Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo shouts, Olé!

Is the Manolo the only person in the fashion press to recognize that Galliano’s Spanish theme for the 60th anniversary of the House of Dior is partly the homage to Manolete, the greatest torero who ever lived, and whose sensational death in the bull ring occurred in August of 1947, at exactly the moment Christain Dior was beginning his business?

It is not as if Manolete is competely unknown, they are making the movie about his life, with Adrian Brody in the title role.

It is perhaps the less well known fact that the Manolo, himself, was named after Manolete.

Manolo says, Finally, the Dolce and the Gabbana are here to fix the computers!

Manolo says, thanks to the YouTube and the cheap cell-phone camera one may now enjoy being frightened by the bad fashion via video.

The tip of the Manolo’s hat to his internet friend Ms. Place

Manolo says, the Manolo is not the easily frightened person, but occasionally he come across the fashion show that leaves him shaken.

Sometimes it is the models that scare the Manolo.

Sometimes it is the fashions

Occasionally, it is the designers.

Update: Ayyyyyyy, White-on-Fright II!!!

Manolo says, the fashion bloggers are in revolt!

Look at this from the Manolo’s internet friend Joanne at the Second City Style

I quit. I’m finished. Kaput. After this column there will be no more: my days of writing about “celebrity” designers are finished. Whether it’s Victoria Beckam, J.Lo or Amanda Bynes, I’m tired of promoting celebrity over style, and making fashion synonymous with a cause celeb. I refuse to be part of any contemporary Emperor’s entourage who says s/he can be confused with a designer, or literally h/er “new clothes.”

[…]

No, this is not the phenomenon I’m taking to task. Rather, what’s deplorable and insulting is the rise of the celebrity label (fragrance and beauty brand). First of all, I am of the belief that while people are multidimensional and capable of more than a single achievement, this kind of talent requires, well, something beyond name recognition. Even if you spent years of your life locked in your basement with patterns and fabric and models (who aren’t kept in your basement), you’ve spent time developing skills and actually participated in the trade. What saddens me is the fact that the actual “designers” behind these lines have spent years of their life developing industry skills and find themselves working on behalf of a brand that isn’t even just a generic and perhaps even soul-gutting design house like Liz Claiborne (before Tim Gunn of course). Instead, they find themselves assisting in the development of a person who is likely to have risen to fame because of crotchless photos and repeated tepid performances in films that simply won’t go away. These designers build brands… around an image of a w/oman whose bloated bank account will benefit fifty-fold from their labor. And while it’s true that a designer’s paycheck is without doubt a helpful tool, as is the experience, what would be more helpful to designers is if these celebrities would really take the fashion they admire seriously…and invest in their lines … or actually insist on paying for h/er work (no more free dresses).

This is the sixth or seventh such article the Manolo recently read on his favorite fashion blogs. Indeed, the Manolo himself has been saying this exact thing for many years now: designing the clothing is similar to any other form of art, in that it takes hard work and particular training to become adept at its practice, things which the celebrities are mostly unwilling to invest.

It appears to the Manolo that there is the growing backlash among the fashion bloggers and their readers, among that very class of internet dwellers who take the clothing and the design most seriously. Perhaps it will be enough to slow this pernicious tide.

Manolo says, over in the Manolo’s Super Fantastic Forums, the Dr. Nic poses the question.

Why is it that so many actresses and other public figures feel they can design clothing?

To which the Manolo’s internet friend the Purple Rules replies in the definitive terms!

Because so many people are willing to buy their “designs”. Or someone thinks people will buy them. I’ve never seen anything “designed” by a celebrity that I was even tempted to buy but someone must be shelling out for the stuff.

In the case of H&M, maybe they’re just happy if people come into the store and look at it. Perhaps it really increases the foot traffic in the store so it doesn’t matter if it actually sells.

It also helps that they (actresses) have huge egos. They’re on the cover of magazines (when was the last time you saw a model on the cover of a magazine?) and are constantly told what a “great style” they have. It would never occur to them that having great style doesn’t necessarily translate into great design skills. On top of that, most of them don’t have great style. They’ve got a great stylist, whose got great style.

Once upon a time, it was enough to be regarded as a great actress. Then they had to release an album. Then they all had to have their own perfume. Now it’s a clothing line. I’m almost afraid to ask, what’s next?

The Manolo might not have used language this blunt, but he could not have said it better. And thus, the Purple Rules is exactly correct, the plethora of the celebrity designers is all about the Benjamins.

Manolo says, Galliano! With the poochy little belly and the Dita von Teese and the barn door open!

Here you see the two pairs of shoes from the Roberto Cavalli, shoes which properly capture the Robert Cavalli aesthetic, which the Manolo might describe as “Long Island Russian Mafia Gun Moll”.

And yet, for all of that, the Manolo finds these shoes “almost”. Almost worth wearing. Almost beautiful. Almost super fantastic.

The problem is that the Manolo, who believes that true fashion lies on the border between the trashy and the classic, thinks that these shoes are located just across the fashionable border into the land of the trashy, which means these shoes are “almost”.

Of the course, this tendency to keep adding the junk to the shoes until they seem too much is not merely the major draw back of the Roberto Cavalli., it is also undoubtedly his greatest selling point, making his shoes perfectly suited for the flashy and unsophisticated market he has captured.

Do not get the Manolo wrong, the Roberto Cavalli is talented, it is just that he needs to be restrained.

Look here is the picture of the Cavalli at the Costume Institue Gala.

Clearly, this is not the celebrity endorsement which the more sensitive designer would be happy to have.

Update: The Manolo’s internet friend Nicole disagrees.

Manolo says, Pepe, don’t forget the hedges!

**

And now the Manolo must clarify the few things.

Yes, the Manolo likes to gently mock the John Galliano, mostly for his theatrical dress and his outrageous runway behavior. And yet, even as the Manolo mocks, he must also acknowledge that, more than any other current designer, John Galliano has the ability to be sublime.

Indeed, he is one of the few working designers whom the Manolo is willing to call the genius. This judgement, long held by the Manolo, has been further confirmed by his most recent Parisian show, the Fall 2007 prêt-à-porter collection.

There are pieces in this collection that the Manolo finds beautiful, and smart, and filled with character and charm and individuality and movement. And it is not just the individual clothes, but the entire gestalt of the show, with its detail and whimisicality, which impresses. Even the shoes, although ultimately unwearable, look good.