7 Things We Learned from the Fall '16 Collections
The fashion world is backwards, forever existing in the future, a post-present reality always roughly four to six months away. So while we gear our psyches and closets up for spring, designers and their dedicated packs have just wrapped up the big reveal of this coming fall’s collections. Let’s look ahead with them. Typically hefty leather, wool, and fur aside, we can take these superficial lessons and apply them to our own current-day lives, at least figuratively speaking.
Nicholas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton
1. Nicholas Ghesquière’s still got it.
Dude’s still got it and then some. Critics are calling his latest work for Louis Vuitton possibly his best collection yet. Those who aren’t have deemed it the most wearable, so either way, Ghesquière wins. He nailed it by focusing on athletic-themed street wear, without neglecting his affinity for cutting-edge technology and construction, and looking to Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft as muse. That’s right, the video game heroine. Get ready for a whole cavalcade of trends put in motion by the former Balenciaga designer. Like silk scarf dresses; crackly leather pants, particularly in lipstick red; Doc Martens (or at least a much pricier versions of the real thing); reworked trench coats; racing stripes; mohair sweaters; and more specifically, mohair sweaters with racing stripes.
Vetements
2. Vetements rules.
People haven’t gone this nuts over a new label in years. Gleaning inspiration from Interview with the Vampire and Beverly Hills, 90210, designer Demna Gvasalia sent out a coy mélange of ruffle-topped baby doll dresses, simultaneously cropped and oversized pleated skirts and blazers, asymmetric button-down dress shirts, streetwise bomber jackets, and thigh-high tube socks, once reserved for part-time porn stars (most recently showcased by Dree Hemingway in the 2012 film Starlet). The Parisian label will likely remain best known for their gigantic sweatshirts, this time emblazoned with phrases like “sexual fantasies” – though not to be outdone by a puff-sleeved white blouse that reads “you fuck’n asshole.” The Vetements minx is as much a wayward tomboy as she is a sardonic sexpot.
Yeezy Season 3
3. Kanye West isn’t going away.
He’s not going anywhere, any time soon. In fact, he’s made himself quite comfortable and he’s sticking around. If that makes you feel Yeezy, erhm, queasy, then that’s just too bad. Kanye doesn’t care. Not only did he treat some 18,000 people to a listening soiree for The Life of Pablo at Madison Square Garden, complete with merch for sale, he unleashed Yeezy Season 3 on New York Fashion Week, complete with Naomi Campbell, Veronica Webb, and Liya Kebede appearing as a trifecta in mink coats and leotards. But his ability to make want to wear frayed-to-hell sweaters, retailing for a very reasonable $1,500-$1,800, and knit pedal-pushers (yeah, that’s right, capri pants) and bike shorts remains to be seen.
Lady Gaga for Marc Jacobs
4. People love their friends.
It was true in elementary school and it’s true in Fall ’16: People enjoy having friends. This year bore witness to more designers using their buddies in their runway shows than ever before. Marc Jacobs sent Lady Gaga out in an oversized overcoat with equally amplified fur sleeves and even more magnified glam-rock platform boots. Gucci’s Alessandro Michele invited photographer and artist Petra Collins to take a turn in a shimmering brocade suit, her frizzed-out curls still firmly intact. Demna Gvasalia brought his pals along at both Vetements (with Lotte Volkova opening the show like a twisted flower girl) and Balenciaga, where he debuted as creative director to rave reactions. Marques ‘ Almeida, Koché, and Jacquemus also kept it in the family, so to speak.
Alexander Wang
5. You can’t be tough enough.
It’s already established that the accessory of the current season is the neck-clenching BDSM choker. But even with one of those are you tough enough? Probably not. You’ll need a bike-grade chain to go with it, as well as a calf-skimming leather trench coat and pair of forebodingly studded ankle boots, as per Alexander Wang. Or take a cue from Rihanna who took a cue from Morticia Addams for her Fenty x Puma collaboration. “If the Addams family went to the gym, this is what they would wear,” said Rihanna of the collection. That includes mega-volume creepers, thigh-boxing boots, snake-like lacing, and jet-black lipstick.
Ashish
6. Pink is the most rebellious color.
Unapologetic eccentricity also came in the least common of shades. Gucci summoned so much pink per square inch of skin, their fur- and tights-clad model looked like something hacked up by one of the kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in a really decadent way. Ashish remains dedicated to their trademark sequins as seen on ornamental cotton-candy colored shifts and coordinating Afro wigs. Alex Wang invited girly pink mohair to the hardware-heavy party; Versace dabbled with an entire array of ice creamy pastels, cut to slinky silhouettes; and Milly suggested you sport their fuzzy collarless pink coat over nothing more than your underwear.
Moschino
7. You can’t go wrong when you channel an early-‘90s supermodel.
Actually, you can, especially when you’re not a supermodel. No matter. By employing the help of a chain-topped black leather marine cap and matching low-slung belt, along with a general “more is more” attitude, courtesy of Jeremy Scott at Moschino, you can harness your inner Peter Lindbergh muse. Well, that, or you’ll look like you got caught in a time warp outside a leather bar in the Meatpacking District, circa 1998. Or to put it more efficiently, worst-case scenario, you’ll bring to mind Slave from South Park. Whatever. He’s kind of a style icon. Best case, you’ll look like a vintage Helena Christensen’s off-kilter sister. Here’s to taking the risk.