Raf Simons F/W 09.10 Paris

[IloveDiorHomme]

I'm so disappointed, there's no energy in this collection, it is well tailored but it's too classic and that's not what we expect from Raf Simons, right ?

I miss the young spirit of his best collection, and the Balenciaga rounded shoulders at Jil Sander and now here, it's too much...

Hope the next collection'll be better

[visconti]

No. This reminds me of my initial reaction to McQueen S/S 2008. It's like he's playing a practical joke. I get the joke, but I have absolutely no desire to finance the gag. I saw some blurb about Raf moving his production. Maybe he has, and maybe this suiting celebrates a real ability to finally produce very well made garments, but if the construction of suiting from the 2008 collections is any indication, there's no way people will be buying this. The customer for these suits expects certain sartorial details that, at least thus far, Raf's own line fails to provide. He needs Jil Sander production for "nice suits". You buy his line for the design and deal with the lack of french seams or the foam in the shoulders or the flimsy collars because you can't get certain ideas anywhere else. When you want a suit like this you go somewhere that values construction over innovative design. No one will be converted to Raf because of these suits. He'll only only alienate his fans.

The first 1/4 to 1/3 of the show seems like a the setup for a joke. Like he'll really deconstruct the archetypal male uniform. But then all he gives us are the neoprene sleeves. These are fine, but then there's nothing else. Another problem lies in the lack of an interesting middle ground. You either play it straight or go with something that works more as a collector's item than working part of the wardrobe. Neither option very desirable. He'd better be careful. Most of his stuff sold very late in the sale season at the local Barneys and, based on a recent visit, there's no sign of his S/S 09, but they've picked up some Demeulemeester in his old haunts. maybe its a late shipment, but this does little to instill future confidence.

[JordanB]

I love Raf but wow... I am majorly disappointed...
There are a few interesting pieces.. and by interesting that doesn't necessarily mean that I like it... but besides those.. everything is so boring. Perhaps this has to do with the fall of the economy? Forced to create pieces that will be more likely to sell.

[BerlinRocks]

this is pretty generic in general ....
economic crisis ?! i guess but as pointed by visconti i'm not sure it will bring external customers to buy it .......
and then there are these "experemintal" items which seem to be here like from out of nowhere just to please the usual raf's customer .... this is especially obvious with the sneakers ....

the body type seem to have change though ....
i wonder if for once i can get inside these stuff without feeling tooo fat ....

[Dkammern]

when i saw the first images i liked the mature, even if a bit boring, approach of the severe and conservative tailoring.
then i liked it even more when we started seeing the young-raf-side coming through, with the so-called experimentation.
i've had trouble this season seeing suits and coats that i like, or that i'd wear. and here, dare i say for the first time, i find something that looks comfortable, with perfect fit, well balanced, and not too trendy for the most part.
there are of course the show pieces, too keep in mind that there's a lot yet to do in the menswear arena (even if none of use dares to wear it yet).
if i have to see experimentation on a menswear runway, i'd rather see this than the sequinned cuissardes chez Givenchy

[jhaime]

Raf, is officially AWOL.

If you find him, please return him to reality.

Does he have too much on his mind? or has he reached an age or been submerged for too long in all that is wrong with the industry? *cough* milan.

I think it's fair to say & everybody has known it for some 4/5 seasons, that Raf Simons mainline has reached a crossroads. Either he walks away from it all, or breaks everything down, relents from selling out & gets back to basics, otherwise it's goodnight Raf. Vendors will only stick by him for so long, before this over-priced crap is only available through Italian suit stores.

If slapping Fuchsia sleeves on a terribly cut suit is 'ahead of the curve' then i'm glad we're in a recession... seriously, whatever graduate intern suggested that should be stoned!!!

I think Raf Simons needs to look in the mirror & ask himself the question, do I want to do this anymore...

anybody loving this collection is surely over 30, closer to 40???

[Mutterlein]

This is classic Raf, a subversion of sartorial standards, a small dose of youth culture/furturism, and an aggressive move on shape and proportion. Agree with Gius, whether this is good or bad it's influential.

I love it, but Raf, only white boys again?

[BerlinRocks]

^i'm sorry about this last comment .... but Raf is one of the rare person who often cast black models ...........

[Mutterlein]

Originally Posted by BerlinRocks

^i'm sorry about this last comment .... but Raf is one of the rare person who often cast black models ...........

Yeah, and this is third season without doing so.

[Crying Diamonds]

Some nice suits.
The sleeve jackets are hid though.

[fouroclock]

I like half of the sleeve jackets. It just got weirder in the end with the feminine silhouettes and with the sweater with no pecs. Kind of reminded of Madonna. The first half of the collection is work friendly. The other is the same, if you're a stripper.

[LagerfeldBoy]

i'm very dissapointed. at first, it was boring and blah and formal for me and then the 2nd half was alright.