France 24 goes to Dakar, Senegal to get the lowdown on Fashion Week.
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Tag: fashion week reviews
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Raf Meets Prada
Eagerly awaited, yet, what happened? In February there was an announcement of a collaboration. Raf Simons’ first collection at Prada with Miuccia Prada. Looking back, were my expectations too high? Taking into account the circumstances, an audience free presentation during a social distancing fashion week in Milan. Perhaps the lockdown combined with the global somber mood took its toll on creative energy of the Belgium Designer. The debut collection resembled alien lifeforms uniforms straight from a “Star Trek The Next Generation” episode. The fast recap: The Enterprise comes across another space vessel manned by a society practicing an unusual fashion caste system.
I found nothing uplifting or inspiring from the 40 looks. The Spring 21 work comes across as a rush job. Downbeat! If there was central collective focus, I missed it cause my mouth fell open.
The Prada logo, front and centre on the neck for the fashionista selfie to alert everyone what she is wearing. Awkward! The prints, cut outs, and outerwear, and clutch jackets, minimalistic styles. All these elements combined gave off a sense of several ideals too many.
I have no clue how they collaborated, either in person or via Zoom. However, for a debut collection of two heavy hitters in the fashion world, this was let down in some ways. My question: Is this a case study of how two strong chefs can spoil a soup?
Trust Issues!
Has the influencer trend come to an end? Not sure, but change is taking place. Influencer marketing earned 1 billion in 2017 but the shine is beginning to tarnish. Marketing survey firm Bazaarvoice released findings concluding consumers are growing tired of staged posts by paid influencers. Many of the surveyed responded the quality of the postings are turn offs, repetitive posts lacking originality.
Asked, 63 percent felt influence content has become too “materialistic” and “misrepresents real life.” There is a feeling authenticity has been lost. As well, 49 percent feel there is a need for tighter regulation of online posts.
Authorities on both side of the Atlantic have now started scrutinizing the influencer field. The United States Government Agency, The Federal Trade Commission has issued issued warning letters concerning paid posts without proper disclosing. no enforcement has been enacted, yet. European Agencies agencies have actively notified influencers to delete undisclosed post. Many have lost court cases
Recently Dior made a social media splash by seeding the brand’s Saddle Bag to fashion influencers.
The stunt felt cheap. Don’t get me wrong. I am a fan of the brand. Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri won me over after the second collection. Openly giving away a $2000 bag on Instagram then expecting everyone else to pay, TACKY for a prestige fashion brand.
This is Social Media Pandering. Influencers who got the “freebie” did not even try to make good images of gift. Pictures posing with the “trendy item of the season” were laughable, others cringeworthy. To add insult, lacking originality or fashion knowledge, there were plentiful but standard Junior High School Newspaper captions: “So happy to have gotten my Dior Saddle Bag”, “Love my Saddle Bag”. An aspirational accessory felt like a retread jacket from H&M. I hope “Fashion Degradation” does not go lower.
Social Media stars have become new celebrities, but if you ask what is their talent or appeal, the answer raises more questions: How does an app filter make a star? How does an app filter make an expert? I think we are still lost but going with the flow.