Stella McCartney F/W 2011.2012 Paris

Stella is bang on this season, something of a change of vocabulary for her, but her best collection yet.The un-embellished closed-frontedness, the dolman sleeve and the cocoon shapes, the outsize boxy meditations on the menswear tuxe, the play on the sweetheart bustline at times interestingly and suggestively reversed; it reads as almost conceptual, yet chicly sexy, futuristic minimalism. Owing a little to the 70s at the opening, a passing nod to 90s slouch in the white knit on Sasha Pivovarova, 50s in the sweetheart bustlines and 40s in the pencil skirts and peplums towards the close, yet with a feel of 60s futurism almost throughout particularly in the metallic section at half way, but managing to never feel overly retro, this was a five star collection.That Stella felt close to a Raf Simons or a Francisco Costa silhouette didnt worry me. It read as dialogue rather than deriving. For instance, most of her oversizing felt braver and bolder than Rafs. That bolder playing with scale and the away from the body two-dimensional flatness that cropped up here and there seemed in fact to owe more to Margiela. It really is a wonderfully crazy season. Perhaps its a little worrying that McCartney undoubtedly isnt a conceptual minimalist but she pretends to be one rather well. That almost every designer has shifted their positioning this season, adopted someone elses identity often in the most unforeseen ways.If you like the old certainties: forget it, embrace changes, go with the flow. I can see that somehow, in this season, the crazier the better. Is it disorientating? You bet. Is there such a thing as brand identity any more? Not really. Blame Miucca and Marc for a decade at the pinnacle changing vocabulary at a break-neck speed. Its a contagion thats spreading like wildfire. But of course it makes life much more interesting. Whatever next.