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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Fashion Review
Can't You Hear Me Walking?
By CATHY HORYN
Published: July 7, 2005
PARIS
MICK JAGGER popped into his seat just before the Dior men's show on Tuesday and popped out just before it ended. Real rock stars don't need to explain themselves. And since the Rolling Stones and other bands have been a theme of the French spring shows, he might have thought it wise to bolt before anyone grabbed his Dior sleeve and asked, "Hey, Mick, what do you think?"
Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons made the most pointed reference to rock, paying a royalty to use the Stones logo as a wallpaper pattern on suits, shirts and coat linings. But she was hardly alone in making music the message. John Galliano produced a virtual Mardi Gras of street players; Dries van Noten had a live orchestra; and Hedi Slimane, the Dior men's designer, offered an ostensibly cutting-edge sound, along with clothes that looked vaguely New Wave.
Music has served the interests of designers before but rarely with such scattered results. The trouble with Mr. Slimane's collection of skinny trousers, shirts rented open at the sides, shiny jackets and two-tone patent leather shoes is that you feel you need liner notes to decipher it. He wants his clothes to be thought of as relevant, but in reality he is drawing a tighter and tighter circle around his world, so that it's only intelligible to a limited group.
The obscure epigrams printed on the loose-bound sheets in his invitation make the point: "I am just a number" and "We ruled the world." You could find out what it all means, but should fashion require that much explanation? And how many people care in the end? Mr. Slimane has too many gifts to sing in the dark.
Ms. Kawakubo, by blatantly reproducing the Stones logo, was doing a riff on rock. And the style of her clothes is basic enough - slim knit pants, white cotton suits printed with the band's autographs - that you could do your own riff on Ms. Kawakubo. Mr. Jagger stopped by her showroom on Sunday with his girlfriend, the stylist L'Wren Scott, to see the clothes for the first time. Carla Sozzani, a Milan retailer who was in the showroom, said Ms. Kawakubo fretted over what to serve him. "She didn't know whether to offer him cake or something organic," Ms. Sozzani said.
Mr. van Noten's clothes, beautiful and fresh looking, were far more important to him than having an orchestra. "We had a lot of fun with this collection," he said, adding that Salvador Dalí on the beach in Spain had been the starting point. He translated the Dalí theme in classical prints (for flat-front shorts and trousers), beach sarongs in abstract flag prints and summery colors like peony pink and baby blue that looked great with the abundant browns and deep reds.
At Yves Saint Laurent, Stefano Pilati broke up the suit (a trend this season) by pairing, say, a double-breasted jacket in powder-blue linen with trousers in light-brown corduroy. The layers of pattern and texture recalled the 1930's; in fact Mr. Pilati's idea was to reproduce fabrics from the period but in lighter weights. Except for a private tailor, no one in Paris is doing clothes quite like Mr. Pilati's. They are elegant without being fussy, masculine without the boring connotations.
Marc Jacobs's show for Louis Vuitton seemed to spring full-blown from the 70's, complete with male purses and snug St.-Tropez shorts. Oh, but it was beguiling. You couldn't take your eyes off it or stop smiling at the overt Gucci-man gestures. The show had a strange punch, a John Delorean swagger when his type ruled the world. And there were some terrific suits, slim and dark, with white shirts and slick, shiny loafers.
You could say that Mr. Galliano's show was inconsistent, but life is inconsistent. Unexpected things keep cropping up. The show featured, as a backdrop, an oily garage and a leaky 1958 Chevy and an ashcan set on fire when the first model, in a sharp tuxedo, dropped his cigarette in it. There followed a New Orleans-style band, all trumpet and trombone, and more sharp looks, including black-and-white wingtips and a pork pie hat that looked as if someone had sat on it.
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
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| nankerphelge |
Nice sneakers! |
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| texile |
well, i knew he was doing something constructive;
i'm glad he didn't participate in live 8 but does he do ANYTHING but hop around the world's fashion events.....
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| winter |
I used to think that the tongue was something special. I used to love wearing vintage stones T's.
Now, the tongue has become so mainstream and commercial, that it is awful. Seems like every yahoo has Stones T or hat - usually, some god awful one from the recent tours (admittedly, there have also been a couple of decent ones).
Anyway, I generally don't wear Stones stuff anymore b/c of this. Occasionally, I'll throw on my Keith Richards for President T, or the dragon from the '81 tour. Also, still love my Mindless Records T.
But nowadays, I'd rather throw on a lost highway records T or a Hank Williams T.
Anyone else feel this way as well, or is it just me?
wintah |
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| glencar |
I feel exactly the same. Overdone isn't interesting. |
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| Jair |
I have a T with Jagger' s face and I like wearing it. I also have a tongue button that I always put in the strap of my bag.
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
glencar wrote:
Overdone isn't interesting.
Fashion! Bah humbug. The only people who have real taste are nudists.  |
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| glencar |
Well, as long as they have hot bods. Nudists with cellulite or beer bellies aren't ever in fashion. |
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| texile |
i don't wear my stones shit either - even that 72 tour t....it's my favorite tour but i've seen so many lame-ass psuedo-celebrites wearing it, i wouldn't dare; |
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| pdog |
I wear my Stones stuff, b/c I'm a fan. I'm not posing so I could give a rats ass! |
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| Bruno Stone |
I hate to see these trendy losers wearing the Tongue shirt... they don`t even know what it is about... they don`t deserve it.
It happenned to me once. I saw a girl in a shopping center few months ago wearing the tongue, and I came smiling to her and "do you like Rolling Stones?"
---"What?? Errrr.. oh no, no...."
This is sad. I have one of these shirts and I fear being considered one of these people above. |
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