TFS: James-Paul's Collection

Let's talk about the most hated collection in the history of fashion!

We're not sure exactly why James Paul's collection engendered such strong opinions, but judging by the comments section, his collection was not only hated by a bunch of y'all, but it seems like some of you were offended by it.

Well, surprise! We kind of loved it.

In fact, if this was Project Runway, which places great importance on innovation, he'd almost certainly be the winner. Since this is TFS, which can't decide what kind of show it wants to be, his fate remains hard to predict. Let's take a look at what he showed, shall we?

One thing you have to remember going into this is that JP is all about form and structure. Nothing illustrates this better than the styling choice to have the models wear tights over their shoes. You still get the form, but he's wiped away any embellishments. It's a neat trick. Anyway, this is probably not the strongest look to open with, but the separate pieces are nice.

This is a little more interesting and dramatic. We're not supercrazy about the skirt flap, but we like that top.

Our BlogESP is kicking in and we know what you're thinking. Look, he's NOT designing clothes for "real people" (whatever that means). He's working in an almost purely conceptual arena. If you want to judge these clothes based on whether you or anyone you know would wear them, you're missing the point. One could argue that this was not the time or place for such things (and we wouldn't disagree), but this is who he is and the judges allowed him to get to this point, so why pretend that he's a different designer?

Our main criticism of this collection is the lack of color. Betsey Johnson praised this collection to the heavens but even she admitted it wasn't exactly "uplifting."

This one's probably a bit too dour for us and we think the skirt is too long.

We're not crazy about this one either. Cocktail dresses don't really lend themselves to innovation.

And while this is a little interesting from a formal perspective, it is, again, too dour.

This was really the "sit up and take notice" look for us. Unusual and weirdly beautiful.

That jacket is great. The skirt is kinda bleh.

We loved this dress. Our only criticism is that it would have looked so much better in a less gauzy fabric.

Ditto on the gauze here but that jacket is stunning.

In the end, he managed to do something that even the most accomplished designers rarely manage to: he showed us pieces and silhouettes that felt new and original. Sure, it owes a lot to designers like Yohji Yamamoto and Commes des Garçons, but he still managed to make it his own.

Fashionistas eat that shit up and that's why the judges praised it so much. No, you won't see these looks walking down the street, but with a little imagination, quite a few of these pieces can be interpreted and paired with more conventional clothing. People couldn't believe it when Fern said she'd wear some of this stuff, but Fern tends toward some big attention-getting pieces (like the outsized white jacket she wore this episode) so we have no problem believing her when she says that.

As for his "indigenous people" inspiration, it made sense to us. It was never meant to be a literal recreation of such clothing, merely a starting point for his collection. As such, it works. These really do look like clothes that were found and re-interpreted.



[Photos: BravoTV.com/Getty Images/WireImage - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com - Video: BravoTV.com]

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