Following up on my previous blog entry The house is falling, reports from the news media say Christian Lacroix may be saved from bankruptcy. Investment group, Bernard Krief Consulting is planning to make an offer as early as Monday to Lacroix and if all goes well fashion lovers around the globe will jump and shout for joy at this eleventh hour announcement…. But wait what’s the catch?

Louis Petiet, the president of Bernard Krief Consulting says he hopes to “Multiply Lacroix's sales by five, bringing them from 30 million euros ($43 million) in 2008 to 150 million euros ($213 million) over the next five years” (Laurent Lemel, Associated Press). This will prove challenging since Lacroix has failed to create any revenue within the house’s 22-year history – and you wonder why he declared bankruptcy.

It’ll be interesting to see what changes will take place within the fashion house once the deal with Bernard Krief Consulting is finalized. There’s no doubt Lacroix will be under high expectations to succeed after being saved from bankruptcy, and he’ll have to make compromises in order to appease his new investors and to maintain his work. A strong arm and sound business advice may be all he needs to succeed. However, any business advice Lacroix receives now has got to be better than before.

(Image from Vogue UK) vrytuxh6d4

Friday marked the end of fall/winter 2010 haute couture week in Paris. I’ve included footage and my reviews from the shows of some of my favourite houses: Chanel, Givenchy and Valentino. Have a read through and let me know what you think of these collections.

Chanel: Recession… What recession? The 2010 fall/winter collection for Chanel took place in the Grand Palais, Paris with towering white bottles of Chanel No.5. As you watch the video it appears Karl Lagerfeld is using the simplicity of these sculptural bottles to offset the richness and texture of this collection. His aim was “to combine extremely pure silhouettes, which evoke ‘unencumbered graphic effects and asymmetric lines’” in his garments (Chanel.com). Individually I think each outfit is beautiful, however as they appeared on the runway I couldn’t help but feel there was a lack of cohesion in the collection – the silhouettes seem to lose its purity with long trains and I found the lace hats distracting and out of place. Grade: B+

Givenchy: all I have to say about the Givenchy 2010 fall/winter collection, by Riccardo Tisci is WOW! I am completely floored by his work. It is one of the most dynamic, haunting,and captivating collections I’ve seen during this past week and most likely the whole year. Watch the accompanying video and you’ll see that the clothes speaks for itself. Suit me up Tisci! Grade: A+

Valentino: newly appointed designers to the House of Valentino, Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri have received mixed reviews for their second collection for fall/winter 2010 (see New York Times and Associated Press articles). The duo is carving out their own niché and creating a different vision of the Valentino woman and being the house’s former accessories designers for years they have a personal and professional relationship with the company which can work for or against them. They present the evolution of the Valentino woman who is youthful with a little bit of an edge. I find this new vision for the house refreshing and sexy, but Piccioli and Chiuri need to be reminded the House of Valentino should be transformed in stages rather than in a wave of change so they don’t alienate their pre-existing audience and customers. Grade: B

(Videos from www.telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com)

Monday marked the kick off to a week of winter 2010 haute couture collections in Paris, France. News outlets such as the New York Times, Associated Press and Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) were filing stories left, right and centre about the relevance of couture in these difficult economic times. Couture garments are a work of art taking countless man hours to produce,but they also run the cost of a small island off the coast of Africa.

Therefore it’s rightly so that WWD ask, “Do dresses with six-figure price tags have a place in fashion magazines at a time of economic crisis?” In the world of fashion and fantasy where every girl is Carrie Bradshaw I say yes. However, according to Statistics Canada in May “Employment decreased by 42,000 (jobs and) … The unemployment rate rose… to 8.4 per cent, the highest rate in 11 years” this is a reality which cannot afford excess. There are only a select few who can afford these ostentatious outfits and they are the monetary staple of the exclusive haute couture club.

The outfits pictured in this post are by John Galliano for the House of Dior – beautiful colours and tailoring but the lower half of the garments seem to be missing. One could assume Galliano ran out of money to buy fabric to finish the rest of the skirts or the lack of cloth is a play on the sign of the economic times. What I know for sure is these outfits don’t exactly qualify as winter wear. Obviously they haven’t been to Canada.

(Images from @itsmechaneliman and New York Times photographers, Chris Moore/Karl Prouse.)