Kanye West DW F/W 12.13 Paris

[DanceFashionista]

Very hideous. I don't care what models walked the show the collection is hideous and ripped off.

 

[ultramarine]

I think its waaay better than last seasons .. there are some very subdued hints of Tom Ford and Margiela (yes, I dare say it and I wont take it back).

Some are blah ... but this collection reminds me of another rapped turned designer .. P Diddy .. remember Sean John?

I wonder if the same thing will happen to this label

 

[TheItGirl]

I am really surprised. In a good way! Most clothes look wearable, the leather outfits could fit in any Hermes collection by Gaultier. Yes, some other designers' influence can be clearly seen but since he's not a professional I think he's only trying to find his own look.

 

[Jasmine04]

I liked it in general but like many others here I still don't know what his brand's identity is. Who is this woman, what is her attitude, where is she going in these clothes?
Was he ever interviewed about the inspiration for these 2 collections?

Yeah, not knowing the brand's identity or Kanye's vision for his clothes makes it hard to really see where this is all going.
I can't remember what he said about his first collection, but it seems this time around he has decided to not talk about it at all.

Kanye West Lets the Clothes Talk for Him
By ERIC WILSON

Harder, faster, stronger, maybe just a little bit better.

After a debut collection that was a critical flop last fall, Kanye West resumed his fashion career in Paris on Tuesday night, picking up right where he left off, with a spectacle of slinky dresses, leather pants that didn’t quite fit, furry peplums, broadtail stretch pants, some souped-up go-karts and Kim Kardashian. Well, at least that was an improvement.

Ms. Kardashian was sitting in the front row at Mr. West’s late-night showing at Paris Fashion Week, along with Alicia Keys, Sean Combs, Common and Azealia Banks, so maybe that gives some idea of the target customer he has in mind for a collection that seemed desperately trying to project both an aura of coolness and easy availability. Not that Mr. West was saying.

Earlier in the day, after agreeing to preview his collection with editors, Mr. West abruptly changed his mind. I happened to be in his temporary showroom, in the Central Saint-Martin neighborhood, at precisely that moment.

“I don’t know about this,” he said. “I got treated unfairly by the press last time. Why would I want to do this?”

Awkward.

With respect, I responded, this was an opportunity to describe his point of view. Since no one seems to know how Mr. West plans to go about making clothes — and rumors about the involvement of college interns, an Australian magazine editor, a top stylist, an English designer and a respected design-school professor have all turned out to be either unfounded or a stretch — this was an opportunity to set the record straight.

Would he at least care to explain the ideas behind his collection?

He pondered for a moment.

“No,” he said. “If they don’t understand it, they don’t understand it.”

Then, in a kindly way, he kicked me out.

Being among those who raked Mr. West over the coals for his first collection, I will leave it to the reader to judge whether he has been treated fairly. The invitation to an interview remains open. I will continue to listen to his music while on the treadmill and to faithfully report on his collections as long as he’s willing to design them.
Kanye West, fall 2012.Valerio Mezzanotti/NowFashion.comKanye West, fall 2012.

And Mr. West may be right to let his clothes speak for themselves, since they are oh so loud. This show started out O.K., with a series of tough-looking black leather and suede outfits based off of a motorcycle jacket. And it ended with go-karts spinning around two tracks on either side of the runway, which made Anna Wintour smile.

His leather skirts had a stiff half-ruffle pointing out at the hems. Karlie Kloss wore a leather jacket that, kind of interestingly, had no back, but then there was again a preponderance of questionable fur looks, including pants that were broadtail on the front, clingy fabric on the back. When Joan Smalls closed the show, wearing an adhesive black gauze dress with a strip of alligator running up the front, it seemed as if Mr. West’s approach to making a dress was like a cook wrapping leftover turkey.

In an effort to be extra fair, I will say I liked an oversize cream sweatshirt with zippers running up the sleeves.
http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/kanye-west-lets-the-clothes-talk-for-him/

runway.blogs.nytimes

 

[|BellaDonna|]

Sigh, Kanye if you want to be a part of the business you simply have to toe the line. Music are fashion are both art but you cannot approach both in the same way.

"If they don't understand it, they don't understand it."

Even when trying to shield your sensitive feelings and avoid backlash you create bad situations. Really, it's that invasive, intrusive and intimidating to explain in a small setting 'the inspiration for your collection'?

I don't even know how time and time again and so easily he ends up in situations where he appears to be an __________.

Always so much to say... at the wrong time.

 

[rox_yr_sox]

^^ Hilarious: "I got unfairly treated by the press last time". No. How about you got treated as you ought to: people spoke the truth about a very very average show and it offended your delicate sensibilities.

I liked it in general but like many others here I still don't know what his brand's identity is. Who is this woman, what is her attitude, where is she going in these clothes?
Was he ever interviewed about the inspiration for these 2 collections?

I seriously doubt he has even thought about the brand's identity or who the woman really is (apart from, "yeah she's hot, she's fashionable"). It's all a vanity project. It's not a terribly ugly or unprofessional collection, there just isn't anything original or noteworthy at all. I'm suprised to see him back in Paris again. I half though he may give the whole thing up, but then again, this is Kanye, who has a monster ego. At least he could have moved to NYFW, and show a bit of humility. NYFW would actually suit his 'style' better anyway. And his collection wouldn't be so obviously lacking compared to many of his immediate colleagues.

On a side note, there seemed to be a major disconnect between the knee high boots (OMG, so ugly) and the clothes. Paired with some less bulky and noticeable boots, the looks would have been quite a bit better.

 

[Uemarasan]

These celebrities who think they can do anything annoy me. And the fact that this negligible assortment of clothes is getting more exposure, views and comments than the Junya Watanabe collection is a sad thing, indeed. I think the press should continue to eviscerate this man; he needs to learn some humility. If he really wanted to be a part of the industry, he should just put his money behind some up-and-coming young designer who needs the financial backing. Stop feeding your ego and concentrate on what you're actually good at: music.

Insufferable.

 

[t-rex]

Should've been shown during Los Angeles Fashion Week. Perhaps the press there would not ask hard questions, and they'd smile and nod more.

 

[MRPATTY]

Kanye West can't take constructive criticism obviously, everyone gets critiqued, from the prestigious houses to the small upstarts, what you have to do as a designer is take that on board, not loss your vision and deliver something better to 'shut them up'

not cancel previews because you're afraid an editor my ruin your state of mind, smh

but i will say that this collection was a BIG improvement from the first, but as other have said the first collection was soo bad that even if sent down the models in well tailored suits in every colour of the rainbow he'd get some credit lol

it's just a bit funny to read people complaining that he had too much help on this collection

when he flopped with the first collection it was all "kanye needs to stop designing clothes" when he presents this more considered and well rounded 2nd collections its all "he's obviously had some help" lol - theres no winning for KW!

 

[loladonna]

^^ Hilarious: "I got unfairly treated by the press last time". No. How about you got treated as you ought to: people spoke the truth about a very very average show and it offended your delicate sensibilities.

It's too bad the fashion press doesn't do this with other designer collections like Chanel and Givenchy. It might make reading fashion reviews worthwhile. Kanye is right. In the context of fashion media he does not get treated the same. They don't hesitate to rip him apart for perceived faults. Some of the reviews venture into personal insults against him. The fashion press wouldn't dare write about Chanel and Lagerfeld in that manner no matter how awful the collections Chanel puts out season after season. When was the last time you read a negative review of Chanel from reporters who attended the show?

Remove Kanye's name and affiliation from this collection and probably 50% of the criticism would go away. The charges that he's not doing anything new are laughable when you consider that describes about 95% of designer collections.

 

[lili la tigresse]

It's too bad the fashion press doesn't do this with other designer collections like Chanel and Givenchy. It might make reading fashion reviews worthwhile. Kanye is right. In the context of fashion media he does not get treated the same. They don't hesitate to rip him apart for perceived faults. Some of the reviews venture into personal insults against him. The fashion press wouldn't dare write about Chanel and Lagerfeld in that manner no matter how awful the collections Chanel puts out season after season. When was the last time you read a negative review of Chanel from reporters who attended the show?

Remove Kanye's name and affiliation from this collection and probably 50% of the criticism would go away. The charges that he's not doing anything new are laughable when you consider that describes about 95% of designer collections.

Well said. Anyway, I love those boots.

 

[MrFalconer]

Why is he even trying and why are the fashion elite indulging him? It's sad.

 

[Thefrenchy]

Remove Kanye's name and affiliation from this collection and probably 50% of the criticism would go away.

People have to stop with that argument. This crap:

STYLE.COM

will never be qualified as "nice" or "good designs" by me. NEVER. No matter who makes it. Now, Kanye's pretentious attitude towards this whole thing sure isn't helping anyone, who already doesn't appreciate what he's showing, to soften their opinion on the collection.


Moreover, it says quite a lot about him when he thinks he's been treated unfairly by the press for his previous collection. Just a reminder:

STYLE.COM

How can you expect to be praised when you come up with this? People are harsh because he deserves it. The day he produces something nice, pulls back his ego and stop acting like he's entitled, people will see things from a different angle.


To those of you who are questioning why we never see harsh reviews for Chanel and the likes, well, these are established houses who proved they could come up with fantastic things. You're less harsh with a student who always had good grades but failed once or twice, than with one who's always produced bad work.

The day Kanye West achieves the level of creativity and talent of Mr Tisci or Mr Lagerfeld, he'll be able to ask for a kinder treatement. Until then, he should shut his mouth and focus on his line if that's really what he wants to do.

 

[clarissea]

Nothing screams Paris. I think he should present his collection in New York. Not that it's a good collection, but certainly it fits better there.

I agree, i'll never understand why he's showing in Paris...

It's too bad the fashion press doesn't do this with other designer collections like Chanel and Givenchy. It might make reading fashion reviews worthwhile. Kanye is right. In the context of fashion media he does not get treated the same. They don't hesitate to rip him apart for perceived faults. Some of the reviews venture into personal insults against him. The fashion press wouldn't dare write about Chanel and Lagerfeld in that manner no matter how awful the collections Chanel puts out season after season. When was the last time you read a negative review of Chanel from reporters who attended the show?

So true! Chanel will never get bad reviews even if it's crap... This collection isn't that bad comparing to others but it's just really vulgar and there's no originality in it as i read on this thread earlier :/

 

[purplethistle]

I like the boots. The rest of the collection, however, is a massive improvement on his previous collection, the clothes look like they fit better despite some issues with the cuts.

 

[loladonna]

I think we need to stop pretending that only great collections are shown in Paris. Some of the worst collections I've seen this season have been in Paris and some of the best in NY/London. Kanye's collection--however mediocre-- has just as much place in Paris as any of the other mediocre collections that have been trotted down the runway.

 

[LolaSvelt]

^You're right, Paris has been such a disappointment this year. All my favourites (minus the avant-garde brands who always deliver) were so underwhelming or just plain ugly.

 

[Donatello89]

It was pretty pathetic. The saddest thing about it was that one of the looks was copied from Mugler! You have to be pretty desperate design wise to steal from them. But this collection was just a mash of old designers. He probably never even looks at the collection before the show. He's got like, a billion people helping him out on this. The collection has no substance. It's just copies from other designers. The Givenchy pieces really pissed me off. He shouldn't be ripping off his friend like that.

Actually...right ! I was about to add : as many american "designers", i see the awful made in china fabric in each piece that will be sell...

 

[VersaceLuva586]

People are sooooo quick to shoot this guy down before he even begins and it's sad. I definitely agree with loladonna

"Remove Kanye's name and affiliation from this collection and probably 50% of the criticism would go away."

This is very true IMO! Kanye already has soo many odds against him as discussed in the last post about his debut collection.

Fashion is a matter of opinion and not everyone is going to love certain designer collections. Kanye cleary loves fashion and is still in the very early stages. He isn't polluting the industry with fast/cheap mass market fashion, he is doing high end! Whether you like his designs or not, it is what it is. He clearly has a passion for it which i can appreciate. Making statements like "this will never be looked at or considered a good design...ever!" is a matter of "opinion". Some of the pics used as examples of "crap designs" looks like some of the things i've seen from other high end labels.

Also, people need to stop saying "where is the originality?" like WHO/WHAT is original nowadays??!! Tell me one designer that is doing/creating something really unique/original right now and get back to me.....*waits*

Not everybody wants to try and be "original" or "unique". Some just want to create beautiful clothes that are wearable/simple/beautiful. Being unique should come naturally to a designer anyway.

He has a long way to go to prove himself, but nobody can deny that this is a step up from his debut and i look forward to seeing what he brings next season. Kanye isn't going anywhere folks.

 

[pen6693]

I find it extremely hard to believe that Kanye, like Karl, actually sketches and designs his collection.
His attitude, to top it off, is annoying.
“If they don’t understand it, they don’t understand it," well, the who's going to buy if they "don't understand it.
I just don't like Kanye, but I do have to acknowledge that this collection was a whole lot better than his last season's disaster.
I still wonder why he would even "design" a collection, better yet, how did he even make it to the Paris fashion week schedule.