“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

It’s over…and the fat lady sang. (Beth Ditto at Jean Paul Gaultier.) As World Fashion Week came to a close in Paris, the question is, “Who wins the I Mean…What?!? Best Collection Spring ’11. It is a toss up between a few designers that seem to be hell bent on showing conceptual nonsense or what I call Pre-Halloween. It is astonishing that companies like Wunderkind (whose name seems to be from a time gone by) and Maison Martin Margiela (ditto) even bother to spend whatever dollars to show pieces that are preposterous, unnecessary and frankly an insult to injury….as in,… Read More »

As the Paris Couture Shows march on, there is still a continued need for a discerning eye (mine) to help edit some of the looks going down the runways. Overall, the shows are great. And with the ever shifting economy, and the need to get young-uns into these ensembles, I am begging for the opportunity to work alongside everyone to stick in my two cents before showtime. Granted, that may never come to pass, but surely it would be beneficial to all.… Read More »

By this phase of Word Fashion Week having seen two million looks from (what seems like) six thousand runways on two million models having sipped eighteen thousand glasses of champagne…phew. I am sure glad I am not a fashion editor or Anna Piaggi…which begs the question…does she still work at Italian Vogue? Anyhoo, doesn’t matter. She needs a nap. My point is: that is a lot of dresses to sift through and surely the eyes must be glazed over and I’d imagine the judgment is questionable by this point. For instance, I see plenty of blunders in such wonderful collections… Read More »

Who doesn’t look forward to the Paris shows? Oh…I see. Well then, let’s focus on the people like me who are very interested in what the great French houses are doing for the season. As the Paris shows wind down World Fashion Week (my new favorite term), I look forward to that large mug of coffee while perusing Women’s Wear Daily, style.com and Cathy Horyn’s review in The New York Times. I love that WWD glides over hot messes and style.com’s willingness to sift out the nugget of gold from the muck…except in the case of Maison Martin Margiela…yikes. But… Read More »