Considering Kanye West’s history, status, and notoriety as a trendsetter, his women’s ready-to-wear collection debut at Paris Fashion Week was hardly anything to be shocked about. The real anticipation, however, was whether or not his collection would be any good. Celebrities-turned-designers are often received in one of two very different ways — either with a great deal of scrutiny or with blind acceptance, depending on the celebrity and the audience.What trounced down the first Kanye West runway was a cohesive collection of educated and thought-out quality pieces, which proved that, at the very least, Kanye had done his homework. The streetwear-inspired collection had plenty of leather, cutouts, and plunging necklines and backs that, with the help of draped pieces and boxy cuts, managed to remain just shy of taking the skin-baring too far.
Although there were several wearable pieces in the collection, the overall effect came across as a safe risk. Beautiful and mild, Kanye's collection was somewhat fashion forward; certainly palatable; and, at times, even interesting — but it consistently stopped short of being groundbreaking. Who knows, the safe-risk approach seems to have worked well for his music career, so it might be a prudent place for his first step into the fashion world, after all.
Text Tienlyn Jacobson
Source WWD
