Calvin Klein F/W 2018.19 New York

[dodencebt]

vogue.com

 

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[helmutnotdead]

Wow. I've never thought that I could say this but... RAF PLEASE GO HOME!

Although I said that CK now does nothing for me, I decided to watch the livestream anyway (because, you know, let's give him the benefit of doubt). I didn't imagine that it's going to be that bad. I was rooting for them since day one and then I loved his first season. But enough is enough. Basta.

To be fair, I have to say that it was really rich in terms of materials and there was maybe a little bit more experimentation and quite bold in the color palette. But come on dude, I wanted to fire Olivier because the styling gave me a headache and not in a good way. You can make ugly look interesting or funny at least, but here we've got a bunch of "art student project" clothes mixed in the most complicated way possible. For conceptualism, it's really boring and obvious. For real clothes, it's too heavy and unflattering. The whole collection should be posted in "The ugliest dress..." thread.

And the level of ego they showed there... I mean, the popcorn bags WITH THE SS 18 AD PRINTED ON IT. Him and Willy must be laughing and saying: "we're genius". And also I can not believe why he is so lazy: the plumber look for third time in a row, he made the same sandals with crystals from past season, the work wear done without any kind of freshness. He takes every element in a very literal way but he tries to make it cool with a "avant garde" styling (look at the last Watanabe collection, he did it better because it was simple and effective). Obviously, he did that because he can. Because no matter what, all those morons are treating him like a king and he knows that.
At this point, I'm starting to hate Sterling Ruby and Andy Warhol. We all know that there are a lot of better artists out there.

What makes me more angry is the praise that he's going to have. Obviously, Nicole Phelps wrote a really good review and she ended it with something like: "All this to say, Raf got conceptual here, and that got us thinking. Really thinking, in ways that happened all too rarely, given the state of things, this New York Fashion Week." And I also agree with this, because this collection is a reminder of HOW F*CKED UP THE FASHION WORLD IS TODAY. And I've got the feeling that his direction is not going to change anytime soon.

 

[sore]

I agree with helmutnotdead.
God knows I used to love Raf, even at Dior, and I really liked his debut and especially the last collection he did for CK. But this...I have to say I like some of the silhouettes and materials, I also thought it could be a cool collection after the first couple of looks or so. But the whole construction worker x firefighter x yeti theme was way too literal on the one hand, on the other hand it became inconsistent and a bit all over the place very quickly.
He really lost me with the popcorn bags. I still don't even know what to say. And I really don't understand them, but maybe I'm just too dumb for genius Raf.

 

[Benn98]

At this stage I'm keen to see the numbers on the new CK because as a Zucchelli loyalist, I've not been sold on any of Raf's looks so far. Sheer tops in nude with chunky knitted arm detail don't appeal to me, sorry.

This collection looks more suited to his namesake brand. And some of us don't like that sort of thing. Stick to the house codes!

 

[dodencebt]

Okay, so I stayed up unusually late last night by accident and decided to watch the livestream.

First of all, wasting an incredible amount of food - I know popcorn is generally considered to be a snack, but corn is someone's only food in a day somewhere - is an incredibly pretentious and stupid thing to do. People were literally stepping over food, and got their shoes and feet dirty at that.

Secondly, I hated the collection in motion. When I went through high quality photos this morning, some of the pieces looked better - perhaps they photograph well or I slept on it and inadvertently changed my mind about them - but that doesn't take away from the fact that this was a very try-hard show and not something that I would like to see at Calvin Klein. As Benn98 said, it would be more suited to Raf's namesake brand but not for a house with such clear, minimalist and seductive codes.

Some of the clothes I'm okay with, really. The tailoring is as strong as he first did it last year, the long skirts seem to be effective for what they are, I love the fur coat towards the end. But the styling, the set, the excessive need for Raf to be "conceptual" and "wise" is just.. tiring. I don't want to see this anywhere, and much less at Calvin Klein.

 

[gazebo]

Way too gimmicky and tricky, contrived and try-hard.
You can see the effort in each and every look, each reference is too visible. There is no harmony or effortlessness.

As I've said before, he is too self assured to make something great, he is just winging it, thinking it's good enough cause he's a genius - and we all know that's the instant way down, no matter how much talent you really have, or used to have.

It's like supposed to be contemporary but for me it's very dated - clothes for the "fashionista" at fashion week, "it" items - very old fashioned and boring approach.

Raf, your $hit stinks too, so please try harder.

 

[whippie]

Oh man. This looks like the models rolled around on the floor of a Goodwill and wore what stuck.

 

[StoneSkipper]

Wow... I have many, many feelings about this collection. Thankfully, there's a word in the english language which sums up those feelings quite nicely: NO.

 

[Marc10]

Ha, Todd Haynes' "Safe". That's one of his favorite movies, guess it explains the popcorn. This one was quite challenging at first look, but as always the storytelling really comes through. The "Safe" inspiration is quite political and timely -nuclear war, environmental disasters, social paranoia-, I love how he continues to integrates the American imaginarium with an eerie and sometimes sarcastic sensitivity (again, timely). But even if the styling gets too busy for some, the separate pieces look super strong. Outerwear is a highlight again. Apparently that was the last of a "trilogy" of collections so I'm intrigued to see where he takes us next.

 

[dodencebt]

Ha, Todd Haynes' "Safe". That's one of his favorite movies, guess it explains the popcorn. This one was quite challenging at first look, but as always the storytelling really comes through. The "Safe" inspiration is quite political and timely -nuclear war, environmental disasters, social paranoia-, I love how he continues to integrates the American imaginarium with an eerie and sometimes sarcastic sensitivity (again, timely).

I think it's interesting how vastly different takes people have on that movie. I've seen it twice so far and my opinion always dances around the feminine mystique, the psychological state of Julianne's character and the societal situation she - along with many more women of that era - finds herself in, as opposed to environmental impact like it is often assumed throughout the movie. I don't see the nuance in Raf's collection that I would expect to find in something that was inspired by such a monumental film. It's all so visually literal.

 

[daisyhawkins]

My initial reaction was: ????????????????????????? ????????

I can understand that this is a highly conceptual collection but I think designers attempting that kind of feat need to be (in my opinion) clear to make sure the concepts come across well. Even though at times the exact message can evade the viewers, it's usually obvious in these kind of shows that some underlying thought is going on - in this case, however, I could be convinced that the clothes were kind of thrown together (although perhaps I'm just slow to pick up the themes).

I'm sure there are some standout pieces hidden amongst the layering but unfortunately I'm not particularly excited to find them because the whole collection is just a bit...unattractive? Unappealing? The fact that the styling doesn't highlight those pieces also seems kind of an issue!

 

[Lola701]

What a waste of 15 minutes! I will never get them back.

These collection represent exactly everything that i hate about high fashion today.
And this fake intellectualism hidden in a pile of stuff. Horrible!
And the pop-corn on the floor...I guess it is a deep as the drugs in the t-shirts...

Raf Simons is exactly the reason why i hate the word "intellectual" in fashion because unfortunately, his actions seems less clever than what his designs (or the idea people have of it) suggest.

And does he know that he is working for a brand? I hate when designers take in hostage a brand like that. You can deliver you mess at your brand. Don't need to drag CK into this...

Seriously, watching this show made me regret the fact that i bought a pant from his first collection.
Worst show of the entire season (literally). This is annoying!

 

[tatouejeremie]

youtube.com

 

[mariemaud]

it's totally ugly ???
anyways, I don't understand fashion designers anymore.
I'd rather stick to what I get and love, models and fashion editorials

 

[Steddycam91]

This collection is pretty much at a Jeremy Scott/Moschino level of "playfulness" and pastiche, and that's not something I ever thought I'd say about Raf.

 

[jeanclaude]

Raf is having a deep age crisis. He´s on his 50s; but he pretends he´s still a rebellious teenager.

And this collection is a reflection of that. It´s like he´s saying "Look! I made a collection with Vêtements left-overs and Looney Tunes jumpers...and I´m at Calvin Klein! Look how rebellious and young I am!"

But no matter how hard he tries. You can put a turd inside a beautiful box, wrapped it up using the most beautiful gift paper, giving it to someone with as much love as possible...but it still is going to have a turd inside it.