Maybe Kanye West does have a legitimate fashion career in him. After his debut foray into women’s wear debuted at 2011 Paris Fashion Week the general consensus was that the collection lacked clarity of vision, high quality craftsmanship and, well, good taste (translation: too slutty, ill-fitting, too random). But West has shown obvious growth in his follow up collection, which showed at Paris Fashion Week today.
There was a consistent aesthetic running through the mostly black 20-look showcase, making this infinitely more cohesive than his scatty debut. The inspiration behind Kanye’s designs has, thankfully, evolved from the kind of clothes he would like to see a woman wear, to what a woman would actually want to wear (unless they’re vegan). West tackled strong, warrior-like femininity and street style, combined with super-luxe fabrication and details.
And on the subject of fabric this isn’t a collection PETA will be endorsing any time soon. Suede, furs, leather and skins abound, adding ghetto-riche to the more street inspired shapes (Kim Kardashian was in the front row, after all).
There was a hot leather biker jacket worn on Karlie Kloss, cool sweaters, tapered leather trousers and slouchy custom satchels. Some good looking dresses in there too: A beautiful long-sleeved laser-cut black velvet mini and a fur and velvet frock with sheer panels and zipper detailing.
My first touch-point for comparison of the luxe-meets-wearable, strong-meets-sexy aesthetic is the earlier Alexander Wang collections, particularly Fall 2010, but with the body-embracing sex of one of Kanye’s favourite references, Alaia. If Kanye continues to keep on defining his vision and work out exactly what his clothes are all about he’s really going to sell some clothes. Even if they are absurdly expensive.
View Photos via Style Pantry Twitter
Title Image by Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty
