The Most Overrated Designers...

[nigelraphe]

After the debut season of Gabriella Hearst's Chloe collection, she is definitely appearing on my mind.

 

[Kanzai]

This thread is gold lol

 

[Nimsay]

Its better that this place appears more in touch with reality now.

Armani - Galliano for Dior - Ghesquiere in 2009 - overrated??

 

[Kanzai]

Nobody was safe on old TFS 🤯. Except maybe Yohji san 🙊

 

[Salvatore]

Giorgio Armani and Frida Giannini are quite overrated.

Forgive me for Armani, but I said what I said about Frida with my chest !

 

[MulletProof]

the bar wasn't on the floor back then and independent design still balanced things out, so you could afford to say galliano was s*it and that nicolas' balenciaga churned out the most obnoxious 'hit singles' of the season.. fast forward 15 years later and seeing them surrounded by conmen like demna, ludovic, risso, martens... it does make them look like einstein.

 

[gallianostan]

reading everyone here say father was overrated… but this was like what, 2007? his dior nosedived starting with that horrible versailles costume party. i get the frustration.

 

[philophile]

This thread is sooo diametrically different to the "what are you listening to" one, because if I go to the first few pages of that thread I get so excited and feel that people loved the best, most experimental, crazy music back then, differently to now where people listen to the very same exact songs produced by the same exact bunch of Swedish people for the past 20 years.

The difference here is that Nicolas Ghesquière has always been a genius and people didn't know it back then, in spite of the low standards we have in fashion today, he still stands out from everything being done in that time and being done right now. He has always had his ups and downs, like every great designer or artist, but what is good, is the very best. I can't think of a more beautiful collection ever made than his SS13 for Balenciaga. He is the Picasso of our generation.

 

[philophile]

P.S.: I think 90% of people here really believed back then and believe right now even more than ever that Marc Jacobs is overrated. Heck yes he is and always was.

 

[Creative]

^I am not Marc’s biggest fan but he has something. I don’t even know what it is, but he is maybe the most “fashion” designer.

 

[philophile]

I am curious about who were the best rated designers back then (not overrated nor underrated). I am old enough to know, but the internet culture was young back then and all I remember was McQueen, Galliano, and Gaultier. Was it Tom Ford for Gucci, Phoebe for Chloé, Margiela, Lang, Miu Miu? Who were they? I want to know and would appreciate if an OG fashion follower from that time could tell me, because I love this time in fashion (and music).

 

[philophile]

^I am not Marc’s biggest fan but he has something. I don’t even know what it is, but he is maybe the most “fashion” designer.

He is just extremely commercial.

 

[Steddycam91]

The difference here is that Nicolas Ghesquière has always been a genius and people didn't know it back then, in spite of the low standards we have in fashion today, he still stands out from everything being done in that time and being done right now. He has always had his ups and downs, like every great designer or artist, but what is good, is the very best. I can't think of a more beautiful collection ever made than his SS13 for Balenciaga. He is the Picasso of our generation.

I honestly agree. Looking back it's not really a surprise that his work wasn't as appreciated; when you're that forward-thinking and rigorous it's not going to immediately land with everybody. I'm just so happy that it worked out for him that he was able to ascend to Louis Vuitton, and have that level of creative freedom. He's genuinely earned it.

P.S.: I think 90% of people here really believed back then and believe right now even more than ever that Marc Jacobs is overrated. Heck yes he is and always was.

I don't know...what he did at Vuitton with the Murakami and Stephen Sprouse collaborations was pretty inspired. And the scale of a lot of the shows that he put on, both at his main line and Vuitton, was pretty impressive. You can't be the "cool/pop culture/zeitgeist" brand forever, so it's inevitable that the buzz around his brand dissipated. That being said, it's still a bit of a shock how fast it fell with all the downizing and store closings. I think back to that documentary Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton...what a totally different time. He met the moment, but the moment has passed.

 

[philophile]

I honestly agree. Looking back it's not really a surprise that his work wasn't as appreciated; when you're that forward-thinking and rigorous it's not going to immediately land with everybody. I'm just so happy that it worked out for him that he was able to ascend to Louis Vuitton, and have that level of creative freedom. He's genuinely earned it.

In my 12 years looking closely at fashion, I guarantee you most people are not really forward-thinking, but that applies to every single facet of life. Most people repell what is different and unknown (Nicolas can be a pretty weird designer), especially at the beginning, it is only until it becomes accepted with time, that people open up to it.
Do you really and honestly think he has creative freedom at Louis Vuitton? For some reason, I have never believed that. In fact, I believe he has less freedom there than he ever had at Balenciaga, which is ironic considering the fact that when he exited Balenciaga, he complained about the lack of creative freedom there. I think this solely because LV is a far bigger and more exclusive label than Balenciaga.

I don't know...what he did at Vuitton with the Murakami and Stephen Sprouse collaborations was pretty inspired. And the scale of a lot of the shows that he put on, both at his main line and Vuitton, was pretty impressive. You can't be the "cool/pop culture/zeitgeist" brand forever, so it's inevitable that the buzz around his brand dissipated. That being said, it's still a bit of a shock how fast it fell with all the downizing and store closings. I think back to that documentary Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton...what a totally different time. He met the moment, but the moment has passed.

"Cool/pop culture/zeitgeist" is not everyone's cup of tea, especially not mine and I would guess not everyone's back then considering the fact that a lot of people were listening to indie and experimental music, not exactly just Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and the like, which is very comparable to what Jacobs was doing. For every Warhol fan, there is always someone instead loving Francis Bacon. Not everyone loves pop. Marc Jacobs was and has always been bubblegum pop.

 

[philophile]

Oh God, Alessandro Michele at Gucci is even more overrated than Jacobs. His fashion there makes me feel horrible in my stomach and body in every single way, it's everything I despise and I am not even saying half of it and the kitsch it represents for me. I avoid saying negative things about designers and artists, because I consider myself a pluralist, but given the fact that this thread is about expressing negative opinions, I will say it loud and clear: AM is the most overrated designer in the past 12 years.

 

[jeanclaude]

Demna Gvasalia belongs in this thread.

 

[Olaffo]

I think in such a commercialised and shallow state of fashion every single designer is overrated. The ones which aren’t are deep in the shadows (Haider, Ann, Martin, Helmut, Lucas etc.) or just about to join them (Dries). Creating fashion now in 2024 is to be overrated as that’s natural consequence of vulgarity of image, corruption of creativity and constant rat race of *desire* which is no longer sublime but rather boring, repetitive, tiring, loud.

 

[Nimsay]

Id never describe MJ as commercial. I think he appears commercial but his details are very exotic. MJ is like for Art Dealers to be frank. The only people I know IRL who were Marc fans were art dealers. He is definitely a designers designer. He is from the Warholian school of Pop. Hes almost like Phoebe since his work requires a very high taste level and Manhattan cultural awareness to appreciate.

 

[Nimsay]

Ghesquieres Balenciaga was never not absolutely raved about and in demand like Celine is now.

 

[Lola701]

I think in fashion, there’s this easy snobism to hate the popular and worship the underground or underdog. And back then, TFS was totally that.

But at the same time, I wonder what makes a designer underrated or overrated.

I don’t think Michael Kors is overrated but I think Brandon Maxwell is.

I have always thought that Hussein Chalayan was the most overrated designer ever!

I think Raf Simons is overrated as a womenswear designer.

I think that the judgement on Marc Jacobs is just the result of the obvious lack of perceptible identity in his work. He is pioneer in the culture of fashion rather than a force of fashion.
People generally remember moments from him and not even clothes or collections.

The collection with the first Sprouse collab was mediocre compared to his FW2000 but the Sprouse moment is very important as a pop culture/fashion moment.
The same happened with Murakami. The collection was the supporting act.

I have clothes and collections I love from his time at Vuitton and a bit at his own brand but I cannot say that he is overrated.

He is an important figure in the history of modern fashion.

If the buzz match the impact, it’s difficult to be overrated for me.

Forgive me for Armani, but I said what I said about Frida with my chest !

I read Armani and I was in shock! You deserved to be attacked by bottles of Si fragrances for that ahahaha!

Tbh anybody who says that Armani is overrated makes it automatic for me to dismiss any type of opinion they may have on fashion lol.

But has Frida ever been rated…Ever?

In my 12 years looking closely at fashion, I guarantee you most people are not really forward-thinking, but that applies to every single facet of life. Most people repell what is different and unknown (Nicolas can be a pretty weird designer), especially at the beginning, it is only until it becomes accepted with time, that people open up to it.
Do you really and honestly think he has creative freedom at Louis Vuitton? For some reason, I have never believed that. In fact, I believe he has less freedom there than he ever had at Balenciaga, which is ironic considering the fact that when he exited Balenciaga, he complained about the lack of creative freedom there. I think this solely because LV is a far bigger and more exclusive label than Balenciaga.

He has total creative freedom at Vuitton. But it’s a different type of creative freedom.
I think he is also more free, emotionally at Vuitton, than at Balenciaga.

At Balenciaga, his issue wasn’t creative freedom but the lack of support of his creative vision. Owning 10% of the brand, he was under a whole lot of pressure.

At Vuitton, the challenge and expectations are kind of different. The contract is clear as it was under Jacobs. The bags are successful? You can do whatever you want.
Marc Jacobs organized big shows!
The twist is maybe that Nicolas has really developed the RTW and changed the line up of products. If you look at the bags, the RTW, everything is very a reflection of his vision.