Alexander Wang

Blame Alexander Wang and Marc Jacobs for introducing one of the most significant trends of autumn-winter 2015 season (remembering, that there as many trends as the number of designers presenting their collections during New York Fashion Week – A LOT.) Goth. Or rather, neo-goth. Wang opened the fashion week, sending his models down the runway wearing chained jackets and skirts, maxi gowns and the must-have platform boots. The hair was all about a messy, black mullet while the whole atmosphere felt disturbing. The mood-board of the designer had a lot to do with punk and metallica, and surely Goths that we can see on the streets. However, fashion history is scattered with all-black collections – so what is so special about this collection? It translates more than the black colour. It conveys a refreshing, rebellious attitude. But not the Perry Ellis one, though. It didn’t raise that much of scandal and is definitely much more commercial.

Marc Jacobs also presented his dark side, but in a totally different way. Rather than listening to metallica all day, his woman preferred opera and drama. Marc’s gloomy AW15 was all about Diana Vreeland’s glamour, The Night Porter sex-appeal and every Goths wardrobe essential, a leather choker. Personally, I hate seeing 14-year-old teens wearing those because they all look the same then – but seeing chokers during Marc Jacobs’ show was absolutely fascinating. And somewhat, chic. Besides chokers, Marc made pleated skirts and brocade jackets have a major style moment.

The trend for Goths went overseas and landed in London, where Giles Deacon of Giles presented his highly theatrical collection. The season’s hottest face, Molly Bair, wore a long dress and had a black lipstick on. Tim Burton’s model reflection, Esmeralda Seay-Reynolds, killed it while wearing a latex, Victorian-mannered waist jacket. The voluminous ballroom skirts have swept the audience away. Not only Giles presented his best collection to date, but he showed, that gothic fashion can be shady and really all about splendour.

Alessandro Dell’Acqua reinterpreted the topic of goths in his own, Italian way. Of all mentioned collections, No21 felt the most wearable and minimal – however, the devil is in the details. It was visible, that Dell’Acqua has been thrilled with Alida Valli in Visconti’s Senso. Long lace gloves and over-sized ruffles there-and-there had more to do with the Victorian era than stereotypical Goths, however the collection looked forward in a street-style-wise way. The beautifully embroidered skirts were styled with black, neoprene hoodies, forming new, gender-fusing silhouettes.

The main aim of this post was to show you, that 2015-goths are not only about black, black and black. Well, of course you won’t really see a gothic person wearing bold pink dress, but – the neo-gothic style blurs elegance with extravagance, while it can also be more wearable and boyish. It can start on Victorian references and stop on a more modern-day punk mood. And the season of AW15 definitely proves, that being a stylish neo-goth is totally fine.

“Our customer wants black, so why not do an all-black collection?” Oh dear. It’s the most commercialised sentence I ever heard from anyone in the industry since I started writing. Alexander Wang, really? REALLY? Does this mean, that the label totally went for the masses and decided to be ruled by the customer? Creativity means, that you give an idea to people – this means, that your idea is accepted or not by the person buying, analysing or observing your work. But saying that if they want black, then lets give them black makes me want to puke. Well, the Alexander Wang X HM capsule was already a bad sign (lets not deceive ourselves – the logomania prints and all that polyester & neoprene stuff was dumb). But after this totally black collection (except few pairs of jeans and one white sweater) I lose any respect for Wang. Aside from those Frankenstein boots, everything is so retail-friendly. Every rich teen girl would die to look like Kendall Jenner in one of these black dresses… and, she is going to get it, ’cause Wang knows that the “customer’s always right”.