N O V E L T Y / LaLa Berlin

Light blue boxy leather motorcycle jackets just arrived in Acne stores, similar monochromatic light pink ensembles have been in American Apparel window displays for years, the flowy long skirts with a dove print are a downright Ann Demeulemeester rip off and the metal cuffs have already been exploited by H&M and ASOS ever since they appeared on a Damir Doma runway a year ago. Lala Berlin isn't really what you would call a pioneer in fashion.

The collection was very aimed at the now, it was a cohesive mixture of today's trends. Trends that will get bigger and will be fully accepted by the mainstream by the time that these pieces hit stores. Not trying anything new and sticking with what's already popular is a safe and smart thing to do in this economy if you want to make money. But is it necessary and relevant to build a fashion show around these already available styles?

My first answer to that question was NO. But after giving it a second thought I realized that this style of dressing has been around
for a few seasons. Perhaps this age will be remembered for it like the 80's were remembered for their shoulder pads. Perhaps fashion is finally slowing down a bit.

Vanessa Friedman from the Financial Times came with some facts in a recent column that support these thoughts: "Indeed, the last major aesthetic change I can think of was more than a year ago, when Phoebe Philo’s rigorous minimalism at Céline sent her audience gasping and running to fill their wardrobes with men’s trousers and tailored cloth coats. As a colleague said the other day, “Indeed, the last major aesthetic change I can think of was more than a year ago, when Phoebe Philo’s rigorous minimalism at Céline sent her audience gasping and running to fill their wardrobes with men’s trousers and tailored cloth coats. As a colleague said the other day, “There’s nothing I feel like I need to buy in order to feel current, no ankle boot will fix all my problems.” Put another way: Polyvore, the do-it-yourself “fashion inspiration” website wherein members create and widely share their own collages built around specific items, just released its Year in Review report, which analyses user behaviour over the past 12 months, and the top five trends were: “prints, minimalism, monochrome, florals, men’s wear-inspired.” The sixth was ... trousers."

Conclusion: A collection that I would be happy to wear today, but which didn't contain much originality. It gave some food for thought and discussion about more long term trends. It was beautiful, styled impeccably, nonetheless for an independent designer to present Ann Demeulemeester skirts with another name on it is just not done.(sorry had to be said)