Nina Ricci S/S 09 Paris

[CelebrityMitch]

Awesome :love:

 

[chloehandbags]

Fantastic!

 

[Chanel_Ivan]

bleh.

 

[Street_a_Licious]

i like, but those trains behind the short skirts get old.

and those skirts would look better on girls with actually nice legs.

 

[mackos]

I don't know why, but it's actually growing on me. Although quite monotoneous, repetitive and boring, really has something magical in it, I can't get these clothes out of my mind!

 

[Whitelinen]

I actually love the looks with the mannish jacket over a bodysuit or pants. And I love the rest...And frankly, like others, I'm not concerned with the wearability of this. This is very tightly edited, most people will know that.

What's most important, is that Olivier puts out very personal collections, very intense and romantic. And I like that he doesn't compromise. It's been about compromise too much in the last couple of years.

And I have to mention, I've looked at Nina Ricci clothes; they are impeccably made. Some of the daintiest, just mind-blowingly crafted ready-to-wear. Which was not the case with Rochas, by the way.

Lovely to hear, I was just about to ask about the quality of his work. That's interesting - I wonder why Rochas wasn't that good? I have heard they didn't let him go through with his ideas about craft back when he was doing Rochas... is this why?

I loved this collection, it is perhaps my favourite of the whole season. Theyskens just never lets me down, he keeps on doing beautiful clothing whilst others are preoccupied with trying to make the most innovative clothing (and often falling flat on their faces and odd, ugly clothing).

I would love to find photos of the backs of the dresses... has anyone seen these particular dresses "live"? If so, what did you think of them up-close?

More so - anyone thinking of buying something of this new collection? I wonder how much of it actually goes to sale, it looks more like a concept from which basis the actual store pieces take inspiration.

 

[thejarc]

I hope they're going to sell commercialized versions of the runway pieces.
Because NO ONE wants to wear this on the street

 

[Pastry]

Whitelinen, thanks for the lovely comment.
Three things:

I have no idea why the quality of Rochas wasn't that great. My guess is that maybe Proctor & Gamble just didn't put that much money into production. Or something. Or maybe Nina Ricci as a company has old relationships with better production facilities.

Rochas was still very well-made, but not as attentively well as NR, i find. There is some detail in Nina Ricci garments that I didn't find in Rochas.

As`far as a more intimate look, I would also like to see some backstage photos of these clothes. As a matter of fact, the act that style.com got rid of the 'backstage' section is criminal.

I did find a couple of youtube videos shot by people at the show, White:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02wf-itYFBM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDSAlONDMm4

And finally, I do love this collection. With Olivier's clothes at Rochas, they were instant eye candy. The utight streak in me kind of likes the fact that you have to look at these clothes a few times, before you love them.

 

[helmut.newton]

The silhouettes did not work for me this season.

The cut-out dresses were really not executed well. And on top of that, I don't think it works for the Nina Ricci aesthetic.

I liked it at Versace Spring 2007, because it worked with the 'sexy' aesthetic.

At Ricci though, I feel it just looks a bit silly. It's like they're running out of ideas on how to be 'different'.

 

[Lanick]

Love all the collection

 

[disco54]

nina ricci was about classy french day wear , while Olivier is very talented , his work so far at Nina Ricci has been tepid at best , I mean it has the theatrics and all its pretty but in terms of being contemprary clothing it lacks big time.

 

[Whitelinen]

Pastry, thanks for the videos - although at the moment my connection is so slow I can't watch the second one... I did manage to watch the first one and it deepened my adoration of this. Gowns with trains so often tend to look a bit heavy or impractical to wear, like they are dragging the rest of the garment down, but these look light as feathers.

Like you said - you have to give the clothes time to really fall for them. At first when I saw this collection, I thought it was very,very nice but now that I have had time to look at pictures and think about it, it has become dear to me. Theyskens's first A/W collection for Ricci I actually hated in the beginning, and then when I saw pictures of it everywhere I started to understand it and changed my opinion. In my opinion that kind of fashion, which slowly unravels, is the best.

 

[tricotineacetat]

...it's undeniable that these sort of dresses - or at least the effect of a short dress with long train in the back, look good on a non-existant size FR 35 model, I never questioned that. I actually see it the other way around - the effects in this show are rather catchy, and the more I see the show images, the less substance I see.

It's just that I strongly believe that fashion collections, ecpecially when created for an established house, are not made just for the sake of art appreciation, runway performance or editorial worth (unless you have other product to sell with the very image you create there). There is a definite commercial interest and so the clothes will have to function (as in luring women to the boutiques to make them wave their credit cards) - With Rochas, there have often been shorter, knee-length dress versions of the same designs that have been presented in the show or you would have pant and skirt suits that any woman could easily wear. Olivier's first collection at Nina Ricci also suggested a focus on easy separates, as in those oversized, feathered knits, denim pants and sportswear jackets. With this collection, the question is legitimate what exactly the news would be at Nina Ricci... This would demand for VERY heavy editing to translate from runway to the shops.

I think houses like Chanel or YSL understand that if you aim to offer clothing in that high of a price league, you better offer products that a real woman that is ready to spend a fortune on clothing can wear and incorporate in her lifestyle... so unless you are very leggy and with formidable stature, live your life in between fabulous, dress-y parties, 90% of what Theyskens has shown here won't be for you.

 

[dior_couture1245]

^^
Very smart comments, tricotineacetat.

I agree that there really isn't even a sliver of reality in this collection. Don't get me wrong, I love fantasy fashion...but even in the most outrageous of collections, there has to be some feeling that a woman can either actually wear a single piece, or at least that she can create her own, more wearable version of the look or even just be inspired to incorporate a single idea into her wardrobe...basically, there has to be just as much reality as fantasy in a collection, even if the reality is simply in the ideas and the clothes themselves are all fantasy.

Also, I agree with your point about Theyskens' first Ricci collection. Even though the collection was so fantastical and dreamy, when you really looked at each look, you realized that what you were seeing were appealing sweaters, blouses, jeans, leather jackets, suits and cocktail dresses. And the eveningwear was actually desirable! Recently I feel like Theyskens eveningwear has become more and more awkward......they're not that appealing...the colors, the silhouettes, the fabrics...and it's so baffling and disappointing since Olivier used to create the most gorgeous gowns ever.

 

[Mutterlein]

I think houses like Chanel or YSL understand that if you aim to offer clothing in that high of a price league, you better offer products that a real woman that is ready to spend a fortune on clothing can wear and incorporate in her lifestyle... so unless you are very leggy and with formidable stature, live your life in between fabulous, dress-y parties, 90% of what Theyskens has shown here won't be for you.

I view it in a similar way that I look at Mcqueen and Balmain in that they are collections mostly for eveningwear, that's always been Theysken's preference- pretty dresses. And in that regard I think this collection is masterful and stunning. My qualm, as you have mentioned, is that this collection goes impotent when trying to connect with a real woman's lifestyle. The presentation of such fantasy on a runway is always appreciated but there's a lack of desire despite how pretty the dresses are. The dresses don't scream "buy me! wear me!". And I know Nina Ricci develops a ton of practical toned down clothes but somehow I don't expect them to move off the racks. Theyskens is not a RTW designer, he's made that clear with this collection.

 

[dior_couture1245]

I just went to the trunk show today...and I kind of have changed my mind about this collection!

First of all, they had these three gowns on mannequins and they were STUNNING and completely breathtaking.

What I think made me like them more (besides seeing the details up close, of course) was that they weren't in motion. In the pictures, all the big trains billow out...when they're just on the mannequin, it looks more like an evening gown than a ball gown...on the runway the billowing train makes the dress looks bigger and more voluminous. The trains are so beautiful, they're big and wide and look so much more stunning draping gorgeously on the ground than billowing out behind the model. Also, I think the dresses looked better without the black tights...

The fabric on Vlada dress is really beautiful in person...it has lots of depth...looks like pressed flower petals in between layers of fabric more than it looks like a print.

This white leather motorcycle jacket is so gorgeous, too. It's leather, slightly distressed in certain areas and has some beautiful quilting accents in the back, the bottom edge and on the sleeves.

The color palette is much more striking in person than in the pictures. The craftsmanship is really impressive...beautiful, intricate construction details, delicate finishing, stunning inner work (the inside of one simple evening gown was so magnificent with all the corseting).

A MUCH better collection in person...for some reason it doesn't photograph on the runway very well.
(style)

 

[Pastry]

thanks for the account, dior! always lovely to hear these things.
and that's a very beautiful description of that fabric;dried leaves between layers of fabric.

and they clothes are incredibly finished inside, aren't they?

 

[Whitelinen]

I agree that there really isn't even a sliver of reality in this collection. Don't get me wrong, I love fantasy fashion...but even in the most outrageous of collections, there has to be some feeling that a woman can either actually wear a single piece, or at least that she can create her own, more wearable version of the look or even just be inspired to incorporate a single idea into her wardrobe...basically, there has to be just as much reality as fantasy in a collection, even if the reality is simply in the ideas and the clothes themselves are all fantasy.

I think houses like Chanel or YSL understand that if you aim to offer clothing in that high of a price league, you better offer products that a real woman that is ready to spend a fortune on clothing can wear and incorporate in her lifestyle... so unless you are very leggy and with formidable stature, live your life in between fabulous, dress-y parties, 90% of what Theyskens has shown here won't be for you.

In regards of some previous comments... I am a woman, and had I got the means to buy high fashion, I would buy this (and wear it) - not Chanel jackets and YSL shoes. Personally, I don't get what the point is in buying high fashion if it is not fantastical... and I think I am not alone in this with other women. I don't see this is hard to sell at all, I think the problem is in our minds, frankly... we are so used to see Theyskens as an unsellable designer after Rochas. And this stuff is very different from Rochas. Even if this collection was purely about dresses, there were two collections before (AW0809 and SS08) which were very, very sellable and commercial. So no big deal about this collection - I think he has earned the right to do a collection that's 'just dresses', since the last two collections have gotten the mainstream's attention. Besides, this collection is very much in tune with the former collections.

Dior_couture, it is lovely to hear that! What materials did they use for the gowns? Are they light or heavy?

 

[dior_couture1245]

^^I'm not sure what the material was...I should have asked, but they were definitely light and airy.

 

[Pastry]

^I'd like to second that. Everything I've picked up..I've only ever felt the weight of the hanger.

Also, most fabrics are 'classics with a twist' as far as textile design goes (and as far as I can tell). Chiffon and satin infused with newer techniques. Just very very special.