Louis Vuitton : All Fro and precious little GO.

The LV collection for spring is an anomaly. This collection stands for luxury, quality, craft and modernity. At least that's what it's stood for in the past. Not so much this time around. Other editors like Suzy Menkes of the Herald Tribune and even the NY Times cheered and cooed over hairy clogs and mile high Afros and really pedestrian clothes with a few exceptions. This collection felt like a repeated joke one exit after the other, much like the boorish drunk at a party who has to hit you with the punch line 5 or 10 times because he's making sure you love the joke as much as he does, or has forgotten that you've heard/seen it 20 times already.

That's harsh but so was this effort on Marc Jacobs part. The pieces that resonated, did so more due to what they referenced than for their own sake. He took a few tweedy jackets and coats, cut them like Chanel and then tacked big army fatigue green patch pockets on them just so you'd know it was Vuitton. Other looks were collage inspired treatments that reminded me of Koos van den Akker from the 70's. Most of the time it was a parade of unsophisticated shorts and skirts under burly jackets and unappealing yak-haired clogs.

The things that did capture my eye and hold my attention were consistently the jackets. From pseudo-Chanel looks, to Carhartt -inspired outdoorsy hunting/work jackets to very artfully cut , layered ones that cut close to the waist and flared around the hips. Most were paired over knit leggings sheared off at the knees. Others were over unappealing toddler's bloomers. What makes one think that women want to be infantilized or fetishized in panties or bloomers? Dumb question coming from someone wholly and completely out of step....but I'll stumble in the dark a little more. The other dresses I thought were interesting and even lovely were a pair of printed, draped chiffon minis over a base of a knit tee-shirt. They were beautifully executed if not absurdly short, but great looking. Beyond those jackets and a few skirts with huge flap pocket details down the front, I didn't see much to make my heart go bam, bam, bam.

Accessories, the mainstay of that company, were IT in the truest sense. There was a road-kill aspect that were less than 'must have' and just dumb. Big raccoon tails dangling from over-sized duffel shapes and the ubiquitous yak shoes were other examples of the joke being on the consumer. There were a few clever pony skin boots that were all innocence and not even remotely arch, even with bits of hair protruding here and there.
I've said it before...when I look at his collections I feel so deeply and distressingly un-cool. This was the same feeling I experienced looking at this collection. Marc's eponymous collection usually is the lesser of the two as far as overall impact and value. I'd have to say that it was reversed this time. There were looks in his New York presentation that were very beautiful and looked as though he was trying to express a feeling that seemed personal and actually felt. This group in contrast seems to be all surface, all show and no tell.

With all that afro-liciousness coming down the runway, maybe 55-60 looks in all, I guess it's a small consolation there were 4 models, black girls, who actually looked plausible. To my mind, that's a paltry sum coming from someone who is way cooler than me.

Perhaps his honeymoon wasn't quite long enough.