Kanye West finally unveiled his much-discussed womenswear line Saturday night (October 1) with a high-profile show at Paris Fashion Week that was as full of eye-catching designs as it was celebs.
From Vogue Editor in Chief Anna Wintour to actress Lindsay Lohan, the stars were on full display for West’s show. Minutes after ‘Ye took his bow, we spoke to Ciara, who phoned MTV News from backstage to give us her take on the collection. And, yes, she was impressed with what she saw.
“It was amazing. The clothes, the feeling in the room, the energy backstage — it really feels special,” she said. “It was definitely one of the most talked-about events [of Paris Fashion Week], because it wasn’t going to be your typical show. This doesn’t happen every day, and to see someone like Kanye, who aspires to succeed in fashion, to get so much respect and cross over like this, it was monumental. It was an historic moment.”
While she was amazed by the fashion community’s embracing of West, Ciara was quick to point out that she was just as struck by his designs, singling out a few favorite looks.
“I loved the pants, the color-blocking and the orange, I loved the fur accessories, I loved the black dresses,” she said. “There was a lot of attitude. It was strong, sexy … I loved it. I kept seeing looks that made me think, ‘Oh my God, I want that.’ ”
Fashion’s most famous aficionado, music star Kanye West, turned pro on Saturday with a luxurious hard-edged women’s collection that bucked all the stereotypes about celebrity designers.
West has been a front-row fixture at fashion shows for years, but industry insiders had greeted news that he was planning to launch a line of his own with a more than hefty dose of skepticism and plenty of barbed quips about how it would surely be Lindsay Lohan’s leggings line all over again.
So, it was with slightly humbled wonder that the fashion editors, stylists and journalists hand-picked to attend Saturday’s late-night spring-summer 2012 show greeted the sophisticated, highly designed looks on the catwalk.
Sure, West didn’t reinvent the wheel: You could see the influence of established designers — many of shows he frequented over the years. There was a bit of Balmain in the short, sex-drenched dresses and some Givenchy in the gothic, bondage-y leather jackets and skirts, for example.
But luxed-up streetwear elements, like hooded jackets made in a mosaic of crocodile skins, gave the collection a unique voice of its own.
The specifics of project remained foggy: The extent of West’s involvement in the actual design remained unclear, as did the identities of those on his design team. But West’s emotional attachment to the brand was clear.
Speaking to reporters after the show, the seasoned performer kept repeating “I’m so scared, I’m so nervous.
“The biggest conversation I hope I can end tonight is whole ‘celebrity designer’ thing,” he said once he’d managed to collect himself. “That’s the biggest hurdle when you want to get amazing people to work for you.”
Another challenge, he added, was figuring out who to work with. The fashion industry is notoriously opaque and often inscrutable for outsiders, even ones as well connected as him.
Celebrities (R&B singer Ciara), designers (Joseph Altuzarra, Alexander Wang and Olivier Theyskens) and celebrity designers (the Olsen twins) turned out for West’s show, which was hands-down THE event on Paris’ spring-summer 2012 calendar.
Ciara, defying the stifling weather in a fur stole, said “he did a great job. I walked away from this show feeling like I would love to wear this line. There is so much in it that’s right up my alley.
“Especially since for me, it’s so cool to see someone come from our music world and do something like this. It’s really hard,” she said a backstage interview.
U.S. designer Jeremy Scott concurred.
“Everyone probably thought it was going to be another like Jennifer Lopez’s Macy’s line and it’s not, it’s really clear it’s not,” said Scott, who’s known for his kooky, colorful designs. “Kanye has impeccable taste and you see his taste level is up there. He’s a fan of design across the board. I have five-hour long conversations with him all the time about everything because he’s so obsessed, and I think we got a little bit of an insight into his mind there.”