Connor Ives F/W 2022.23 London

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[RedSmokeRise]

The 2000's look on Sara Grace is vile!

Fall 2021 was a more interesting collection from him. This one is .. kinda all over the place.

 

[dior_couture1245]

About half of it is pretty nice looking. Sweet. Charming. Pretty.

I love the brown, 70's silk scarf print dress, the wildfire fleece pullover, the butter yellow fringe dress...all very Galliano-esque.

Everything would have been better served to have styled it less obvious 2000's...and presented in a more chic, intimate setting.

 

[bc collector]

Did he realize he had to design a fall/winter collection?

 

[GERGIN]

Honestly not complaining about how light it is for a F/W collection and I don’t think his clientele will care much either.

Connor is probably one of my favourite upcoming designers right now. Love his mix of 60’s/70’s concepts with a modern, eco conscious twist.

 

[YohjiAddict]

Better than Serre, whose clothes reminds me of dusty carpets…at least this has some joie de vivre, even if it’s a bit of a mess.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

This is actually done rather well, it's unfortunate that the styling throws it off a little bit. Comes across as bit of a parody rather than an homage.

I do agree that it is a bit all over the place, so the balance between the lighter looks compared to to heavier isn't done well. A couple more jackets and longer sleeved items would have served the collection well. But at least it isn't mounds of tattered fabrics or a pretentious virtue signalling mess.

 

[Lola701]

For me it’s too early for him to have a runway show. His first lookbook was great and if i was in his team, I would have advised to continue with that for at least 2 seasons. He could have had the opportunity to create a beautiful narrative with still images and still be in touch with the buyers through presentations.

He has something but this presentation is a miss.

 

[LadyJunon]

In all honesty, this was a solid collection. This was well constructed, well designed and the clothes were interesting and fun. Also a constant I've observed in Connor's work is that he's capable of editing, something that even established British-based designers fail at.

My particular favourites were the bias cut dresses and the fringed pieces. His take on the Balenciaga tent dress makes me smile every time I see it and the opening outfit seems typical Instagram "fashion", but it's somehow elevated to the point it feels fresh and elegant. The fruit jewellery added that perfect amount of cheekiness too.

The casting, judging by the clips of the show on Instagram, was good too. The models walked with confidence and grace and presentated the clothes well, but I'm so done with models like Paloma, Jil and Precious being used as token "fat" girls, because they always stick out like a sore thumb. I wish that designers would either go back to all sample sizes or fully embrace body diversity.

This said, the collection isn't without fault. Connor missed the opportunity to show off his fun take on outerwear and coats, which would've appealed to more buyers, considering this is a fall collection. A coat made of recycled fur or shearling would have been so cool from him.

It also reads a bit piece-y at times. I know that this is due to the fact that Connor upcycles most of his clothes, but a simple dye-job here and there would've easily solved that issue. The slogan/logo clothes felt a bit too low effort for me and looked grubby at times.

The venue was meh at best. It was too cold and NYFW-like for the flirty clothes. Knowing that this is probably a budget issue, Connor should've showed digitally, until he could've afforded to show in a nicer venue.

The biggest sin, however, was the styling. The butterfly clips and bandanas aged the collection significantly. The shoes were cute, but again dated.

I would say that I'm excited to see what he has for September, but apparently Gvasalia has inspired him to show once a year. God luck on staying relevant for next February...