Posen’s Last Words: In Europe, ‘My Clothes Are Respected’

by Justin Fenner | 5:20 pm, October 1st, 2010

The Wall Street Journal said there were “apparent fit problems.” The New York Times complained there were too many feathers. Women’s Wear Daily wrote that the models looked like showgirls. For Style.com, there were too many things going on.

No matter where you looked, nearly every critic in the fashion industry had a problem with the spring collection Zac Posen presented in Paris yesterday.

After showing his newer, lower priced line called Z Spoke during New York Fashion Week, Posen took his traveling act to The City of Lights, where he presented a group of 30 evening looks in the same room where Yves Saint Laurent staged some of the glitziest and best reviewed couture shows in fashion history. Whatever magic there might have been for Saint Laurent did not rub off on Posen.

Perhaps the worst part of the entire ordeal is what the designer told WWD back in May: he moved the collection across the pond because he thought that in Europe, “my clothes are respected.” As it turns out, when American fashion writers go to Paris, they bring their New York attitudes with them.

Herein, excerpts from some of the reviews. Scroll through a few of the looks below.

Christina Binkley, The Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Posen is known for his party dresses, and that’s what he showed. Perhaps it was the juxtaposition with the highly ornate ballroom at Paris’s Westin hotel, or maybe it was the difficult comparison with the high-concept designers in Paris, but the collection tried too hard to grab attention with boudoir games.

WWD:

… On the whole, the collection veered dangerously into tawdry territory, especially when feathers were trapped under mesh, jutting out from hips or splayed over bosoms. The painted-on pants and rampant bodice wrapping took Posen far from the girly glam for which he’s known. In coming to Paris, something was definitely lost in translation.

Suzy Menkes, The New York Times:

Daytime? Perhaps Mr. Posen thought he had sorted that with the debut of his second Z-Spoke collection in New York. Or maybe, if you are thinking showgirls, the outfit for a noontime wake-up coffee would be a body-skimming mesh jumpsuit, perhaps with a curvy little jacket. And feathers.

Nicole Phelps, Style.com:

The vibe: showgirl boudoir. Posen’s signature silhouette hasn’t changed; it’s still nipped and paneled at the waist, but cutouts are part of the sexy mix for Spring—and that meant there was a lot going on, sometimes too much … Subtlety has never been Posen’s MO, nor are we suggesting it should be, but it wouldn’t have hurt if he’d picked up a few pointers on chic simplicity from Monsieur Saint Laurent.

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