Calvin Klein Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2018

Raf Simons marked his first year at Calvin Klein by filling the American Stock Exchange building with a silo’s worth of popcorn, not for people to eat but to wade through and sit in, for his fall show. This collection was about America.

The collection felt loaded with dark symbolism. With Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner sweaters, sinister but cozy homespun knitted ski hoods, Warhol silver foiled aprons, and prairie dresses done in subversive sheers or with cutouts at the breast. There was an abundance of oversized tailoring, ski sweaters, a leopard coat and wispy silk dresses printed to mimic classic American quilting patterns.

Calvin Klein Catwalk Fashion Show Womenswear SS2018 New York

After two collections, it’s clear that Raf Simons’ approach of Calvin Klein is to mine broad-stroke aspects of American culture, whether out of respect, curiosity or a yen to telegraph to skeptics (if any exist), his appropriateness for the creative helm of one of the great bastions of American fashion. Hence, a prolonged stroll under Sterling Ruby’s latest collaboration with Simons, the rafters now hung with colorful, exaggerated pompoms and banners representing the cheery high school life, but with grim sightings — an axe here or there — interrupting the frivolity. That provided the setting for the show, “Sweet Dreams,” inspired, Simons’ show notes informed, by the Hollywood horror genre and “its depictions of both an American nightmare, and the all-powerful American dream.” It resulted in a thoughtful juxtaposition of pleasant facade and disturbing underbelly, realized via a collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Simons used graphics from the artist’s “Death and Disaster” series to recontextualize clothes that ranged from ethereal (ghostly, billowing nightgowns) to cool (coed denim).
Within the social-commentary context, Simons mused broadly and brilliantly on silhouette and materials. He presented Take Two on several very American motifs introduced in his debut collection — the denim, quilts and the color-blocked Western shirts with which he opened. These made an odd kickoff to a show brimming with ideas: modernist nylon redos of full-skirted Fifties frocks, madcap dresses made from miles of yarn fringe, and, for men, lean-cut plaid suits that worked the chic side of geek.

The clothes were often inventive and always impeccable. Yet it all felt a little hollow, observational rather than immersive. Perhaps it’s the difference between an intellectual and emotional approach. Simons falls in the former camp, and masterfully so. Yet horror is an emotional motif. The show notes indicated “a corporeality that speaks of both sexuality and mortality.” That’s a lot to put on a dress — even one with Warhol knives on it.

, our review will follow shortly.

Raf Simons Menswear Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

The flared black trouser legs puddled around the feet. The models’ heads were cloaked in checkered scarves, obstructing their view.  The space glowed red and the rave music rumbled. Raf Simons still knows how to set a mood of youthful rebellion, and the electricity of a fashion happening. There was certainly a punk spirit to his oversize macs riddled with grommets in geometric formations.  Edgy too were his oversize grommet-studded nylon rucksacks, which models lugged on heavy chains draped over one shoulder, dragging around their belongings like a burden.

The rest of the collection felt more familiar, as Simons continued to experiment with the narrow, elongated shapes he introduced for fall. There was his shrunken Seventies sweater vests, which helped exaggerate the oversized pants. Tailored jackets were either lean or gently oversized in sturdy woolens.

Christian Dior Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

For fall, Raf Simons wanted to explore the more sexual side of the Dior-woman by taking her natural urges out of the garden, to a place where more primal instincts dominate: the animal world. The show’s sexual content proved more discreet than Simons’ idea would suggest. The show opened with a pair of short black cutaway dresses with colorful facings and pointy metal mesh collars. Both were worn with second-skin Lucite-heel boots in a blown-up, blue-and-red animal pattern. Such abstracted skin motifs would prove a recurring theme, two or three thick, wavy stripes undulating across a coat or making a splash on a swingy minidress, and, several times, on flashy bodysuits. Often they formed the underpinnings for an impressive lineup of coats.
Tweeds from his Simons’ collaboration with the fabric firm Kvadrat and other substantive materials, including multitone pastel furs, were a core of the collection. A woman in touch with her masculine side looks sexy. Simons dressed her with chic authority in pantsuits with trim, double-breasted jackets over slim cropped pants.

Christian Dior Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear SS2014

It is Raf Simons’ third season as creative director at Christian Dior. And it seems that he’s trying to twist the Dior-code a little bit to his own vision. That means: modernity. The designer Simons started with slicing the Bar jacket at the waist over vibrant silk floral shorts. Much of the show celebrated the Femme Fleur, and he kept the silhouettes lean and ladified, with cialis 5 mg subtle hints of the Fifties.
Where Simons broke away most clearly was in details of cut. He reconfigured a ballgown into a short lantern skirt, and finished a sexy striped shirtdress with a knot in back. Light, roomy sweaters offered an alternative to the more fitted lines that prevailed.
Raf Simons focused mostly on daywear, until the finale, for which the models all changed into either black tailored looks or short evening dresses. Rendered in silvery metallic floral jacquards in familiar silhouettes.

Raf Simons Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Menswear SS2014

That was an interesting menswear-collection Raf Simons sent out yesterday. It left the audience puzzled. Especially the rompers with low crotches – that sometimes looked like mini-skirts or dresses, but also the screaming oversized shirts. Simons told the press that the collection was a study of consumer society, which is becoming ‘more and more artificial, toxic in a way’, he said. He is looking for a new aestetic. ‘Freedom of expression versus the mechanical repetition of products’. The designer certainly challenged the audience with his rompers in a spongy, synthetic fabric, his oversized polo’s and T-shirts in pink or splashed with screaming advertising slogans. There were also sequined embroideries on knitted sweaters and color blocked shirts.

This collection was certainly food for thought.

Raf Simons Menswear Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2013

Not distracted by his new job at Dior, Raf stayed true to his personal signature today by presenting an edgy yet playful selection of menswear looks. Sporting some crazy anime styled hair Simons’ men pulled off outspoken pieces like shiny satin pants, fully pattern vests and bright colored blouses with extremely pointy and askew (like the ones at Prada) collars. All the layering of the designs made the looks even more interesting. Turtle necks were worn with blouses, vests or sweaters, followed by suit jackets with horizontal bands in the front. Lots to like. And guess what? This season’s stripes are a Simons trend for next year too.

 

Christian Dior Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2013

Raf Simons surprised the audience with a feminine and refined collection. Almost like a literal clean slate, the show opened with a series of crisp black suits and neck-scarves, before descending into jacket dresses and mini ballgowns.  Styles which Raf Simons described as both “feminine” and “complex” in equal measure. The finale consisted of couture-worthy silhouettes with voluminous printed skirts and skintight black tops. It was beautiful, strange and unusual – so precise but so varied.

Raf Simons Menswear Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2012

Raf Simons took elements of masculine and feminine dressing and mixed those into a sporty, tailored collection. Delicate floral prints, pleats, broderie anglaise and shades of pink were applied to modern, angular silhouettes. The models – with long, wet bangs – wore shorts with slits, boxy white shirts or overcoats with backs in floral prints and pleated skirts. Simons also presented long pants worn with colorful sneakers. Some T-shirts had illustrations of women.

Jil Sander Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

With hist last collection for Jil Sander, Belgium designer Raf Simons tried to tell a poetic story of the hours in a couple’s domestic life, from a woman’s morning lingerie to wool coats and black cocktail dresses. This show contained all the designs Simons surprised us with over the past few years, a fully modern perspective on construction and deconstruction, on feminine colors, on magical ideas. And we are going to miss him for that.

Simons made his final Sander collection one of positive beauty, poetic, gentle and refined. He opened with double-faced clutch coats in  pale pink and dove gray, tobacco and bright pink – with a hint to late-Fifties couture. He then went to dresses with an innovative lingerie reference. He even used PVC looked for folded dresses and skirts and they looked lovely rather than aggressive.

Jil Sander might return to teh house she left years ago, but it’s going to be a totally different ball game for her. Raf Simons proved what he is capable of and he will just improve every season. It won’t be easy for Jil Sander to equalize what he left behind.

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