inspiration.

Fortunately the collections left me with my appetite being whetted just enough. Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Jil Sander, and Proenza Schouler make you forget about the rest. Duckie Brown, Rag & Bone, and Michael Kors have my mind racing with ideas of things I want to experiment with for fall. Unfortunately we have to wait until October for the next onslaught of models, big ideas, celebrity front row gawking, and of course, the clothes.

and so it ends...

How to close New York Fashion Week? Kim Gordon swaying about on stage is a good start. For his fall collection Marc Jacobs continued to redefine what an American fashion show can mean. It's almost at performance art level with college marching bands, the show beginning in reverse, and set designs inspired Bertolucci films all being incorporated into shows past. What does American fashion mean? What does it mean right now? How is it related to celebrity, art, sex, women, men? He's always thinking and is never short on spectacle. Last season's deconstructed boudoir mood was as infamous as its two hour delayed start time. It was polarizing, controversial, and some are still thinking about and talking about it, and isn't that the sign of a great artist? That need for provocation and redefinition continued to his fall presentation that was more somber and straightforward, which can be his way of maintaining his taste for the rebellion.

To understand and embrace Jacobs it's best to look at his aesthetic as a whole. Last season it was flash and sex, this season it's conservatism and punk. In 2007, spring was Ali Baba and fall was "Last Year at Marienbad." The thread throughout lies in the a paradox between the enfant terrible and the prim, which fits the puritanical American sensibility when it comes to sex. Jacobs gets what bubbles beneath and is able to season after season gives us something new and all his own. This season it was bathrobe coats, feathered mohawk hats, wide corduroy trousers, and dropped waists. It's a challenging silhouette, but I suppose last season's shredded dresses with exposed undergarments wasn't exactly for everyone either. Colors drained of their vibrancy to a pallor dominated the collection, but pops of pumpkin, silver, and garnet reared their heads in places. Texture could be found in popcorn sweaters, velvet evening dresses, and cashmere coats. It was devoid of something overtly referential, which can be refreshing when so many other designers go for that. It was "calm" and "casual" according to Jacobs. That they were, but a collection so diametrically opposed to last season is anything more than "uninspired" as Jacobs claimed; it's as gutsy as the last.

In their totality the New York collections were slightly unimpressive. One does have to admit their isn't a dearth of talent, especially when it comes to the emerging designers, but many of the collections were lackluster and without something interesting to say. The shows that were stronger were built on fit, construction, texture, and color--all things that mark any solid collection. Many designers got tripped up when the foundations of their collections were built on "a woman in the countryside", the cool girl as defined by an ex-model, or Kurt Cobain. I'm not a woman, but I think women look their best when they're wearing something comfortable, something with movement, and something that flatters and flounces about their shape. Proenza Schouler, Threeasfour, Costello Tagliapietra and Narciso Rodriguez get the female form and adorn them in such sexy, modern ways. The resurrection of Halston was one of the most unflattering collections of the week with models drowning in fabric or pants that clung too tightly. I love minimalism, but there should be some control in the proportions. (i.e., poor Irina Lazareanu) Michael Kors' Hitchcock heroines were memorable as were Rodarte's blood thirsty fairies.

The menswear collections were varied as well. The man-boy aesthetic seems like it's here to stay and the one collection where it was apparent but done really well was Duckie Brown. Great shades of gray and aubergine and the proportion of long shirt, short jacket are things I will try for fall. Michael Kors sent out a solid menswear collection with his Cary Grant figures in nerdy glasses and incredible turtlenecks. Rag & Bone was an early standout of the week with their dark take on "Blade Runner" meets Victorian hero.

There was so much range personality in the best shows of the week that it gives the fashion conscious faith in American fashion. However, one can't help but wonder what the Europeans have in store.

the criterion

I'm still not over Antonioni's death, but as some form of solace I feasted on the splendorous art work on recent and upcoming Criterion Collection DVDs. How do they do it? Each DVD package is like a gift from a film god who knows a little thing or two about design and aesthetics. Take a look:

Ace in the Hole, 1951
Days of Heaven, 1978
Cria cuervos..., 1976

For more click here.

While perusing the Criterion website I happened upon their blog, On Five. A behind the scenes entry about what inspired and informed the design work on Jules Dessin's "Night and City" and "Thieves' Highway" is definitely worth a read.