There are two ways on how to succeed in the fashion business. One is to lead the way in terms of trends, and the other is to stay within one’s own unique path. Christian Wijnants has always done the latter, but for Fall 2019, he attempted to do the former with miscellaneous results. One one hand, it’s admirable of him to venture into the current zeitgeist in the industry, which is having a gender-fluid moment. But on the other hand, the designers who stay true to their own voices are the ones more likely to make an impact. Here, while his efforts are, more or less, commendable, the clothes presented were simply not him. The prints were all over the place, some of the tailorings seemed confusing, and there wasn’t a hint of his Wifnants’ own brand of classic romanticism. In fact, everything seemed completely insincere, and in the world of fashion, this was the biggest sin a designer could make. What good is your vision when what you’re offering isn’t who you are? Anybody could see, from the awkward proportions to the misplacement of prints and the downright ugly clashing of patterns that this was a complete downgrade to all of Wijnants’ other works. There are enough feminine-meets-masculine collections in the fashion world today, this designer didn’t need to dip his toes into it.
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
