Marni S/S 2011

Some incredible seperates here, inventive yet wearable - the perfect mix.
I feel a bit nauseous when we get to the major prints towards the end and the confusing outlined patterns, but I adore the jackets and dresses with the large eyelets tied together with black ribbon.
Just imagine the clothes you could wear with that lazer-cut leather coat, and though you can see the model's breasts through that one navy coat, it is so wearable off the runway.
I love how Castiglioni has cheekily given us the knee-length hemline in shorts and keeps the shorter skirt over the top.
I fricken love Marni because Castiglioni can present this crazy-looking collection and yet provide a wardrobe you cannot find anywhere else, full of utterly appropriate, on-trend clothes.

Raf Doesn't Quite Get Cristobal - Jil Sander S/S 2011

Unfortunately I found Jil Sander quite boring this season; the only pieces I enjoyed were the final loose tailoring which really just matched spring's menswear and that little dark blue drop-waist.
The strange frills on the trousers/blouses seemed very stuck-on and the shapeless attempts really could not leave the models backs. The formerly stated elements and the high, long gathered skirts felt like a cringeworthy nod to Cristobal Balenciaga while god only knows where the random floral-print gown or the unusual 'attempted-to-pull-it-over-her-head' draped dress came from. But then, of course the minimal pieces with the contrast colour rectangles and squares were just references to Raf's previous work at Jil.

Another disappointment from Milan.

Trying To Fit In - Gianfranco Ferre S/S 2011

For winter Aquilano Rimondi were doing a super-luxurious Cristina Ortiz for Ferragamo customer collection.. but for spring they're doing the sort of crap Gucci and Versace churn out every season?
Referring to those sparkly two-pieces with the badly chosen block colours, let's focus on the green and yellow ensemble: it has to be the worst look I have seen all season.
To counteract such a bad look, the two pink looks, the coat and the two-piece are exquisite, wearable, on-trend and beautiful.

Are the duo trying to channel Gianfranco by actually designing something that looks vaguely like his work for once? Or are they just trying to step out into the GucciPucciBalmainVersace party and pretend they were there the whole time?

Milan is shocking this season. I cross my fingers for Raf.

10th Anniversary Spectacle - Francesco Scognamiglio S/S 2011

A perfect
way to celebrate his 10th Anniversary!
This season, for the first time in a while, I see something completely different from Scognamiglio, even though on the brand's 10th anniversary you'd expect a full retrospective.
The opening shirt-dress encasing the hands within a lace sleeve. The strange armpit-armholes. The exhuberance mixed with the pared-down simplicity with embellishments: these are all reasons why I first started loving Francesco Scognamiglio.
And you know why I still love him now?
Because he never compromised - even in the past few seasons when doubts started creeping in, he still kept to his true self - his own style.
No matter how often critics shrug at his collections because they're too kinky, impracticle or unwearable, he kept pushing his ideas - as he has declared with a decade of collections, he is not going to change, so everyone should just get used to him.

In a way, I am grieved that he is getting noticed - I like his little seat at the right hand side of the Major Brands; not everyone knows him, and it makes me feel like I'm part of an exclusive club (though it may be somewhat dark and sauded).
But my real concern is that he is getting noticed for all the wrong reasons - Lady Gaga and Rihanna are fans? I don't want my favourite living designer to be announced to the world as being the designer of a dress Lady Gaga chose as seconds to a dress made of raw meat. He deserves a more chic, prestigious clientele than that - a sort of Borgia Italian underground.
Glamour, decadence, luxury, debauchery.

Bravo, Mr Scognamiglio!

Model Nina Porter falls at Burberry S/S 2011

How bad were the shoes, Nina?

Christopher Kane S/S 2011

Isn't it a bit obvious that, if you do Old English Lady that you also do neon to clash and bring youth and fun?
There are some nice dresses, especially with the pleats going diagonally on the chest, like armour, and of course, at the end, where it becomes more like ceremonial costume.
It's pretty when it could easily have been absolutely hideous.

Rude and Self-Assured - Burberry Prorsum S/S 2011

Let's start with the shoes: Not only were they cankle-inducing, but they were clearly incredibly difficult to walk in - not just by the fact that two models had to remove their shoes, but by the embarrassing walk of the closing and many other models - how absolutely awquard was that?

In a season where everyone is doing ankle-length skirts and palazzo pants, Bailey decided to continue the ultra-mini dress and the ultra-skinny trouser. Someone trying to make a precocious statment about being beyond trends?
But there was one trend he did attempt - minimalism. And how dire was this attempt? Literally the most boring and shapeless dresses, or long tops, in silk satin with a zip detail.
How is a house so famous for its creative embellishments to change the classic Burberry look supposed to encorporate minimal looks? The answer: Just. Don't. Try.
But even though he included two minimalist-esque pieces, he also showed over-the-top animal-prints in a similar, but different colour jacket.

In my opinion, Bailey would have made a much more tasteful statement by ignoring the trends and continuing his (admittedly, getting-tired) classic Bailey-for-Burberry collections instead of deliberately going the opposite direction almost to kick dirt in the struggling houses' faces.