Balmain F/W 2008.09 Paris

[Luxx]

Parts of the collection are on Wireimage. I'll upload what is there - its not going to be in order ala Catwalking but it will give a bit more of a taste of what was presented.

Balmain F/W 08 PARIS

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Image Credit | Wireimage

 

[dior_couture1245]

I don't know....I don't really get the appeal of Balmain nowadays....

Don't get me wrong, I'm always open for tramy, trashy fashion, but I usually like it when there seems to be a sense of humor about it (a la Galliano), but this seems like it's very serious, which is weird to me.

 

[Luxx]

Personally I like a lot of this collection - it is very sexy and does play into the trashy side of things but I think sex is something that has been missing in fashion lately - its nice to see something that celebrates the side of things that isn't quite as clean or refined.

Balmain F/W 08 PARIS (continued)

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Image Credit | Wireimage

 

[Bidwell]

It seems to be the opposite of where fashion is heading, but his girls are party animals anyway and won't take notice.
Well, at least one won't have to take the hems up(much).

 

[aristobrat]

Balmain's rocker aesthetic was awesome last season and I love that they took it in a new direction! Looove the animal prints & all the red.

 

[TomFordforGucci]

The red ensembles are just delicious, I love the basic sense of sensuality in this collection.

 

[leyla m.]

as mentioned, his customer wont really care.
he is one of the most expensive designers in RTW and the customer who spends that much also often doesnt have much of a clue. sometimes she does
so as long as she fell in love with his previous collections she will continue buying... i am pretty sure about that

 

[Deleted member 7575]

He's been working with sex for quite a while in his collections. The super short hems and body conscious dresses ooze erotic appeal but in earlier collections they held a certain amount of sophistication that made it bearable and even intriguing. This, however, along with with last season lacks any of the cleverness and skill you'd expect from a Paris based designer.

I like that's he's establishing a code and a wardrobe of key pieces that make up the brand. Each season he reinterprets them for the Balmain client, on paper this sounds really exciting, far more interesting than the designers who flip flop every season never giving their customer a sense of definition or identity. But my doubts swell when I see this customer in all her bad taste and lack of self-awareness. This Balmain woman is not so introspective, I imagine her thoughts being mostly banal and shallow, and I don't think she's going anywhere where she would need to make anyone consider anything but her wealth and the clothes she buys with it in order to exude a crude and unrelenting aura of raunch and sex.

That said I could totally see someone wearing this with a distilled sense of irony and looking quite chic.

 

[cavanaugh]

not nearly as good or interesting as past collections

 

[JuiceMajor]

as mentioned, his customer wont really care.
he is one of the most expensive designers in RTW and the customer who spends that much also often doesnt have much of a clue. sometimes she does
so as long as she fell in love with his previous collections she will continue buying... i am pretty sure about that

I like facts like that. Do you mean he get paid lots of many or the clothes is expensive?

Thanx for the pic Luxx. Some nice pieces but some of it is nothing sort of new. Just different materials!!

 

[mnis]

I love the boots and slim fit pants.The dresses on Snejana and Isabeli are gorgeous

 

[imagensfashions]

I Like it.

 

[Salvatore]

Very interesting...some pieces are "nice" I guess...but it's not quite what I like.

 

[SirSunday]

I love the dresses (the hems don't hurt...) and the shoes. Glad I could see the rest of the collection. Thanks Luxx for posting the additional photos.

 

[Alejandro]

He's been working with sex for quite a while in his collections. The super short hems and body conscious dresses ooze erotic appeal but in earlier collections they held a certain amount of sophistication that made it bearable and even intriguing. This, however, along with with last season lacks any of the cleverness and skill you'd expect from a Paris based designer.

I like that's he's establishing a code and a wardrobe of key pieces that make up the brand. Each season he reinterprets them for the Balmain client, on paper this sounds really exciting, far more interesting than the designers who flip flop every season never giving their customer a sense of definition or identity. But my doubts swell when I see this customer in all her bad taste and lack of self-awareness. This Balmain woman is not so introspective, I imagine her thoughts being mostly banal and shallow, and I don't think she's going anywhere where she would need to make anyone consider anything but her wealth and the clothes she buys with it in order to exude a crude and unrelenting aura of raunch and sex.

That said I could totally see someone wearing this with a distilled sense of irony and looking quite chic.

ouch.... did you have your meow mix today, honey?

this collection is FAZIERCE.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

this collection is FAZIERCE.

Totally, but I share sentiments with others here, if you were to rename this with a generic Italian name, I dunno... "Patrizio Capellini" or something, and have it shown in Milan I doubt it would be considered remotely acceptable.

I'm expecting even sharper claws to come out in the reviews tomorrow.

 

[Alejandro]

to be honest, i'd love it no matter who it is....it fills the tom ford gucci void.

in fact, i'd love it even more if it wasn't balmain because the prices are SKY HIGH and almost nobody can afford it...

 

[Dkammern]

a lot more daywear than usual. I like his f/w collections better than S/S.

some of this are just as good as a rock concert look can get!

maybe i wish i had seen some big fur coats here...

 

[Jane Loves Marc]

what makes everyone so sure that the balmain girl is shallow, clueless, floozy?

 

[Deleted member 7575]

what makes everyone so sure that the balmain girl is shallow, clueless, floozy?

I'm not too sure, I've never seen these clothes at retail and have no idea who actually buys it. I'm going strictly off of what I'm seeing on the runway.

These clothes, as nicely made as they are, are pretty conventional in both design and their sex appeal. These clothes are loud, embellished, indiscreet, and definitely made for show. I think of the women these kind of clothes attract, I think of how much they cost and it becomes more about the conspicuous consumption and display of wealth than it is about style.

There's nothing wrong with sex or blatant luxury. But there's a way to do luxury, like using finely made and specially engineered swiss lace, or using body molded garments framing erogenous zones to give a sense of eroticism, those kind of methods force some thought.

Raising a hemline and adding a bunch of sequins has little effect beyond their immediate qualities; sexy and shiny. I'd like a bit more to wrap my head around. Is the Balmain woman a floozy? Perhaps not, but there's clearly a distinction between her and the kind of customer other body conscious designers like Narciso Rodriguez, Marios Schwab, or Alaia attract.