Monse: A Personal Vision
In all the many cases of passing the fashion baton, this must have been the weirdest takeover by a backroom pair of designers.
After Oscar de la Renta’s death in 2014 and a brief replacement by international designer Peter Copping, the historic company looked for talent in its in-house team.
Monse Autumn/Winter 2017. Credit: Indigital
The story is complex, but it has ended up with Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia as creative directors at de la Renta, but also maintaining their own personal brand, Monse – as it is named. This is not so strange to high fashion: in Paris John Galliano, for example, kept his own line while working for Dior.
Monse Autumn/Winter 2017. Credit: Indigital
But to my knowledge, there has never been a display of a designer’s work at the same time as the offering of the brand where they’re employed. And in this case, the personal collection came first!
Monse Autumn/Winter 2017. Credit: Indigital
To emphasize the divide, the Hilton sisters, Nicky (now Rothschild) and Paris, posed by the flimsy curtains, one wearing an outfit from Monse; the other in Oscar.
I would describe the Monse offering as experimental couture – starting with a widely ruffled white top worn with narrow pants. That was followed by a tailored gray herringbone coat with cutaway shoulders and then the look was roughed up with big, furry, off-kilter tops, falling off one shoulder or in a tangled mix of fabrics.
Monse Autumn/Winter 2017. Credit: Indigital
This all looked like a deconstructed version of Oscar’s couture perfection and, as such, had possibility. Striking pieces included colorful paillettes giving gleam and sheen to simple evening dresses.
Homage at Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta Autumn/Winter 2017. Credit: Indigital
Then, after a malfunction left the swish of the curtains half closed, came the Oscar collection. It started with streamlined black outfits, such as narrow pants and a wide-shouldered top cinched in by a gilded rose buckle belt. But then came elegant, if very familiar, coats and jackets that looked like the couturier’s archives on speed. That was because of bright mixes of orange, red, shocking pink, and royal blue. Surely women who still wear these uptown outfits would choose a classic, not a vivid or lurid shade?
Oscar de la Renta Autumn/Winter 2017. Credit: Indigital
The black tops with narrow pants or little black dresses seemed more convincing – but they were not designed with the same experience of cutting on the bias. Each time a dress passed by, I saw the tell-tale line of a seam stitched in silk or velvet.
Oscar de la Renta Autumn/Winter 2017. Credit: Indigital
Is it such a sewing sin not to make everything in the old-school way? Not necessarily. But it did not look as though the duo was experimenting, instead rather playing homage in a caricaturist way.
Oscar de la Renta Autumn/Winter 2017. Credit: Indigital
It was their choice to send out a strapless evening dress with a bell-shaped skirt that looked very like ‘Oscar’ in his heyday. So let’s look at this show as an homage for their debut season. Hopefully, there will be some new developments for next season.
