Alexander McQueen Moves Forward

Goodbye Mr. McQueen, hello Ms. Burton. Long live McQueen.

Style.com covered the passing of Alexander McQueen and the showing of the final collection he designed, but something that was equally important this year was the success of Sarah Burtonâ€s first show as the new designer for the McQueen label. The passing of such a genius creative mind was indeed tragic, and the showing of McQueenâ€s last collection was a special moment, but Burtonâ€s signal that the brand can honor McQueenâ€s legacy while moving forward was absolutely stellar.

John Gallianoâ€s Dior Couture Wows

Dior haute couture was in full bloom this year when John Galliano showed his Spring 2011 collection of flower-inspired looks. The imagery and execution of the designs combined with the high, tulip-like hair of the models for a full package display of gorgeousness and perhaps our favorite moment in fashion of 2010.

Too young for Couture?

Bloggers and editors saw elements of inspiration from Twilight in the most recent collection – which was fittingly opened by the new face of the brand, Freja Beha Erichsen – but no agreement on whether that is a good or bad thing seems to have surfaced. WWD felt the clothes were beautiful but too youthful for a couture line and the Telegraph thought the collection was more confident and signature to the new designers, while Style.com admits the pitch to a younger audience was peculiar but perhaps genius. {The Cut}

Or too Boring?

Style.com may have hit the nail on the head, as luxury fashion labels have attempted to keep their footing of late by reaching out to Generation Y. The looks may also come to symbolize a new era for Valentino.

The youthful slant to the collection is smart, but there are too many dropped waistlines and bows for our taste and the clothes are a bit bland, a kiss of death for haute couture, which we look to for the kind of over the top fantasy that would be out of place in ready to wear collections. The blah-ness of it is ironic considering the collection departs from their more typical Valentino lines, which critics found boring as well. Nothing is terribly wrong with the collection – the sheer hoop dress looks like a toned down take on Lady Gaga’s Grammy dress, but it looks like Chiuri and Piccioli are light years away from wowing like John Gallianoâ€s flower-inspired masterpiece for Dior did earlier in the week.

Filthy? Sure. Couture? Not so much.

In keeping with the predictability, the pieces in Farley’s  line are exactly what one would expect a loud-mouthed, over-bronzed star of a reality show to design. Some highlights include a sweetheart-necked mesh top with an overlaying, gold-patterned heart that appears to be pointing at a very specific area on the modelâ€s body and a white-feathered corset number that looks more like lingerie than a top. In fact, it is not clear whether most of the pieces are clothing or lingerie. Now the spring collections from many a designer featured lingerie inspired looks, so if there’s any kind of silver lining here, in a roundabout way JWoww may actually be on trend. Still, while some of the outfits cover more than expected, but if you’ve seen the inventory at Frederick’s of Hollywood, you’ve seen this collection. If you wouldn’t wear anything purchased at Frederick’s outside of the privacy of your own home – well, same thing.  If you’re into train wrecks, you can catch images of the entire collection here.

While we’re on the subject, can we make the case for restricting the word couture to oh, perhaps – actual couture? Couture isn’t Juicy or Filthy, and while we love a high/low mix, throwing the word couture on a label isn’t fooling anyone into thinking the “high” part is covered.

Real couture? That’s John Galliano, whose fall 2010 couture collection for Dior debuted in a courtyard of the Rodin Museum in Paris this week. The flower-inspired line is fantastical, beyond exquisite and raking in rave reviews. By including warmer fabrics and fall accessories in addition to dark lipstick on his models, Galliano brilliantly surprises by using what is normally a spring staple to inspire a fall line and making it work. If you havenâ€t had a chance to see it yet, check it out here. Totally worth your work procrastination time.

Cellophane headpieces and raffia belts made it all but impossible to miss the “women are flowers” theme of the collection, and Galliano proved to be more than capable of tending the garden.

On the opening day of the Paris couture, the casual insolence of the draped one-shoulder outfit that closed the show was a provocation. “Beat this,” it declared. – Tim Blanks {Style.com}

Indeed.

Christian Dior Couture favorites

view the entire collection at Style.com