I’ll make the comment on these photos brief. It seems as if Hussein Chalayan wants to push the direction of fashion in two directions: futuristic (i.e, the Star Trek piece) and back to the past (i.e, Adam and Eve…with hat). That is all.

via Style.com

As anyone worth her weight metallics knows, it’s Breast Cancer Awareness month and many of our favorite retailers issue special products to raise money for the cause. We here at Papierdoll will be featuring various products throughout the month so you can shop till your heart’s content.

First up is Sweet Grass Farm. I love their fragrance sticks. Just as fragrant as, if not more than, a candle, but safer, and constantly refreshing the room! Does wonders when the folks downstairs cook smelly food all the time, stinking up your bedroom. Worked out and need a little extra carnation and pink peppercorn wafting around? Turn the sticks over! It’s that simple to amp up the scent.

They last forever, too. So the $29.95 is worth it. Check ‘em out at Sweet Grass Farms and get a little faith, hope, and courage.

If I’d known Jean Paul Gaultier was going to send this model down the runway, I would have dropped a thou and hopped on an overnight flight to Paris just to sneek in.

Not because I am mean-spirited, but because I would have just loved to see the front row reactions, everyone completely unsure what to do: laugh to demonstrate that they got the clever joke, look aghast as they pray that being in the room with so much cellulite won’t make them gain half a pound themselves, or look to Anna for guidance and mimic her stern (shielded by tinted Chanels) poker face. I imagine at least one socialite swallowed her own Orbitz-citrus-gum-and-nicotine-flavored-vomit. They would, of course, want to laugh, as it is a poignant satire on the skinny model debate, but

Me? I’d be rolling over the runway with laughter—not at Galliano’s statement, but at every fashion type who takes themselves much too seriously.

(What is Gaultier’s message? Was it threatening: “this is what happens when the world rejects skinny models;” tongue-in-cheek: “well, you all asked for more body types;” or a more thoughtful stance: “extremism in body forms is unhealthy—either be it rail-thin skinny or morbidly obese?”)

Perhaps it is an unfair judgment, as Paris has had to follow three major fashion weeks, but the looks coming out of Paris seem partially recycled and “so New York from four weeks ago.” At this point, we’ll grasp onto any trace of originality, as we’re feeling quite fatigued.

Viktor & Rolf



Dancing with the stars. Apparently a hit tv show in middle America, and apparently Viktor & Rolf’s inspiration for their spring 2007 line.

Comme des Garçons



The incorporation of the emblematic Japanese solid red circle provided interesting multiple variations; but does Rei Kawakubo think that hiking up the belted waist (belts practically around the bustline) is inventive? It’s still fall 2006, even if the belt creeps up to the neckline.

Balmain



Gladiator redux. The evolution of the gladiator look is well-developed, a sort of Roman rockstar. At the same time, how long until the Roman empire falls? Imagine how much fresher the concept would have been if we hadn’t seen gladiator the past three seasons.

Junya Watanabe



The denim industry is undergoing a major shakeout, and while denim is perpetually in style, the head-to-toe denim look and adaptation of denim to suits and outerwear may have come a bit too late onto the scene.

Yohji Yamamoto



The pleated creations and dark, somber color palette reminded us of Dragana Ognjenovic’s spring line—a more dowdy, depressing, and less wearable version of it, that is.

A far departure from last season’s Napoleonic classicism, Dolce and Gabbanna’s spring 2007 runway featured designs for the most tragic fashion victims at the hottest Martian nightclub on Saturn’s fifth moon.

Some pieces were just the right meld of futurism with the looks of today—corsets, tiny belts, monochromes. Others made models (stick thin models!) look hippy, wrapped in cellophane or like they were attacked by a fingerpainting class of kindergarteners.

And with that squib, I imagine that I will be on the “out” list for next season’s Dolce show. Oh well, Cathy Horyn, Sarah Mower and I will just have to go get a cappuccino together.