FASHION WEEK DIARY: John Bartlett Retakes The Runway
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MADE at Milk Bottlenecks... Again
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MM⑥, Diesel Black Gold And More
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MADE at Milk Bottlenecks... Again
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MM⑥, Diesel Black Gold And More
September 12, 2012
The Shophound has taken a lighter trip through Fashion Week this season, but there has still been plenty to see. Here are a few highlights from the past few days.
A RETURN TO THE RUNWAY: JOHN BARTLETT has done his own bit of reassessment over the past year or so, closing his own store and refocusing attention toward his wholesale business as well as personal causes like animal rights and welfare. Last season he did a static presentation, but this time he returned to the runway for the first time in two and a half years bringing everything his fans have come to expect from him including perfectly tailored trousers, a breezy djellaba and models with pecs (thanks for sharing, Tobias Sorensen and Pedro Aboud) along with news like the using linen for the entire collection and a new print made from the namaste symbol as an alternative to the camouflage patterns whose popularity shows no sign of waning anytime soon. Also new: bona fide sports stars in the front row like the Giants' Ramses Barden and the Knicks' JR Smith. Their appearance may have come courtesy of Details, who sponsored the space in Lincoln Center's Public Library for independent men's designers like Bartlett, Mark McNairy, Gilded Age, Marlon Gobel and Bespoken.
A FOND FAREWELL: SOPHIA KOKOSALAKI showed her last collection for DIESEL BLACK GOLD yesterday. Over the past two years she has formed the denim giant's premium label into a designer level collection in its own right with its own SoHo boutique to the point that justified huge, star studded runway shows in cavernous Pier 57. Though they keep the space so dark before the show that it is hard to make out exactly who the flashbulbs are popping for, editors like W's Stefano Tonchi, Carine Roitfeld and the one-woman attention machine known as Anna Dello Russo showed up to send Kokosalaki off as well as actor Adrien Brody and model Petra Nemcova who flanked Diesel Chief Renzo Rosso in the front row. The designer took inspiration from skater street style, and put a half pipe at the head of her runway with flipping skateboarders opening the show to underscore the point. Her black and white collection mixed graphic sporty looks with her signature sexy styles like grid mesh dresses and chunky fringed sandals, setting the label up for a seamless transition to her successor, former PHI designer Andreas Melbostad.
A EUROPEAN VISITOR: It's not often that New York gets a Fashion Week visit from overseas designers known for their unconventional fashion shows, but MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA is putting a big push behind the expansion of its more accessible MM⑥ label including its recently opened boutique on Bleecker Street. Instead of a single show, the label staged a revolving series of casual runway shows in its showroom over the course of an entire afternoon. As visitors waited for the models to hit the runway, they were invied to peruse the same looks on racks throughout the multi-mirrored showroom which often created the effect of inadvertently looking at oneself over and over again. it wouldn't be Margiela if there wasn't something a little bit unsettling, now would it?
RETURN OF THE CLUSTER€#¢§: Last season, The Shophound was royally pissed off when MADE at Milk Studios thought it would be a good idea to schedule five designer presentations all at the same evening hour. What resulted was a line that wrapped around the block to get inside, and a wait that would have left no time to see anything if you had the patience to gain entry. Clearly this was some kind of ill-conceived boondoggle, right? Well, little did we know when we arrived for the Rochambeau presentation on Sunday at the appointed time that we would be faced with the same scenario all over again, this time in the hot, midday sun. After fuming for a sufficient amount of time, we did what we did the last time and snuck inside to cut the line.
Are we proud? No.
Would we do it again? Yes.
Are we going to tell you how? No.
You can figure it out for yourself if you have to. Look, we have limits to the amount of that kind of nonsense we or any other self-respecting person should put up with. Frankly, we were thisclose to simply turning around and leaving altogether. The upside was seeing all those collections in an efficient hour which included Rochambeau's presentation shrouded in green mist, Carlos Campos' photo shoot setup, and what we like to call "perp lineups" from Public School and Antonio Azzuolo that showed off some impressive tailoring that should get more attention. On top of all that was an entertaining presentation from up-and-coming eyewear brand Illesteva featuring The Eyal Vilner Bog Band along with Dida and Ame, a lively pair of dancers. it is worth mentioning, however that none of the same designers whose guests were faced with the ridiculous line last season, including Bartlett, Tim Hamilton and Erickson Beamon, participated in this season's version. What does that tell you?
Click the slideshow below for more highlights