Cautionary Tale

J.Crew canvas leopard print shoes in Lane Crawford

Hong Kong has had 6 days of perfect weather. Add to that my mum and dad are here. Result has been a fair amount of guilt free shopping but mostly in COS really. It's been my formula of late, inexpensive simple clothes, but nice shoes, bags and costume jewelry. My favorite outfit would probably consist of something J.Crew, JBrand, or COS combined with Celine, Givenchy or Valentino on the feet, Balenciaga on the arm, and Lanvin, Prada, or Chanel costume jewelry.

My mum and I were reminiscing over a glass of wine about the beautiful clothes she used to have when I was little. Some old favorites were Italian company Genny for example. She said the last time she went into a Genny store the clothes had changed dramatically. Gone were the tailored understated clothes, all replaced by bright shapeless things which looked pretty much like anything you'd find in a high street shop, albeit with better fabrics. Possibly the Genny brand felt it needed to be more trend driven, rather than timeless and classic, to stay relevant, or to keep selling.

In hindsight, I guess that would be have been an incredibly dumb strategy. The Zaras, COS's, and H&Ms of this world do trends way better than slow working traditional Italian fashion houses. But 20 years ago, who would have guessed what powerhouses high street fashion companies would become. Genny is back today after not having produced collections for about 8 years - find them at www.genny.com, Time will tell if they can re-establish themselves as a major player.

I really wonder what on earth Hedi Slimane was thinking with the Saint Laurent collection he showed in Paris this week. He turned the famous Yves Saint Laurent woman into a bit of a slob. Grungy boots, Hello Kitty worthy mini dresses, and Peter Pan collars linger in my mind. And before too long I will be seeing them back in the H&M windows on Queen's Road Central - I bet Margareta Van Den Bosch is having a great week because knocking off these clothes will be one of the easier "hommages" she will have ever done. 

Maybe Hedi Slimane is way more modern than all of us arm chair commentators - maybe he knows that this fabled chic woman dressed in woven fabrics and tailored shapes and stiletto heels no longer exists. Even if that is true, I know no one in their right mind is going to buy his high street dresses at Paris designer prices. I don't want Saint Laurent to turn into another cautionary tale. I just want Hedi Slimane to start designing under his own name, like, right NOW.

photos from www.vogue.com