Thursday, September 11, 2008

Rodarte SS09 - The Easy Way Out

I was blown away by the sisters' FW08 collection. They were the real deal. The SS09 collection is equally gorgeous, but it leaves me a little bit empty. I can see Anna Wintour whispering to the sisters after the previous show "......well, why don't you guys keep the direction and refine it a bit for the summer season......""......look at what Nicolas Ghesquiere has done so far......That's all." I understand that designers need to be consistent and keep their directions clear, but the latest design from Rodarte seem to be lazy to me: They have taken the easy way out to recycle their ideas from the previous season and even borrow ideas from the signature Balenciaga looks. It's not even a remix. It's a re-release!


Question: which dress is from FW08 and which one is from SS09?
If you chose the first look the spring look because of the colors, you are WRONG. Nope, they are not from the same collection. The first is from FW08 and second is from SS09, shown in NYC yesterday. What's the point of doing the same look twice? U2 doesn't record Sunday Bloody Sunday every time they have a new album. Why do you, Rodarte?

Don't get me wrong, the dress is beautiful. The hard metal accessories and the fragile chiffon balance each other so well and the drape is so well done. But isn't it a little dishonest?Those two pictures, from afar, without contact lenses, look 100% Balenciaga to me .(the regulars here know how much I love Balenciaga.) Nope, they are also Rodarte. The first will fit perfectly with the looks from Balenciaga SS07 and the second look is produced by Balenciaga every single season.

So what's the verdict? 10 for execution. 2 for originality.

2 comments:

  1. I didn't realize you had any new posts!

    I completely agree with your thoughts on Rodarte. It's disappointing to see they did the same thing this season as last, but I look at it a lot like Givenchy's spring 08 couture. Both houses needed one collection to anchor the future seasons. Both collections are pretty, but nothing new for either house, but they were important in the fact that they could show the house signatures and zoom in on the image and identity of their customers.

    And I didn't even think Balenciaga the first time I saw those two looks, but now the resemblance is uncanny!

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  2. Hi Ian, glad to see you back. Yeah I know......
    How do you like the new Givenchy collection then? Unfortunately Tisci just doesn't move forward. What a shame. He is definitely talented.

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