“Roses are red…” and
that’s about it. It’s the perfect combination to feature Thom Browne’s jaw
dropping, sinister but romantic Fall/Winter 2013-14 collection here on Votre
Garçon for Valentine’s Day. Thom Browne has kept me hooked ever since his womenswear
debut; the Fall/Winter 2011-12 collection. And now only six seasons on; he
stills keep me in wonder. What is New
York Fashion Week without the magnificent showmanship of Thom Browne? Yet it is
not always about the stunning presentation we see from Browne that necessarily
matters; it is about the clothing. An aspect, I feel many fashion critics seem
to get lost in. Lost in Thom Browne’s fairy tale fantasy. For me, this
collection may have been Browne’s best so far and very much like Sally LaPointe’s
Fall/Winter 2013-14 collection (see the review here), the magic hid in the
details. Browne took his usual source of inspiration of tailored menswear
clothing and applied it to his womenswear collection as like the previous
seasons but for Fall/Winter 2013-14, femininity grew out of the menswear
inspired collection, literally. Browne wanted a collection that would present
an image of female empowerment which was shown through strong, boxed-like
shoulder lines and clinched waists on dresses and jackets with accentuated
hips. Structured, masculine shapes but with exaggerated forms of a 1940s woman’s
body. Although Browne stuck to his roots of menswear tailoring; femininity grew
with tattered rose lace, handkerchief hems and embroidered 3D roses that
revealed a sense of chaos and madness but underlying an enchanting beauty which
feminised this masculine wardrobe into powerful women. Think the Red Queen from
Alice in Wonderland or a sinister Brother Grimm’s tale for this collection. “Nothing
perfect” Browne said with a smile, when asked about the manic looking girls dressed
in tatters which for me was perfect.
As each season passes
and collection reviews come raking in, I find that an underlying problem within
the fashion industry develops bigger and bigger. Those who grace the audience
of the Fashion Week shows and those who write the reviews become further
obsessed with having everything handed to them on the plate. It feels as if
people want garments to be completely open and obvious with the rejection of
finding those little beautiful details in an A-line pleated skirt or a very
crisp, shoulder line. As soon as an over-powering garment hits the runway,
noses are turned up and the same old words appear; ‘theatrical’,
‘costume-like’, ‘non-wearable’ and ‘non-commercial’. We see the trend
forecaster’s handbook influencing more and more collections as designer’s
present collections visually similar to each other in order to sell, sell and
sell. Has it really come to the point where creativity is out and sheep are in?
Yet breakdown the glamorous side of fashion week, take away Anna
Wintour and Olivia Palermo, the street style
photographers, the bloggers and the critics. And we’re left with a designer, a
collection and the buyers. Of course, we must remember fashion is a business at
the end of the day and to produce the next collection, one must sell and in
order to do that, we must answer to our clients demand. Nevertheless, are we at
the point where designers only produce for their client and not for themselves?
In an interview from 2009, the Central Saint Martins, MA director, Louise
Wilson stated “the problem is that fashion has become too fashionable.” So, is there no room left for creativity?
See the rest of Thom
Browne’s Fall/Winter 2013-14 collection here.
