With a stellar lineup of models (Karlie Kloss, Chanel Iman, Anja Rubik and Jourdan Dunn) plus a star-studded front row filled with designers (Azzedine Alaïa, Dean and Dan Caten, Olivier Theyskens, Jeremy Scott) AND celebrities (Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Ciara and Lindsay Lohan), we expected only the best of Kanye West‘s debut womenswear collection. Instead, the Spring 2012 line received mixed (mainly negative) reviews from the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and fashion editors tweeting from the show.
We checked out the collection and it’s not bad for a first attempt at a line. However, we imagine if he showed this on Project Runway, we might hear Nina Garcia say it reminded her of another designer’s work. We saw looks that could easily have been on the runways of other well-known design houses – Balmain, Hervé Léger, Alexander Wang and Dennis Basso. There were a lot of edgy leather looks and heavy zipper details(Wang), metallic pants and crystal-embellished blazers (Balmain), bandage dresses (Léger) and thick fur backpacks and stoles (Basso).
The looks were hot but we’ve seen it all before. And the fits were less than perfect. Some mused that the collection looked rushed. But for someone who has never worked as a fashion designer before, this wasn’t an awful first attempt. We just hope to see less designer-inspired looks and more of Kanye West‘s own fashion vision, plus more finished creations at his next runway show.
Photos: Gianni Pucci / GoRunway.com
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