The one tragic shop closure in London over the last year for me has been Jean-Charles' Conduit Street store. It bought a bit of tongue-in-cheek fashion and colour to the road. I miss it. However, since EXR (a Korean company) now own the label, they are opening 30 new stores apparently - let's hope one of those is here in London.
I actually said out loud when I saw JC's new spring summer 2012 collection: 'Wow, it's grown up!' It seems with the label's buy-out comes a shift in his signature OTT cartoon take on couture. At first look, with the sensible yet gorgeous LBD's and coats, you'd think all his magic had disappeared, but look a bit closer and you'll soon see that Mickey Mouse is still very alive and present. THANK GOD!
The first five looks down the runway prove his new versatility. From afar, little cute sparkly shift dresses, a black and white version with a mesh neckline, but a closer look reveals fun shooting stars and cartoon cloud appliqués and dollar signs too.
A red, white and black check trench coat dress with exclamation and question marks, the same print dress with a Mickey Mouse ear sweetheart neckline, Mickey Mouse top and skirt separates along with a figure-fitting Mickey dress too. You see, the JC DC woman still has her idiosyncratic options to chose from, they are just...toned down a tiny bit.
The show was a 'meeting of the future and the past', which probably explains the exquisite otherworldly metallic tweed that closed the show - the best dressed fashion aliens I've ever seen.
I like this new JC de Castelbajac. As long as he never gets rid of Mickey or his other cheeky prints, his new past/future thing works for me!
