Julien Macdonald (Q4875)
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Julien Macdonald is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Julien Macdonald |
Julien Macdonald is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
At the end, as Olivia Newton John sang “Xanadu” over a seriously amped-up beat, the crowd just couldn’t wait to be on the runway. They thronged the parquet of Southwark Cathedral–a place of worship that has surely seen such frenzied devotion as this—while Julien Macdonald, Gabriela Gonzalez, and their models were still doing their final circuit.The show was perfectly calibrated to get those guests on their feet and whooping. Before it began, the music was pumping and the cocktails powerful. For those who were not under the influence, there was the intoxicating proximity to influencers: Photographers jostled to shoot Lottie Moss, Sabrina Elba, Munroe Bergdorf, Victoria Hervey, Hana Cross, Ed Westwick, Mary Charteris, and many others. This whetted the appetite. However, the most potent ingredient of all in Macdonald’s hot-show recipe was, of course, the clothes.Since the withdrawal of Roberto Cavalli from fashion, there is arguably nobody who produces such unabashedly uncut “glamour” as Julien Macdonald. There is Balmain, and there is Versace, of course, but va-va-voom is just part of their arsenals; with Macdonald it is everything.Gabriela Gonzalez, who shared the billing for this collection and walked the runway with him, is a Mexico City–based horse breeder, socialite, and Macdonald customer with whom he has been friends for five years. As he explained on a visit to his studio before the show: “Gabriela said it was her dream to do this, and I thought, Why not? I’ll only ever do it once.” The occasional pastel look, normally outside of Macdonald’s spectrum, was included for Gonzalez, and he said he envisioned all of the looks with her in mind. The marble-print resort-meets-swimwear that was cut in among the main collection added a much-appreciated-by-the-audience element of male cleavage to the mix.As was evident in the studio, there is serious substance behind the apparent lack of it in these dresses. Macdonald’s finely knit sheaths, some delicately upholstered with feather or bead in order to jiggle up and down with the beat of the wearer’s walk, are crafted by hand with painstaking care and extreme skill using vintage machines, something he is rightly proud of. His clients appreciate it too. He said: “What happens the next day is every dress has been frozen by somebody. Madonna, J.Lo, Ciara, Gwen Stefani . . . they all freeze dresses.” No wonder. As attention-grabbers for hot-bodied superstars, Macdonald’s designs are guaranteed to deliver.
17 September 2019
If it is sexy, in the stereotypical sense of the word, it will sell. That seems to be Julien Macdonald’s m.o., since so many of his dresses have a skin-to-cloth ratio that is so . . . well, favorable towards the former. His shows—Spring included—are more party-focused than professionally oriented, but then, Macdonald makes clothes for party people. That’s fine. And this season, his runway was par for the velvet rope course.The unfortunate thing is that his aesthetic now, more than ever, feels dated and, at times, derivative of certain other houses. Sharp-shouldered, clingy, barely there, butt-baring, diaphanous; the illusion/nude/shock-value dress look is long in the past, a forgettable blip on the fad meter that doesn’t feel very “fashion” anymore.But here’s the thing, as a showgoer reminded this writer afterwards, in an impromptu discussion: Macdonald’s client isn’t looking for trendy and of-the-moment. The man’s market is out there; he’s in business. If it’s working, it’s working. Yet from a critical perspective, it would be highly refreshing to see his workmanship—which is impressive—on garments that are less objectifying and loud and are, instead, more varied and interesting. Keep the flimsiness here and there, sure, but throw in a sweater. Macdonald can do knits. Rein in the ostentatiousness; style it without the hormonal charge. The same can be added for Macdonald’s menswear: He does evening, why not try it with a little more subtlety? Or, overall, treat vulgarity with more nuance; there’s a reason the phrase “bad taste can be good taste” exists. Unfortunately tonight, we left wanting a palate cleanser.
15 September 2018
If it is sexy, in the stereotypical sense of the word, it will sell. That seems to be Julien Macdonald’s m.o., since so many of his dresses have a skin-to-cloth ratio that is so . . . well, favorable towards the former. His shows—Spring included—are more party-focused than professionally oriented, but then, Macdonald makes clothes for party people. That’s fine. And this season, his runway was par for the velvet rope course.The unfortunate thing is that his aesthetic now, more than ever, feels dated and, at times, derivative of certain other houses. Sharp-shouldered, clingy, barely there, butt-baring, diaphanous; the illusion/nude/shock-value dress look is long in the past, a forgettable blip on the fad meter that doesn’t feel very “fashion” anymore.But here’s the thing, as a showgoer reminded this writer afterwards, in an impromptu discussion: Macdonald’s client isn’t looking for trendy and of-the-moment. The man’s market is out there; he’s in business. If it’s working, it’s working. Yet from a critical perspective, it would be highly refreshing to see his workmanship—which is impressive—on garments that are less objectifying and loud and are, instead, more varied and interesting. Keep the flimsiness here and there, sure, but throw in a sweater. Macdonald can do knits. Rein in the ostentatiousness; style it without the hormonal charge. The same can be added for Macdonald’s menswear: He does evening, why not try it with a little more subtlety? Or, overall, treat vulgarity with more nuance; there’s a reason the phrase “bad taste can be good taste” exists. Unfortunately tonight, we left wanting a palate cleanser.
16 September 2018
Thanks to the scrambling of the London Fashion Week calendar, Julien Macdonald found himself with an evening time slot this season, scheduling perfectly suited to the night crawler vibe of his brand. There was a real clubby atmosphere at Macdonald’s show—indeed, what with the standing-room crowd packed shoulder-to-shoulder by the entrance, drinking cocktails and bathed in blue light, it was fair to wonder if Macdonald was even having a fashion show, or if he had decided to just host a party. That turned out to be the right question to ask, even though there were, in fact, bleacher-style seats inside, facing a runway. It’s just that what Macdonald sent down that runway wasn’t fashion so much as it was “fashion”—the same way the Victoria’s Secret show is “fashion,” or an episode ofBachelor in Paradiseis “reality.”You can’t really engage with Macdonald’s collections at the level of aesthetics anymore. Best case scenario, you’re a person who revels in his ability to innovate new ways of simultaneously clothing and exposing the female body, the more toned and pneumatic the better. The neutral response is to accept that there’s a market for his super-spangly confections, with their depthless, recherché take on “sexy,” and reserve judgment. Any more critical reaction to these looks takes you far afield from a reviewer’s main remit, which is to determine whether a collection suits the current moment, and if it does, whether its execution is up to par. Macdonald is an excellent craftsman, but his garments force you into headspace where, as a critic, you’re engaging in social critique: Are these clothes good or bad for women? Is there a way to wear them that feels empowering to the target customer, or do they merely underline the degree to which society still insists on seeing women as objects? And if a woman does feel empowered by these clothes. . . well, in what way, exactly? And what doesthatmean? Et cetera. These are questions too fraught and complex to be answered in a review of a fashion show that, in its heart of hearts, really just wants to be a party. There was fringe. There were bathing suit–like pieces with printed cape attachments. There were many, many sequins. Julien Macdonald was doing his thing, and most of his guests tonight reveled in it. What more is there to say?
18 September 2017
Thanks to the scrambling of the London Fashion Week calendar, Julien Macdonald found himself with an evening time slot this season, scheduling perfectly suited to the night crawler vibe of his brand. There was a real clubby atmosphere at Macdonald’s show—indeed, what with the standing-room crowd packed shoulder-to-shoulder by the entrance, drinking cocktails and bathed in blue light, it was fair to wonder if Macdonald was even having a fashion show, or if he had decided to just host a party. That turned out to be the right question to ask, even though there were, in fact, bleacher-style seats inside, facing a runway. It’s just that what Macdonald sent down that runway wasn’t fashion so much as it was “fashion”—the same way the Victoria’s Secret show is “fashion,” or an episode ofBachelor in Paradiseis “reality.”You can’t really engage with Macdonald’s collections at the level of aesthetics anymore. Best case scenario, you’re a person who revels in his ability to innovate new ways of simultaneously clothing and exposing the female body, the more toned and pneumatic the better. The neutral response is to accept that there’s a market for his super-spangly confections, with their depthless, recherché take on “sexy,” and reserve judgment. Any more critical reaction to these looks takes you far afield from a reviewer’s main remit, which is to determine whether a collection suits the current moment, and if it does, whether its execution is up to par. Macdonald is an excellent craftsman, but his garments force you into headspace where, as a critic, you’re engaging in social critique: Are these clothes good or bad for women? Is there a way to wear them that feels empowering to the target customer, or do they merely underline the degree to which society still insists on seeing women as objects? And if a woman does feel empowered by these clothes. . . well, in what way, exactly? And what doesthatmean? Et cetera. These are questions too fraught and complex to be answered in a review of a fashion show that, in its heart of hearts, really just wants to be a party. There was fringe. There were bathing suit–like pieces with printed cape attachments. There were many, many sequins. Julien Macdonald was doing his thing, and most of his guests tonight reveled in it. What more is there to say?
18 September 2017
There’s just no stopping Julien Macdonald. No matter what this review says, Macdonald is going to keep on making body-con women’s clothes that look as though they emerged from the feverish imagination of a teenage boy who just saw the Princess Leia slave scene inStar Warsfor the first time. And why shouldn’t he? After all, Macdonald has established a nice business for himself turning out those kinds of looks and won a bevy of boldface name fans, several of whom could be spotted sipping bright blue cocktails in the front row of his show at Goldsmiths’ Hall this afternoon. If it sells, if it gets photographed, then the Julien Macdonald concept of modern womanhood has claimed the right to exist, surely.But . . . here’s the thing. As a society, we’ve backed ourselves into a critical cul-de-sac where you can’t register any objection to the Julien Macdonald aesthetic—offered up today in its most sparkly, most skin-baring, most unapologetic mode—without coming off like a prude, or a fussbudget who thinks fashion should be dryly tasteful. But please allow your humble correspondent to register this complaint: This collection was boring. Repetitive, unprovocative in its sexiness, so awash in flash that the effect, as a whole, was blinding. The tedium made it difficult to appreciate the good in Macdonald’s clothes. His crochets were really a marvel, so strong yet so fine-spun. His cutaway jumpsuits and suspended dresses were feats of engineering. All the garments were executed with exceptional polish. You could witness all that design intelligence in Macdonald’s clothes and still come away wishing he’d found something more interesting to say than sex sells. (Or, for the men’s looks: studs, for studs.) There was a party-like atmosphere at Macdonald’s show. But the takeaway was a bummer.
18 February 2017
There’s just no stopping Julien Macdonald. No matter what this review says, Macdonald is going to keep on making body-con women’s clothes that look as though they emerged from the feverish imagination of a teenage boy who just saw the Princess Leia slave scene in Star Wars for the first time. And why shouldn’t he? After all, Macdonald has established a nice business for himself turning out those kinds of looks and won a bevy of boldface name fans, several of whom could be spotted sipping bright blue cocktails in the front row of his show at Goldsmiths’ Hall this afternoon. If it sells, if it gets photographed, then the Julien Macdonald concept of modern womanhood has claimed the right to exist, surely.But . . . here’s the thing. As a society, we’ve backed ourselves into a critical cul-de-sac where you can’t register any objection to the Julien Macdonald aesthetic—offered up today in its most sparkly, most skin-baring, most unapologetic mode—without coming off like a prude, or a fussbudget who thinks fashion should be dryly tasteful. But please allow your humble correspondent to register this complaint: This collection was boring. Repetitive, unprovocative in its sexiness, so awash in flash that the effect, as a whole, was blinding. The tedium made it difficult to appreciate the good in Macdonald’s clothes. His crochets were really a marvel, so strong yet so fine-spun. His cutaway jumpsuits and suspended dresses were feats of engineering. All the garments were executed with exceptional polish. You could witness all that design intelligence in Macdonald’s clothes and still come away wishing he’d found something more interesting to say than sex sells. (Or, for the men’s looks: studs, for studs.) There was a party-like atmosphere at Macdonald’s show. But the takeaway was a bummer.
18 February 2017
“When I go to Africa, I don’t go on my own,” said the preternaturally ageless Welsh designerJulien Macdonaldafter his Spring 2017 show. “I go with the Rolling Stones andKanyeandBeyoncé. This is Julien’s Africa!” Flanked by his shiny army of luminous models inside Marylebone’s cavernous Seymour Leisure Centre, Macdonald is as much a star of his particular show as the rappers and social media and reality television stars who so loyally inhabit his front row. And among the fanfare, you could visibly see the likes of Olympic diver Tom Daley (freshly tanned post-Rio) and Amber Le Bon (whose fun, newly pink hair made her barely recognizable) making mental shopping lists straight from the runway.This season’s high-octane girl hailed from the Kenyan plains of the Maasai Mara reserve. “It’s a rock ’n’ roll interpretation of Afro-chic that is glam and fun,” said Macdonald before turning to plant a kiss on photographerEllen von Unwerth. “My Africa is metallic and gold and glitter and studs and everything you wouldn’t expect to find there.” The collection included pale pink, armor-like iterations of snakeskin, animalistic ombré metallic fringing, and textural slate tones on risqué dresses that revealed much more than they concealed. There was much artistry here, though few surprises. But for Macdonald’s devoted band of red carpet lovelies—of which he most recently counts Britney Spears andEmily Ratajkowski—that’s exactly the point.
17 September 2016
“Celebrate your body” was the affirmative message broadcast fromJulien Macdonald’s Fall 2016 show today, as the designer brought a fun-filled shot of glamour to a wet London Fashion Week. It’s a monochromatic mission statement thatGigi Hadidhas notably received loud and clear: The model wore one of the Welshman’s finely wrought jumpsuits at a recentSports Illustratedsoiree to much fanfare. And there was something of a roadblock today on North Audley Street as everyone from Yasmin Le Bon, with daughter Amber in tow, to artist Daniel Lismore turned out to support the 44-year-old designer, much to the bemusement of onlooking Mayfair residents.From the sacred setting of a former 19th-century church, Macdonald delivered a procession of backless high-shine and slash-fronted dresses, sometimes in holographic prints, but more often wrought in his signature beaded, fish-scale finish. There were some seriously fetish-y moments as he veered into dominatrix territory—particularly when it came to the boys, who at times recalled military men gone rogue. Army badges were pinned to military jackets, and also attached to wide belts that instilled even the most mermaidish gowns with toughness. The sheer workmanship behind all this razzle-dazzle is not to be underplayed, and there is a deftness to Macdonald’s knits which are so finely crafted that they are sometimes barely even there. In fact Macdonald’s winterwear for men slowly disintegrated from chain mail–style sweaters and nearly nude weaves to reveal a heavily-tattooed male model topless aside from a pair of long leather gloves. And as the show drew to a close and models walked two-by-two, gathering around the altar, it was a scene that summoned an ecclesiastical club-land full of glitter and immutable shine.
20 February 2016
There were whoops and cheers even before the crowd caught sight of the first look at today’sJulien Macdonaldshow, held at the centuries-old Smithfield Market. In a fashion world where trends rotate on an ever faster axis, there’s something comforting about a designer who holds fast to familiar terrain—even when that’s as revealing as the spangly, flapper-age dress that opened proceedings. Though you wouldn’t have guessed it until a ways through this mammoth 52-look collection, this past summerMacdonaldtraded the club podiums of the Balearic Isles for the black-sanded beaches of Bali. “I properly chilled out for the first time in my life,” he said post-show. “There was so much inspiration to be found in the tranquility and raw natural beauty—and all the traditional textiles.”When Macdonald started sketching out Spring 2016, it was these Balinese batiks that he drew on. They provided the collection’s biggest moment: the designer’s main-line menswear debut. Tropical prints showed up on beach-y tunic tops and silk shorts that Macdonald says he has been trying to get around to creating for the past 20 years. “But I didn’t want to just do camp menswear,” he said, counting Puff Daddy and Kanye West amongst those who’d have a taste for this kind of directional dressing. Yet, Macdonald being Macdonald, he couldn’t resist adding sparkles even here. Forget the finale gowns and the intricately woven web knits that remained his mainstay—in the mind of this Welshman, it’s always going to be all about the rhinestones, even for the boys.
19 September 2015
To a front row of popstrels and reality TV stars, Julien Macdonald offered up his customary trawl through the outer reaches of the red carpet. And, "trawl" being the operative word, much of the cutwork that Macdonald showed felt like literal nets set to entangle the hapless ingenue in a web of glamorous sin.He began decades ago as the go-to guy with the knitting needles. Jools is still the man who put the Mac in macramé, but the serpentine body-consciousness of his designs has become something of a cliché. Quite what Macdonald would do instead is moot, especially when he was showing to a front row who were perfectly happy to turn out first thing on a Saturday morning in outfits that looked like last call in a Moscow disco. He knows these women. So a Lurex knit sheath with action gusseting all the way up the side seam was second nature to him. Likewise, a catsuit in what looked like stretch terry from six feet away. A goddess gown in antique sequins had a certain gravitas, bar the sheer inserts running armpit to ankle. A trio of fringed, metallic, Diana the Huntress outfits at the very end of the show were sophisticated showgirl, in the nicest possible way.It would be reassuring to think that Macdonald had someone in mind for every single one of these looks. Otherwise, he would just be pissing in the wind. But there is no denying his technique, and—last laugh territory here—its go-girl glamour is so perfectly applicable to the creatures who populate Terra Digitalis that he should soon be colliding with Planet Kardashian if there is truly a God in the machine.
21 February 2015
Our review will be posted shortly. See the complete collection by clicking the image at left.
13 September 2014
Julien Macdonald's up-for-it crowd was not your usual fashion audience. Determined to make the most of their Saturday night out, they'd dressed up, they'd drunk up, and they were ready for a show. And Macdonald was blissfully happy to oblige. The vaulted hall of the Royal Courts of Justice, as august a venue as London fashion week could offer, had surely never seen the likes of the beaded, sequined showgirls who snaked down the catwalk in dresses that coiled around the body or were revealingly dissected in ways that could only have been done full justice by a Bond girl (in the Connery era, at least). Mind you, there were attendees in the front row who were giving it a go, like the beauteous Abbey Clancy, a co-competitor with Macdonald in the BBC's celebrity ballroom competitionStrictly Come Dancing. She won it; he crashed out in the early rounds. Two left feet, he was unashamed to admit.That's the thing about Macdonald. His favorite word may well be "glamour," but he's cheerfully gauche with it. Case in point: His latest inspirations were the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims and the 19th-century house of the widow Clicquot, the grande dame of champagne (veuveis French for widow). Or, to bring it down a bit, stained glass and tiny bubbles. "Like Reims turned into Studio 54," Macdonald burbled in a burst of quotable gold. The emphasis was on light—the way it sparkles in champagne or shines through cathedral windows. "The embellishment is much more ornate than the inspiration," Macdonald said, but nothing felt weighed down by its intricate decoration. Maybe that's because there wasn't so much to weigh down: Fabric was kept to a minimum, mostly as a sheer foundation for the impressive embroidery and beading. "The dresses fade in and out of being dresses," Macdonald acknowledged, "like angels in church." That delightful non sequitur applied even to the knitted pieces (there were ten of them, as a reminder of where Macdonald began 15 years ago). The models looked like they'd been stitched into gilded second skins; it was almost as if Julien Macdonald was the Dr. Frankenstein of glamour.
14 February 2014
Now, let's get this out of the way up front:Strictly Come Dancing—it's what you know in America asDancing With the Stars. And it is one of those bizarre British formats we have gifted to the world. Don't thank us all at once. Julien Macdonald is one of the stars of the TV show this season, and he was dashing from the gilded confines of the City of London's Goldsmiths' Hall, where his fashion show was today, to the not-so-gilded BBC TV studios to dance for the viewing public this evening. That's about eight million people and quite a big deal in Britain. And quite a tall order for the established designer and new-to-ballroom dancer Macdonald. "I'm not that good a dancer. And people seemed to think I would be," he declared after the show, his fashion show that is.So what were we to expect on his catwalk today—clothes to rumba and cha-cha-cha in? A take on the Argentinean tango by way of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom? No, those hopes were quite dashed. "I'd already started my collection by the time I knew aboutStrictly," said Macdonald, who'd previously been an occasional "glambassador," commenting on fashions for the program. "I did decide I needed more crystals last night, and I sat sewing them on at my kitchen table—underneath my Tom Dixon glitter balls. You can't have enough glitter!" And, actually, when it comes to a Julien Macdonald collection, you can't really. You have to embrace it.Today's offering erred on the side of something a little more sedate—but that really is not sedate at all by any normal human standards. "I went to Morocco and I fell in love with the place again," he said, "the avant-garde, glamorous nightlife of the past; the exotic gardens and the colors in them." In a palette of pales plus silvers and golds there was something a little more ethereal and restrained going on. But ethereal and restrained are not Macdonald's strong suits, and when he let loose with his more baroque looks—an oddlyMetropolis-reminiscent body, a crystal-encrusted catsuit, or the scrolling motifs of the first and the second-to-last looks, the latter with an introduction of a hint of darker blue—you could tell the designer felt more at home. At home gluing crystals under the mirror balls in his kitchen, no doubt. There was also the darker passage of black wool knits, as always intricately constructed and finely done. "This is my job," he added firmly at the end. "My priority is fashion; that's my business, and I have found it difficult juggling the rest.
I finished dancing earlier than I was meant to this week. I had to put Dorothy back in the box."
13 September 2013
In the gilded confines of the City of London's Goldsmiths' Hall, Julien Macdonald made his return to the catwalk this season—both in terms of him presenting his Fall collection on it and enjoying every single minute of taking his bow at the end.The proceedings started in quite an odd fashion, with Michael Nyman's soundtrack for Peter Greenaway'sThe Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Loverused as seating music. While the pop girl band the Saturdays appeared en masse to this cacophony of woodwind and a frenzy of flash photography, there were thoughts of light entertainers being cannibalized, maybe even eaten alive. It was the same razzle-dazzle of a Macdonald show, but even more so this time: This collection was about Las Vegas. Yes, showgirls and party girls were both in the audience and on the catwalk. As the designer said after his show: "I always do things that make me happy and reflect my life. Last year I went to Las Vegas and I had an amazing time. Everybody is dressed up there; everyone is a superstar; everyone parties night and day…in fact, there is no day, only night! Viva Las Vegas!"Daywear in this collection? No, not a jot. Eveningwear and early-hours-of-the-morning wear? Yes, plenty. In fact, the show notes consisted of a list of casinos: It appears each look was named after one. He called his muse this season a "grunge deluxe woman," and deluxe she was indeed; the intense workmanship was quite astonishing. It ran the gamut of knitting techniques, and loaded up with glitter, sequins, rhinestones, and chains though they were, they were also handled with an intense delicacy and attention to detail. Is Macdonald Britain's answer to Bob Mackie? After this collection, maybe so. Especially after perusing one quite astonishing catsuit with a shaggy, almost dégradé sequin technique. But above all, the designer knows himself and the women he unashamedly idealizes and wants to appeal to: "She's glamorous, but a party girl. It's 5 or 6 in the morning. Her hair's grungy; her eye makeup is smudged; she's had a cocktail—she doesn't care!" And neither does Julien Macdonald. In a good way.
15 February 2013
Back when Julien Macdonald was an upstart designer in London in the late nineties, he invited Michael Jackson to his show. Well, it was a Michael Jackson impersonator he told everybody was the real thing. Including Isabella Blow, who was sat next to him and regaled with tales that prompted her to believe that he was indeed "Michael." As helicopters circled overhead and roads were closed off, Macdonald and his team were in hysterics. He always did like showstopping antics, fashion as fun and event. "I'm older now—but not necessarily wiser," the designer said today, presenting his Spring collection personally, in his low-key headquarters in Old Burlington Street. "I want to have the traditional skills of dressmaking back in this part of London." He has Norman Hartnell in mind here…How times change—but not really. The inspiration for this current collection is "Sharon Stone," he declared, adding, "Who wouldn't want to be Sharon Stone?" While there were no Stone impersonators on offer, there was the same channeling of celebrity and razzle-dazzle that have become the designer's trademarks. The Stone that he had in mind was the one fromBasic Instinct, evident particularly in a white body-con dress in techno gabardine with a thigh-high split. But in the collection's "luxury island hopping" mutation—think Catherine Tramell runs off to St. Bart's after dispatching everyone with that ice pick—perhaps it was Ginger Rothstein fromCasinowho was more evident.Macdonald's collection is far more Vegas than L.A., particularly in the case of one scarlet, fringed knitted number interwoven with glinting gold chains. Macdonald is a master of knit, a skill he almost shrugs off at times, but these are indeed the standout pieces of the collection, complex in technique and single-color saturated, carried off with a certain casual aplomb. Nothing is really casual in Macdonald's world, though. A cascading dress in a dip-dyed ombré silk is the "ultimate cocktail dress" and is called Tequila Sunrise because, well, it literally looks like one. This is Julien Macdonald's view, take it or leave it, and it is as unapologetic and brazen as when Ginger tossed those casino chips up into the air. It might be quite lurid, but it was Sharon Stone's best part, after all.
13 September 2012
If you encountered the first girl out at Julien Macdonald in a dark alley, you'd instinctively turn tail and run. Her slicked hair, blacked-out Porsche glasses, and buttery leather biker tunic looked built to kick ass, as if she were RoboModel.Macdonald's inspiration was actually something far more luxurious than futuristic crime-fighting (or crime-committing): the techno-pristine fiberglass, leather, and chrome of yachts in Monte Carlo. But, crossing that with a yen for Japan in sharp origami tailoring and dragon tattoo prints, Macdonald ended up on the harder side of things. That's not a bad place to be, considering that last Spring's collection was so boudoir-rific as to seem like a lingerie show. And today's look worked surprisingly well in his hands. Macdonald may love sex and romance, but the best idea here—great graphic-looking knits made with bright plastic thread—had nothing to do with either.Macdonald referred to this collection as "modernist glamour," and by the end of the show, the glamour quotient had been ratcheted way up. The sheer-skirted gown is an idea that's spread like a video of a sneezing baby panda since Riccardo Tisci first showed it in his Fall 2010 Givenchy Couture collection, and a couple of Macdonald's dresses hewed uncomfortably close to a look that Tisci basically owns. Better was the last outfit, which seemed to synthesize the collection's various elements in one exquisitely embroidered, neat package. Nothing to run from, except maybe a deservedly lofty price tag.
16 September 2011
A little bit country(side), a little bit rock 'n' roll. For Fall, half-Welsh, half-Scottish Julien Macdonald recast his roots—i.e., kilts and dancing jackets—for a goth-inclined, rock concert-attending lass. Which is fair. But let's just get it out of the way: A moody, ethereal, and hard-edged take on the tartan-heavy Highlands is territory that was famously and exquisitely trod by the late Alexander McQueen.Then a lean black sweater dress with its sleeves and hems dissolving into lace emerged out of the darkness in the spookily beautiful setting of an old deconsecrated church, and you were reminded of Macdonald's serious skill with all things knit. There were some real beauties here. They came webby and delicate like layers of ebony spiderwebs, or, on the flip side, in thickly cabled and heathery-hued Aran, which was spliced together with black leather and goat hair for some terrific jackets and a sort of twinset. Just the thing to keep you warm when the only other thing you're wearing is a tiny satin and lace mini.Therein lies the point of difference. Even with tougher edge and a head-banging soundtrack, Macdonald cannot dispense with sex and glamour, which was evident in the crystal-beaded dresses pieced with gold lace that closed the show. To his credit, he moderated the look with dusty muted colors, frayed edges, and enough fabric to be worn outside the boudoir, a relief to those who recall his barely there Spring show.
20 February 2011
Julien Macdonald and Right Said Fred could probably argue all day and night. Too sexy? No such thing chez Macdonald. "I'm a sexy man, and I love a sexy woman," the designer purred backstage, after his boudoir-rific flesh-and-frills show at the grandly appointed Banqueting House. An incongruous setting? Slightly. Certainly a contrast.But Macdonald—who's shown here for the past three seasons—claims to thrive on its quintessentially British monarchical history. The designer describes his work as traditional English with a twist. Here, though, his intentions weren't exactly royal. The striped ticking on oversize jackets and shorts—the few opaque moments of this show—was taken from an old English deck chair, while the florals on some of the sheer, lacy, bedroom-glamour dresses came from vintage twenties frocks. Sex is not a British strongpoint, of course, and even Macdonald seemed to acknowledge that, borrowing a cup of it instead from Los Angeles in big, back-combedValley of the Dollshair.A coat with an appliqué over sheer panels offered a way to see you through see-through, but an obvious question remained hanging in the perfumed air (the runway was spritzed generously before the show began): Where can you wear these clothes without looking like you're heading off to seduce someone in a hotel room, or simply left the house in a hurry? Dresses that show off all a girl's assets might simmer on some of the hottest models in the business. But for real women? That Fred guy said it right.
18 September 2010
Julien Macdonald was quick to point out that his 35-piece collection wasn't resort or cruise; it was a "Christmas flash," which gave it a certain climactic specificity. Baby, it's getting colder outside, so Macdonald made knitwear to throw over his party frocks. For skin not yet kissed by holiday sun, he kept his colors on the dark and—it must be said—dreary side, with dusty, washed-out jewel tones. Even the white of a classically draped cocktail dress had an aged chalkiness. Macdonald lives on Portobello Road, and his vintage finds from the market there had a big influence on pieces that at times had a thirties languor, a twenties flapper quality, and something even earlier, with tattered lace and faded ruffles that could have come from Miss Havisham's closet.The aggressive sexiness that characterized the designer's work in the past was absent, though his emphasis on bias cutting made even the most prosaic-looking piece snake sinuously around the body. Where Macdonald's Christmas really flashed was in his knitwear. Again, all of it had a worn, deliberately snagged look, but there was a slouchy appeal to the sweater dresses. One was essentially a man's polo-neck jumper with corset-laced shoulders; another a cardigan, also corset-laced. Too gothic for seasonal cheer, but sly and sexy just the same.
11 July 2010
The window dressing of Julien Macdonald's business has moved way upmarket. Gainsbury & Whiting produce his show, George Cortina styles it, Charlotte Tilbury is in charge of maquillage, Steve Mackey's on the decks, et cetera, et cetera. But Macdonald himself brought things back down to earth with a cheerfully vulgar bump when he talked about the inspiration for his new collection. Jilly Cooper is the mistress of a literary medium known in England as "the bonk-buster," and it was her bookRidersthat turned Jools on for Fall 2010. The designer imagined a woman hot and bothered after a day on her horse, slipping into something sinful when she got home. So the collection breezily straddled two poles: sophisticated outerwear and suggestive, lingerie-influenced evening attire. The second outfit—a white, fur-trimmed parka with gray flannel jodhpurs—was followed by a rococo micro confection of flesh-toned chiffon and black lace.And thus was the day-and-night rhythm of the presentation determined. The knits that first made Macdonald's reputation were skillfully represented here—on the one hand, by a substantial cable-stitched top, and on the other, by the merest suggestion of cobweb knit that wreathed one model's slender frame. There was a Ghesquière-esque touch in some of the short draped or plisséd dresses, but Macdonald carved out a new signature for himself with hybrid garments like a black leather biker jacket attached to a navy wool skirt, or a dress that featured the bottom half of a jacket bonded to a negligée top. It may sound a little unconvincing on paper, but on the catwalk, it certainly had the courage of its bonk-busting convictions. You can see why this kind of thing has courted a whole new client for Macdonald's fusion of hard and soft. And, hey, that same formula has sold millions for Jilly Cooper.
20 February 2010
Who'd have thought the meeting of technical sports gear and glamour could be managed quite so slickly by Julien Macdonald? Perhaps it was his competitive streak, sharpened by theknowledgethat London is full of returning designers—and the fact that he has a deep-pocketed backer, Jamey Hargreaves—that pushed Macdonald to put on a show that displayed all of his accomplishments. His tensile collection of scuba-influenced, modern-looking pieces was presented in a sandy mise-en-scène, around a specially built fountain for good measure. "Controlled" and "tight" were two apt words Macdonald was coming up with backstage. "I went scuba diving for the first time at Sharm el-Sheikh, and I felt so good in the suit, I thought, why wouldn't a woman want to feel like that in her clothes? I thought of her diving in the ocean during the day and on her yacht at night."Macdonald was smart to limit his palette to red, black, beige, and white, and to pare his statement back to cutting and piecing jersey, and splicing in sheer inserts. True, there are others working around the same sort of ideas this season (lace-sided leggings are everywhere, for instance), but Macdonald, with his experience in Parisian haute couture, has a head start on them. By holding back his urge to complicate and decorate, he showed the best of himself—though he did indulge in one silver-pailletted mermaid dress for old times' sake. Allowed to shine on its own, it looked all the more special. That's an experience Julien Macdonald can take away and be proud of.
19 September 2009
With his inveterate love of glam and attraction to the bright lights of tabloid fame, Julien Macdonald and his reputation—though flying high in the British name-recognition stakes—had long sunk beneath the horizon as far as opinion-formers were concerned. Now, though, with a new backer, Jamey Hargreaves, Macdonald is putting himself through fashion rehab. "I've stopped all the nonsense and partying," he pledges. "I'm just working really hard, nonstop. All I've ever wanted is to make women feel glamorous and amazing when they walk into a room."Oddly enough, Macdonald's new attempt at credibility has synchronized perfectly with a certain twist of taste that has his name on it: rock chick super-glamour. The fact that big-shouldered, bling-festooned dressing is now being shamelessly enjoyed by Christophe Decarnin at Balmain (and his many fans) doesn't make Macdonald an imitator—he was already there ten or so years ago. Add to that the fact that inventive, slightly punky laddered knitwear is on the fashion roster again and you have two strikes in favor of this Welsh national celebrity: He, after all, was the talented knitter who made that look fashionable in the early nineties.The opening of Macdonald's Fall collection of super-shouldered, Montana-esque biker looks, underpinned by his own spiderweb knits, looked sharp, controlled, cleaned up, and well executed enough to persuade skeptics to take a second glance. He can cut a mean pant and whisk up a knit, as well as labor for hours over mirror and crystal-smothered dresses. On third inspection backstage, the work (which must benefit from Macdonald's time at Givenchy) is sophisticated enough to be measured by Paris standards. Perhaps it will work again as a rebooted, serious business, and perhaps not, given the climate. But there's no doubt that Julien Macdonald is going to give it his most serious shot yet.
22 February 2009
Seven days a week, British tabloid papers run multiple pages of local TV stars, popstrels, It girls, lad-mag models, and soap actresses posing on red carpets (and, later, falling out of nightclubs and whatever microscopic garments they might have selected for the occasion). This is celebrity, Brit-style, a realm in which the name of Julien Macdonald figures as large as legends like Versace and Roberto Cavalli.His opening look—Naomi Campbell in a white jacket, black cutaway swimsuit, and sky-high leather laced-up boots—has a good chance of being replicated, literally, by British girls in the clubs of Ibiza and Rhodes next summer. His minute spangled cobweb dresses, sprayed-on white pantsuits and multicoloured chiffon beach cover-ups (a fashion tautology if ever there was one) will be in heavy demand from every competitive celeb-bod in Britain. In a way, then, Macdonald is far more famous and influential than any of his indigenous peers who aspire to change the course of fashion.Whether his idea of glamour will ever cut it on an international stage is of course, another question—but one that appears to trouble him not a jot. His celebrity status has brought him business, including multiple sponsorships and a new deal with Pretty Polly to translate his signature knits into cobwebby tights. And he’s certainly not suffering from lack of attention. Backstage after his show, surrounded by a posse of adoring models with red-vinyl lips and a mob of TV crews, the designer declared: “It’s all about having a good time.” Macdonald clearly knows his audience.
23 September 2003
Julien Macdonald’s London shows become more and more like two halves of a tabloid photo-opportunity party interrupted by a fashion parade. When Shirley Bassey took her seat for the 6 p.m. show, she probably didn’t think she’d have to wait nearly two hours to see what her fellow Welsh citizen has in mind for fall.Before proceedings could begin, of course, the champagne-stoked audience watched Leah Wood deejay and attempted to attach names to the local soap-opera and TV celebs who packed the house. Pink and Christina Aguilera were the only two stars with any international standing, but to the British market insatiably eager for nonstop celebrity info, that scarcely mattered.When the show finally started, the designer sent out what he believes in most fervently: tight, sexy, in-your-face clothes. He delivered jackets and combat pants that stuck to the body, often implanted with heavy-duty gold zippers. More to the point, he produced the kind of clothing that will allow the aforementioned tabloid fodder to appear in public as near to naked as possible.Wisely, Macdonald brought his original distinguishing talent—knitwear—into play via some spider-webby catsuits and a tiny dress of crocheted stars calculated to show more of Liberty Ross than the world dreamed possible. If the scantily clad catch a chill, he has a solution: Saga Furs is a sponsor, and there were patchwork fur coats aplenty.His Versace-esque evening gowns were a dismal pastiche of the maestro’s achievements. But when Macdonald knitted up his own ideas, the boy from Wales got a fleeting nod of approval from the fashion press—as they stampeded toward the after-party.
18 February 2003
In a move that signaled the beginning of another episode of the ’80s déjà vu fest that has been playing all over London, Naomi Campbell opened Julien Macdonald’s show strutting her remarkably buff stuff in a white, cutout, rhinestone-studded swimsuit. Macdonald loves glamour, gorgeous girls, eye-socking color, vivid prints, high heels and big hair. Sound familiar? Maybe the thought of the upcoming Gianni Versace retrospective at the Victoria & Albert Museum inspired him. Whatever the source, the designer’s collection seemed a frank homage to those carefree days when supermodels prowled the runways wearing nothing very much to maximum possible effect.Macdonald worked through grommet-studded jersey and leather pieces, strapless, frilly eyelet looks, and many variations on the theme of microscopically short asymmetric dresses (previous incarnations of which have proved a publicity godsend to many grateful London It girls).The designer threw himself into a carnival spirit with multicolored print chiffons topped by outsize headdresses and shoulder pieces made of Caribbean flowers and vegetation—it’s summer, after all. Even if his glammed-up nostalgia isn’t to everyone’s taste, you have to credit Macdonald his relentless determination to show fashion a jolly good time.
13 September 2002
It's been a long time since models took it as part of their job description to va-va-voom to the end of the runway, throw a pose and come on to the photographers in a "fabulous me" kind of way. So long, indeed, that the joy-starved London crowd was seized by a sudden gratitude to Julien Macdonald for putting on a show that included go-for-it girls, glitter, gold and, yes, glam rock.In a take-no-prisoners collection, Macdonald referenced the '70s heyday of David Bowie and Jerry Hall in flashy embroidered jackets, leopard spots, shaggy fox furs, sexy knickers, jumpsuits and unbuttoned satin vests. Exaggerated Bowie quiffs, big teased hairdos and fuchsia lipstick turned up Macdonald's aesthetic to full volume, a message that will be heard loud and clear by women who also love Versace and Roberto Cavalli.What's the difference for Macdonald between designing in London and at Givenchy in Paris? "I can be cheeky and sexy and take risks here," he said. "Paris is bourgeois; in London, it's more fun. I'm swinging back to the old days of David Bowie and Anita Pallenberg, when British celebrity ruled the world. I just wanted to show my respect for London by showing here."
20 February 2002
Julien Macdonald has joined the ranks of designers who must work two collections in two countries—a daunting task, even for some of fashion's top talents. Unsurprising, then, that signs of strain were evident in Macdonald's first collection for his own label since taking up his post at Givenchy just a few months ago.Macdonald's show, staged in the London Science Museum, looked as if a sudden awareness of posh European fashion had descended and smothered the designer's usual brash clubbiness. References to haute Parisian fashion were all too visible—the tooled leather belts and cargo pockets Tom Ford has used; the Givenchy-esque Bettina blouse; the heavy, couturelike flowered satin; the Versace-flavor spangly minidress. Even Macdonald's own signature asymmetric near-naked disco dresses misfired, at a time when the validity of good-time clothes suddenly looks very questionable.As a relative unknown outside London, Macdonald will have to work harder to show a world audience the difference between his hometown collection and Givenchy. Still, Alexander McQueen struggled to find his feet at Givenchy, and Marc Jacobs took several seasons to warm up at Louis Vuitton, while their own labels have occasionally wobbled under the workload. So give the boy time.
19 September 2001
With his gold cursive initials boldly hung over red curtains in the nouveau-posh party salon of London's Le Meridien Grosvenor House Hotel, Julien Macdonald let loose an unabashed display of fashion excess at its best, or worst, depending on one's point of view.There's absolutely nothing subtle about Macdonald's rich-bitch aesthetic: Picture an avalanche of massive furs, leopard-printed, sexed-up vamp dresses with S&M caps, dominatrix-inspired leather suits, sky-high diamond heels and sequined blazers that would make Ivana Trump look positively frumpy. As if to drive his point home, Macdonald also showed lavishly embroidered matador suits and a series of barely-there lingerie gowns that could've been plucked from a racier version of the Victoria's Secret catalog.Did it work? Absolutely. Macdonald's clothes are clearly not for everyone (Pamela Anderson and Miss Venezuela come to mind as potential customers), but the over-the-top performance was a jolt of pure fun.
18 February 2001
Julien Macdonald decided to end London fashion week with a very loud bang. He attracted 1500 people to the Millennium Dome to see a brashy, flashy, trashy, vampy collection of barely-there evening gowns, asymmetrical frocks and almost-invisible miniskirts. Into this outrageous mix, he threw quite a lot of crazy printed fur coats, gilded serpent trousers and psychedelic jeans. The whole bizarre experience rounded up with a performance from Gwen Stefani and her band No Doubt. She was wearing bondage trousers and one of Julien Macdonald's fabulous pink coats. Fashion rocks!
16 February 2000
Macdonald's talent lies with knitwear and fiber, and he didn't let his fans down. Out came PVC jeans decorated with silver studs, plasticlike fabrics painted with pale pinks and blues, a golden sweater with woven-in crystals so it sparkled, and sweaters in lime, fuchsia and silver stripes. Very disco, very out there. Very Julien.
21 September 1999