Kanye West may have more than a dozen Grammy awards to his name, but fear of the fashion world turned the rapper, singer and music producer extraordinaire into a nervous wreck on Saturday, as he debuted his new luxury clothing line at Paris Fashion Week.
He was right to worry: The fashion industry is notoriously catty and, even though West had been a front-row regular at fashion shows for years, it had greeted the news that he was planning to launch his own line with raised eyebrows, preemptively consigning him to the same category of celebrity designers as the likes of Lindsay Lohan and her leggings.
But West proved naysayers wrong with his slick collection of sexy, hard-edged looks that were hands-down better in terms of design and construction than much of whats been shown during the first five days of Paris spring-summer 2012 ready-to-wear collections.
Attended by the creme de la creme of the fashion world and a sprinkling of celebrities, including Lohan herself, Wests debut was the event of Paris Fashion Week, and it stole the thunder from Saturdays other shows.
Jean Paul Gaultier can usually be counted on to deliver a real fashion spectacle, but Saturdays show was strangely plodding and staid. With Paris in the grips of a freak heat wave, the venue became an sort of inferno and the shows hour-late start turned the whole thing into a sort of Chinese torture, redeemed only by the beauty of the clothes.
Usually Viktor & Rolf collections are exercises in an almost ostentatious creativity, but Saturdays display was less about over-the-top experimentation than detail. But outrageousness had not completely deserted the building: The models took to the catwalk from beneath a giant pleated skirt the size of a giant teepee.
Frances reigning queen of knitwear, Sonia Rykiel, was also more subdued than usual, though her pleated culottes and relaxed pant suits in creamy whites and yellows were as still sporty and fun as usual.
Australian-born designer Martin Grants was one of those collections where you coveted simply everything. The wide-legged trousers in canary silk jersey; the halter tops in graphic black and white prints; the maxi-dresses hung with floor-length strips, like seaweed. It was a great collection and among the strongest shows of the day.
Paris Fashion Week finishes today.
KANYE WEST
Given their more than healthy dose of skepticism about the Wests line, it was with slightly humbled wonder that the fashion editors, stylists and journalists hand-picked to attend the late-night show greeted the sophisticated, highly designed looks on the catwalk.
Sure, West didnt reinvent the wheel: You could see the influence of established designers many of shows he frequented over the years. There was a bit of Balmain in the short, sex-drenched dresses and some Givenchy in the gothic, bondage-y leather jackets and skirts, for example.
But luxed-up streetwear elements, like hooded jackets made in a mosaic of crocodile skins, gave the collection a unique voice of its own.
The specifics of project remained foggy: The extent of Wests involvement in the actual design remained unclear, as did the identities and pedigrees of those on his design team. But Wests emotional attachment to the brand was clear.
Speaking to reporters after the show, the seasoned performer kept repeating Im so scared, Im so nervous.