The First Collection Of The Decade

By: José L. Salinas, 11°

Alexander McQueen: This was Lee /E3WGGPŏUſPCNEQNNGEVKQP/GFKGXCN TQ[CNV[red and gold, royal prints and embellishments, were key in this season’s angel like collars, and beautiful hemlines and trains, were key in this season’s garments. Alexander McQueen a troubled man, with a troubled mind, and further VTQWDNGFFGOQPUOCFGCDGCWVKHWNſPKUJKPIEQllection, one that would become his legacy.

Balenciaga: Hoodies, vests, drapes. With the same conspicuous patterns that would contentiously characterize Louis Vuitton ten years later, Nicola Ghesquiere designed for a rising Balenciaga. Continuous failure would accompany the brand for the next few years.

Jean Paul Gaultier: There was a time were JPG, was known for more than perfumes in eccentric bottles, it was known for shaping pop culture. This season’s camp extravaganza YQWNFFGſPGVJGWUGQHVWNNGJGCFRKGEGUGObellishments and psychedelic fantasies as key characteristics of modern camp.

Christian Dior: Controversy aside, John )CNKCPQŏUſPCN&KQTEQNNGEVKQPYCURQKPVDNCPMbeautiful. The most renowned and established aesthetic of the 21st century, showcased his ludicrous genius in bright pastels, stripes, prints, geometric headpieces and original textures. The efervescent makeup of the models gave the extravagant looks a sense of closure, and in refreshing melancholy, Galiano’s Dior era did the same.

Atelier Versace: For better or for worse, Donatella Versace’s 2013 Spring collection brought back neon. Fluorescent pink and yellow dresses, as well as metallic blacks and golds, were embellished with furs and feathers, and so, the neon extravaganza of the 2010’s began.

Atelier Versace: A black model again touches the runways of Atelier Versace, after years of exclusively white models. This, however, wasn’t limited to the Italian house, but rather most houses at the time. The revolutionary Naomi Campbell walks the runway in just lingerie layered with leather coats and embellished knitwear. The collection crocodile embossed leather dresses and shiny sequins, made it a Marquis de Sade fantasy.

Christian Dior: 4CH 5KOQPUŏU ſTUV EQNNGEVKQPCV&KQTYCUUVTQPI)CNKCPQJCFDGGPſTGFCPFit was Simons’s responsibility to live up to his legacy. In retroactive sobriety, the Belgian designer took his turn on the high hemlines and full-skirted ball gown that characterized the Christian Dior revolution in the post-war era. 5MKTVU VWTPGF KPVQ RCPVU CPF VJG UCOG ƀQTCNUthat made him a renown designer were transformed into more futuristic interpretations of electric blues and orchid patterns.

Maison Margiela: In 2012, an anonymous design team was creative director of Maison Margiela. Art Nouveau motifs and the reappropriation of the house’s vintage items truly made this collection one of a kind. The models wore PVC garments and satin dresses, and most remarkably their usual masks in bedazzled silvers, blacks, and greens.

Chanel: The revolution of the sneaker. The SS14 Chanel show, molded perhaps the most important and transcendental clothing article in modern fashion: the sneaker. Every single model on the runway wore sneakers and an haute couture dress, making the statement that perhaps fashion and comfort could go together, and that there was elegance to the tennis shoe.

Saint Laurent: Hedi Slimane’s FW14 preta-porter would bring into modernity babydoll dresses and plaid skirts, and would help the smokey eye establish itself as the norm in the beauty world. Fast-fashion consistently mimicked these plaid skirts and babydoll dresses, up until late-2018, with teenage girls being the primary consumer.

Gucci: Frida Giannini’s contract with Gucci would have come to an end, and to the brand’s rescue would come Alessandro Michele. With insatiable camp designs, 70’s looks, and the strongest marketing game the brand has ever seen, Michele made Gucci, the most important luxury brand of 2019. His fall-winter collecVKQP YCU ſNNGF YKVJ ƀQTCNU CPF IGPFGTDGPding apparel, ostentatious suiting, lavallieres, and branded belts, a strong marketing game. Aesthetically, this was Gucci’s most cohesive collection in years, and this was merely the beginning.

Balenciaga: This was Alexander Wang’s best CPFſPCNEQNNGEVKQPHQT$CNGPEKCICCHVGT-GTKPIwould no longer renew his contract. He had been replacing Nicola Ghesquiere who had left for Louis Vuitton, but had been unsuccessful. An all white sportswear collection, elegantly draped, would anticipate the turn the brand would take, but the scale wasn’t even close.

Balenciaga: Demna Gvasalia really did that. Balenciaga wasn’t a sportswear brand; Cristobál was known for his craftsmanship, and his impeccable tailoring. Gvasalia combined his urban vision and his attention to detail to create a much more modern Balenciaga. This collection was important for its use of oversized coats and jackets, as well as other forms of layering to create an innovative dimension to the garments, as well as make ready-to-wear designs much more approachable.

Prada: For this collection, Miuccia Prada brought back the Roaring 20’s, fringe and feathers were next in fashion this runway show. The looks of both men and women from that decade were merged and broke all gender barriers. Prada never fails to please, and this show helped it establish itself as one of the strongest most creative brands in the industria in the modern mind.

Balenciaga: Gvasalias menswear collection was incredibly successful this year. A Bernie Sanders inspired logo really made a comment on what was the current political climate, leading to Donald Trump’s election. Hype beast EWNVWTGYCUTGCNN[KPƀWGPFEGFD[VJKUEQNNGEVKQPand the Triple S sneaker we all know and love became the new it show.

Chanel: In the fashion world, it was often joked CDQWVJQY-CTN.CIGTHGNFYQWNFNKVGTCNN[UVC[in Chanel until the day he died, and then…he FKF 6JKU YCU .CIGTHGNFŏU ſPCN EQNNGEVKQP CPFthe death of this icon was celebrated in the catwalk, truly emotional scenes were created this UJQY6JG%JCPGNVYGGFYCUGXGT[YJGTG-CTNwas truly loved, he consistently honored the house’s matron, Coco Chanel, and this was the time for him to be honored.

Loewe: There was an incredibly evident inspiration from 16th and 17th century French and Dutch portraits. Anderson’s way of smoothing away the contrapositions between silhouettes, craft and texture as well as honoring history in a modern manner, really made this collection as successful as it was.

Chanel: Women in suits! Women in suits! WoOGP KP UWKVU +P CNN DNCEM OQPQEJTQOG -CTNLagerfeld made his young models elegant in suave garments. He took original 19th century and modernized them, made them lightweight and chic. In 2018, fashion reminisced.

Gucci: This collection was insane. Huge overUK\GF UJKTVU CPF RCPVU ƀQTCNU UKNM CPF UCVKPU8GT[OCKPUVTGCO)WEEKCVCſTUVNQQMDWVVJGPthe models started walking down the runway with replicas of their own heads in their hands, the runway took a strange, strange turn. An entire world of fantasy was created, models cradled dragons and covered their faces in controversial knitwear balaclavas. Critics called it the Cyborg Manifesto.

Yeezy:6JGVTCPUEGPFGPEGQH-CP[G9GUV6JGrapper transformed our youth’s vision on streetwear, he made his minimalistic designs renown and unique. You know they’re Yeezy without reading the label and that’s everything that great designers can aspire to. This collection is now in fashion, he appeals to youths and businessmen, it’s versatile and it’s classy.

Louis Vuitton: Nicola Ghesquière designed this collection thinking, “what could happen if the past could look at us?”, it was unlike anything Louis Vuitton had shown before. As the cohost of this May’s Met Gala, Ghesquière made a collection that appealed to the theme, fashion and duration. Surely, LV will be big this May’s Met Gala, we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out. Tune in in two months.