Masion Yoshiki showed at Paris Fashion Week for Spring 2025, going with geometric shapes and many mini hemlines the designer buttressed looks with black, white and pastel colors. According the press release, the Japanese Superstar paid homage to 60’s American Pop Culture with print dresses.
For some reason Paris Fashion Week felt a bit desperate for attention this season. Pandering is never good. In the crowded landscape designers are under pressure to get that viral moment to stand above the rest. For this reason, some collections looked disjointed, a circle in a square peg. Creatively, the City of Lights fashion scene has become overly vulnerable to smartphone scrolling.
The big news, Alessandro Michele’s debut at Valentino. The stage setting fitting for the Rome born designer: dreams and romance. That was the problem. Valentino was a brand of refined elitism. Jackie O to Joan Collins, the Jet Set Crowd wore the label as an emblem of being in a certain club. Alessandro’s collection, while lush, comes across as garish compared to the house’s past styles. While in doubt of the 51-year-old talent, his Gucci era heavily influenced looks on the runway. It is no secret Kering Group invested in the house, perhaps a way to challenge Louis Vuitton in the uber luxury brand category, however, as soft luxury is trending with shoppers, why did they allow Alessandro to drive the opposite direction?
Demna at Balenciaga continues to challenge what makes fashion, fashion. The French label is popular with young buyers. The oversized sneakers were a must have for anyone under twenty-five. The giant logo on shirts worked in the Selfie Age. In 2024 the Georgian born returned to what he did best. Oversized jackets that belong on a lifeboat and baggy jeans were runway staples. Inner wear for the night, perfect for going to the 1920’s KitKat club. Do these looks work with young people looking for the lowest price on an app? Only the book keepers at Balenciaga know the answer.
Stay tuned for more fashion weeks coverage and more episodes of the Before Tacky Podcast.
The fashion crisis is at hand. When journalist from major publications start sounding the bell over the lack of creativity on the recent runways, there are big problems. What took them so long to see the trees? For years the head in the sand was the modus operandi in the glamorous circles of Milan, Paris, New York and London. Corporations could squeeze designers dry with as many as eight to ten collections a year. When the creative is dry, on the next one. Corporate heads needed shows to sell everything from over priced hand bags to perfumes. Social media’s inexhaustible need for flashy images contributed to fashion’s current tango on the cliffside. Influencers came cheap, while cheapened the value of once aspirational brands.
The fashion world will have fewer cheek to cheek kisses in the coming months.
Global headlines have spooked consumers. Shoppers are holding back on purchases, electing to save money instead of splurging on fun buys. Fashion brands and retailers struggle to lure buyers. Stores could are overstocked with unsold pieces. Now, as the holiday season approaches, companies are in early markdown stages trying to move merchandise.
Relax and wait to get that special item you always wanted and a good price. After all, “He/she that can have patience can have what he/she will.”
Of course we have not forgotten Fashion Week during Tech Month. Going over the looks is always a pleasure. Look for our reviews and Before Tacky Podcast soon.
Streetwear fashion label BruceGlen has an expressive take on streetwear. The Los Angeles based brand goes for vivid looks. I met twin brothers Bruce and Glen Proctor at the Milan Fashion Week Hub while the duo were showing some of the expressive pieces. Are these pieces a person would wear everyday? Who cares! As they said, “It’s about fun.”
How did luxury lose its luster? There are many answers to this question. As the industry reels from lower profits while consumers cut back on aspirational purchases. Some answers require a somewhat deeper analysis.
As masstige became a business model for exclusive brands, they began to lose their allure. Overproducing so called “desired pieces” accomplished the opposite effect, a splash of everyday common tattiness. When once there was admiration mingled with a touch of covetousness for a displayed logo or design, today, this comes across as vacuous consumption for the sake of showing off.
As management drivers took control of the luxury industry, maximising the bottom line became paramount. Corporate control is not about creation, but rather big profits. A fast way to make money is to increase prices for high demand goods. These price hikes did not go unnoticed by pinched shoppers who simply prioritized basics over splendours.
A cautionary tale is taking place. Trying to be everything to everyone can mean nothing to all. As luxury fashion continued casting a wide net, discerning buyers went in the opposite direction. A corporate boss does not desire what a workers have. Teen buyers are shaped by peers, not their parents. Generation Z has become mass labels wary. Young buyers look less willing to chase brands, looking for different, more individualistic clothing.
The most important asset for any brand is reputation. An ongoing sweatshop scandal has at least in the short term made many buyers question the real value of these labels. Factories employing illegal workers in poor conditions while producing high quality expensive goods rattled consumer trust.
The luxury sector is entering a period of uncertainty. With retail in a tailspin, once rock solid markets in Asia in a slowdown, global conflicts, changes at the creative head levels, the Fall 2024 Fashion Week conversations will be more interesting than the runway collections.
“Luxury bags make your life more pleasant, make you dream, give you confidence, and show your neighbors you’re doing well.” Largerfeld.
As the luxury handbag bubble pops due to working condition and mark-up scandals and over, there are alternatives to big brands. The labels I listed below are small, not mass produced, but more importantly, unique. A person carrying one of these pieces will get a lot of compliments.
While in Milan, walking by Up You To Anthology on my way to a Fashion Week appointment, I decided to go in. After speaking to the curator, he told me each bag is designed by artists with a limited production run.
During Pitti Uomo I always pass by the Sentiero Florence store. Looking in the window I decided to go in and see. The sales lady told me about the family owned label still producing handbags in Tuscany.
I am recommending this brand because the online review have been good for this Madrid’s La Portegna. Spanish producers are known for quality leather goods.
I met the Bonastre team at Pitti Uomo. As a small luxury brand the designer and staff have close relationship all aspects of the Paris based label from design to the final product.
As Generation Z gets squeezed, facing gaping economic inequality, the expense to show off becomes harder. In 2024 trade down and keep posting model reigns. If the bank account cannot afford the real thing, get the fake one. The rise of the super counterfeit luxury goods means bling, bling without the high price tag. Fakefluencers brag about purchasing fake luxury goods, glamour on a shoestring budget. Even when they are showcasing their false items, perhaps even looking silly, fakefluencers have taken influencing to the next level, Fakefluencing. These style setters are no longer waiting for brands to dm their Instagram accounts asking for a collaboration. Why go to Saks Fifth Avenue? Now, Fakefluencers buy the sort of real thing online or on the street corner.
Excess, no questions asked is the philosophy. That interlocked Double C Chanel handbag under an arm was probably made who knows where, by who knows whom, under what type of conditions.
At least the world’s most expensive logos are being seen with people who count. Next time looking over a lifestyle of the rich and famous social media post just remember “If it looks too good to be true, it is probably fake.”
A snippet from the Before Tacky podcast with filmmaker Kevin Macdonald about fashion designer John Galliano. Rumours have hit the fashion gossip circuit the once former creative head of Dior is set for a return to the famed house. Click below to understand why we think this story feels a bit false.