Stella McCartney
PARIS, March 2, 2006
By Sarah Mower
Stella McCartney has had a lot on her plate this past year. New baby, a smash-hit gig for H&M, and a line of attention-grabbing activewear for Adidas. Well done for all that—but has she had enough in reserve to concentrate on her own brand? Her collection didn't really look like it. What she showed—big cocoon cardigans with sloppy collars, skimpy printed jersey dresses, mixed with A-line smocks and swing coats—lacked the stylistic grip and polish expected from a player in the premier league of Parisian fashion. Granted, something in their sixties/eighties spirit glanced in the right direction, but the focus seemed fuzzy.The presentation took place in the pompous surroundings of the gilded salon of the Grand Hotel, a habitat perennially associated with the rarefied métier of haute couture showings. Maybe that was a policy choice intended to separate her top line from other things she's doing, but you can't help thinking there are bolder strategies, beyond selection of venue, that could be used to leverage the equity behind brand McCartney. In a season when menswear tailoring is so much on the agenda, she could, for instance, have upped the luxe content by celebrating her signature Savile Row pantsuits, whose cut can't be achieved at mass level. Then again, perhaps a better way to go about it would be to turn her collection into a microcosm of the high-low fashion reality that McCartney embodies. What would excite both critics and her fan base alike would be to see her jeans, sporty pieces, and accessible young-girl ideas cut together with edited standouts from her posher top line. The makings are all there in her personality. Perhaps she just needs the time and space to figure it out.
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Fall 2006 Ready-to-Wear
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3.1 Phillip Lim 6267 -
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A.F. Vandevorst ADAM Akris Alberta Ferretti Alessandro Dell'Acqua Alexander McQueen Alexandre Herchcovitch Alice Roi Andrew Gn Anna Sui Ann Demeulemeester Antonio Berardi Aquascutum Araks -
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Badgley Mischka Balenciaga Basso & Brooke BCBG Max Azria Behnaz Sarafpour Bill Blass Blumarine Bottega Veneta Boudicca Brian Reyes Brioni Burberry Prorsum -
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Calvin Klein Carolina Herrera Celine Central Saint Martins Chado Ralph Rucci Chaiken Chanel Chloé Christian Dior Christian Lacroix Comme des Garçons Costello Tagliapietra Costume National -
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D&G Daryl K Derek Lam Diane von Furstenberg DKNY Dolce & Gabbana Donna Karan Doo.Ri Dries Van Noten Dsquared² -
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Fendi -
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Hermès Hussein Chalayan -
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J. Mendel Jasmin Shokrian Jean Paul Gaultier Jenni Kayne Jill Stuart Jil Sander John Galliano Jonathan Saunders Junya Watanabe -
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Kai Kühne Karl Lagerfeld Kenneth Cole New York Kenzo -
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Oscar de la Renta -
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Wunderkind -
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Y & Kei Y-3 Yigal Azrouël Yohji Yamamoto Yves Saint Laurent -
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Zac Posen Zero + Maria Cornejo
