i wish i could fully enjoy pieter's work for alaïa bc he seems like a genuinely nice person, also you can tell he loves fashion and being a designer, his curiosity when it comes to fabrics, construction and fashion history sets him apart from frauds like LdSS and j*cquemus.
BUT after watching his show and daniel's schiaparelli i believe i can pinpoint what prevents me from enjoying both designers: pieter, much like daniel, despite the efforts and passion is unable to connect with the ethos of the brand he's working for. The coldness and clinical aspect of his work dont bother me that much what truly puts me off is the lack of movement, everything is so 2d and apparently made to look good in jpg form OR in a hanger.
the white dress inspired by the zíper dress looked GORGEOUS on the hanger but when i watched the video and saw the dress reacting to the body underneath it looked so odd, to me it goes against everything alaïa the brand represented. despite having his work compared to sculptures azzedine's clothes never felt static bc imo he understood his medium (fabrics) and support (the female body), azzedine never treated fashion as something fixed he knew his clothes needed a moving body to come alive and exercise its full potential.
pieter's collections at times feel way too rigid and static, its almost as if his clothes are working against the body theyre dressing and preventing the wearer to move freely or feel good. to me all of this became clear when i saw the photos, the clothes look appealing when theyre motionless, but that's completely against azzedine's ethos isnt it?
daniel's schiaparelli is pretty much the same, he offers static designs that refuse to stablish dialogues with elsa's ideas of the """grotesque""", degradation, normality, and the surreal recognizing the cycles of life, like pieter he is unable to add movement to his work which is bizarre to me bc imo schiaparelli and alaïa are houses that NEED action and movement
his efforts are commendable, i hope richmond affords him the time to fully develop his vision at alaïa, he is clearly dedicated to his work and nowadays this is something we should applaud bc it's getting rarer and rarer lol