According to Texas-based Global Language Monitor, a company that documents and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, New York is currently "The Fashion Capital Of The World".
The company got to this conclusion after analysing thousands of online sources, but, frankly, the title seems to have been given with the same random logic that one day allows a rating agency to give a triple A to a country and the next to downgrade it to A-.
In a way, if we consider the extremely long list of fashion designers on the New York calendar and the buzz it generates thanks to its powerful sponsors, it is simply undeniable that the city deserves this title.
But quantity is not all in life: quality should indeed be one of the main prerogatives to win such a title and, despite raving reviews and lack of tangible criticism by the global press, there are still some major faults in quite a few of the collections on the New York runways.
Designs by Rodarte for example remain among the biggest fashion mysteries of our times. It is indeed clear that the design duo and many fashion critics who praise them do not understand the meaning of basic sentences such as "flattering clothes".
This definition is usually given to clothes that, while not being able to perform instant plastic surgery on the body of the wearer, highlight not the worst parts, but the best ones. Instead even celebrities with perfectly sculpted bodies end up looking awkward when they wear Rodarte at special events, as if their waist or shoulder lines were in the wrong places.
Mind you, in their Autumn/Winter 2014 collection Laura and Kate Mulleavy made some progresses by remixing in one collection a series of previously seen ideas and designs that included smocked dresses, crocheted elements (used for boleros, handbags and long dresses), turtlenecks, plaid wool vests with shearling collars, patchwork gowns, and drawstring waist pants that gave you the instant feeling you were looking at the pages of Vogue Italia from the '70s, imagine a mix of Walter Albini, Missoni and Max Mara with some hints of Gucci, but in a cheaper key and with a palette possibly borrowed from Dario Argento's Four Flies on Grey Velvet (think mustard and orange) and you get the idea (somehow this makes you think: since designers in New York were tired of people saying they copied the Europeans, the local fashion week was anticipated, but current designs display a wide range of derivations and inspirations from different decades...).
There was an explanation, though, behind this feeling of déjà vu: the collection was apparently inspired by childhood memories, though maybe they meant also memories of previous collections.
The glitter-covered shoulder-baring sleeveless parkas and sparkling berets and stoles came indeed in the same shades of the glittery pumps - fuchsia, turquoise, orange and powder pink - from Miu Miu's Autumn/Winter 2011 collection (View this photo), though the rhinestone-strewn socks matched with glittery sandals and wing-eyed spectacles were more Prada than Miu Miu.
The Mulleavys also had a fake Renaissance/Pre-Raphaelite moment with a section of patchwork chiffon, embroidered silk tulle and silk velvet gowns (maybe symbolising the passage between childhood and adulthood...).
The impression you had seen a revisited version of Prada's ugly chic was strong until they moved to the geek section with five asymmetric draped silk gowns with digital prints of the Death Star, the twin suns on Tatooine, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2, and Yoda (no Boba Fett? how disappointing...).
While we don't even want to wonder how much does it cost to use these images on such gowns (assuming they paid for the rights to use these images...), this was a clever trick: Star Wars fans may swoon for the gowns and they will work well in editorials, but - bloody hell - fashion is not about copying and pasting the double sunset of Tatooine on an ill-fitting (yes, it looked ill-fitting) gown. It is indeed about the uniqueness of the cut of that gown and about evoking moods, images and cultural connections. In a way you get the feeling that there are more in-depth references to history and culture in figure-skating costumes than in contemporary fashion.
Besides, in a world in which you can satiate your thirst for all things Star Wars with a wide range of T-shirts, memorabilia, costumes and gadgets sold all over the world through different media (and if you're not happy you can still digitally print your own Star Wars design...) or you can perpetuate the myth by buying for your own kids Star Wars shirts in any High Street store, creating tiny clones that will bring forward the legend, you wonder why we need a Star Wars gown.
In fact, it is exactly when you find yourself staring at the double sunset on Tatooine that you finally have a sort of epiphany, a revelation: yes, geek is the new chic, but most designers have succumbed to the dark side of fashion. If you think about it, Space Age fashion from the '60s is still widely referenced and copied, but this is visually pleasing sci-fi fashion for the Instagram generation. Sadly - very sadly - the times when a fashion designer created the logo for a space mission are by now lost in a galaxy far far away.
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