London – If the buzzword in fashion is ‘new’ then Thursday’s catwalk show from hot
label Vetements was spot on and on everyone’s lips.
Vetements has quickly gardened itself a major slot during Paris fashion
week, and has become a significant brand on every editor’s calendar since
its lead designer was appointed Creative Director at Balenciaga. Demna
Gvasalia, one of the Vetements design collective, will show his first
collection for Balenciaga this weekend, and the fashion world is highly
anticipating his debut.
So what about Vetements? Gvasalia and his co-designers showed yesterday the
label’s uncompromising approach to fashion that may be not be everyone’s
cup of tea if you’re coming from a purely commercial perspective. By this
we mean exaggerated hunchback shoulders, tattoo legging boots and an
oversize silhouette that could drown a mere mortal.
But it wasn’t all about challenging silhouette and convention. While the
critics often fight shy of committing themselves to loving or hating this
label, the talk in the audience was that there was more of a commercial
edge for autumn/winter 2016 to justify taking it seriously.
The commercial pieces were the trench coats, distorted school uniform
pieces, slogan hoodies and sweats, micro-pleated dresses, velvet coats and
pantsuits, leather coats, plaid shorts, a commercial tattoo-influenced
print, some wearable denim jackets and ultra-long boots.
Once the product is shipped to stores and made available to consumers, it
is likely the cuts and silhouettes will be less severe and modified for
sales. In that sense the critics agreed there were enough pieces with
commercial appeal to keep its buzz going.