^^^ The unfortunate reality is that Olivier’s time has passed. Although he is a very versatile talent, as proven with his Theory engagement. All the same, that brand of versatility, even pragmatism, isn’t in demand these days that would translate to the sort of profits that corporations demand. Jacquemus and Balenciaga, as much as they’re a plague on fashiondom (and I’ll admit I still admire Demna although I wouldn’t touch his wears with a 10 mile pole), are the templates that CEOs salivate over. Demna is still ahead of the game, even with all the gross trolling. I was watching this police bodycam episode, with some smalltime runner being apprehended on the highway to Vegas. The wannabe thug was a walking billboard for logos/brands, had on Balenciaga sneakers that even the police recognized and asked him how much he paid for them LMFAO So maybe Demna is persona non greta on TFS, but he’s still relevant in pop culture and to the casual fashion fan.
What gives me a bit of hope is that someone like Haider, is having a renaissance of sort: He is by definition, someone who is as niche and as exclusive as Olivier. But he still managed to be installed at Tom Ford, and managed to land as Canada Goose CD, the most irritatingly commercial brand in the market. (...In my neck of the woods, people are still being robbed for their Canada Goose parkas by children LOL)
Maybe, at some point.
I think with Alessandro, people may think of his era as an era of creativity and excess and fun but I don’t think he had breakthrough collections except his first 2 ones.
People talk about the twins show because it’s a moment not because the clothes or the statement around fashion mattered.
Personally, I always go back to his first 3 collections (Men’s and Women’s FW2015 and resort 2016). I loved all his campaigns and that’s it.
However, in terms of products, I still love all the pieces I own from his time at Gucci. I see a lot of people selling their Gucci by Michele but the pieces that I have RTW and accessories can be actually classified as timeless (by my metric).
But then again what I loved from Alessandro was his tailoring, the silk and chiffon blouses, the princetown and the Dyonisus.
I feel like people bought a lot of bomber jackets, embroidered jeans and stuff.
His intentionally cheap and ugly Dapper Dan/Asian knockoff merch were by far a phenomenon that the masses devoured— and set an unfortunate template for how high fashion is consumed to this day.
The reality is that every designer— no matter how limited in talent, how tacky and cheap, how uninspired they may be, will always have some separates that are worthy: Even the likes of TFS’s public enemies DSquared2 and Phillip Plein will have some solid separates if given a fair chance (…except for maybe Harris Reed). And on the flipside, every designer worthy of praise and vision always has some questionable blemishes scattered permanently from collection to collection, with some some even more questionable quality-control issues: Two of my favs— Helmut and Dries, were plagued with less than stellar construction, and forgettable designs. That Alessandro’s tailoring is solid, doesn’t excuse his consistently annoying wholesale-thriftstore aesthetic. He’s just not a good designer when he can’t rely on a brand’s existing clout, let alone one worthy of remembrance when it comes to the separates. I’ve always maintained that his Gucci's branding was always superior (even if I despise his brand of casting, retro aesthetic, and even more his sensibility), making him a more tolerable stylist than he is ever as a designer.