There’s a difference between staying true to your vision and resting on your laurels. Unfortunately for Michael Halpern, he learned more on the latter in his Fall 2019 show. Inspired by the works of Russian-born artist Erté, he offered a heavily sequined Studio 54-worthy wardrobe of party clothes. The best thing about it was that it was a diverse selection, with a few sprinkles of new ideas here and there just to shake things up a bit. The worst thing about it, however, was that not only was this more of the same, it was also a tad overwhelming. And to add to that, some of his newer proposals generally didn’t work. A good example is his array of disco opera coats. The name alone merits ridicule! Who would want to go to a nightclub with an opera coat? Even if you won’t wear it on the dancefloor, having to drag that heavy garment at 4 or 6 am in the morning after a night of partying doesn’t seem that inviting an idea. And speaking of big garments, a lot of the clothes here were frankly too big in terms proportions—and it’s not the cool oversized kind neither. Some shapes were so large and wide that you wouldn’t know the actual size of the women inside them. Though the degrade items were nice, this Halpern collection was just too much! Too much of the same, too many sparkles, too much fabric, too much disco going on, and so on! And as that Spice Girls song lets on: “Too much of something is bad enough!”
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com
