Kanye West’s “Dw” Debut — A Parade of Pomp and Circumstance

With Kanye West’s debut fashion collection I’m split down the middle. A part of me wants to love it because I love him, and then there’s the practical side wondering both who and how it will be worn.  A week ago I posed five questions for Kanye before his debut and sadly, my greatest fears came through to fruition.

Kanye has this unique sense of style in which he excels at blending the world of hip hop with high fashion. No one does it better than him, however I think along the way that message was lost in translation. Kanye loves Celine, Givenchy, and Margela, so I was hoping that his line would focus on bringing that high fashion vibe to hip hop. It would have been so refreshing to see. I know they say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but not in this case. It seems to me as if he just copied what he likes. It appeared he was more concerned with fitting in with the current aesthetic, which with the wrong shapes, fit and materials for a spring collection, turned out to be a big fail.

Firstly, when I view a fashion collection I think how will this work in my world. The clothes were ill-fitting and where they did seen to fit nicely, they appeared slutty with low cut deep v’s and cut-outs too exposed for comfort. I see my flashback of Kanye photographed with Amber Rose wasn’t too far off. Oh and let’s not forget to mention all of that fur and the leather. I know he doesn’t give a shit what I think, but who wants to bake in the spring? Nobody. Not even for Kanye.

Still, I must give him credit. He took his dream and made it a reality. Very few people can say that. I would have preferred for him to do a men’s collection showing for a small group of editors during New York Fashion Week with the help of a hands on fashion mentor to guide his collection from inception to birth, or maybe even partnering with a designer who has experience with running a line wouldn’t have been a bad idea.

All in all, I think Kanye aimed too high too soon. It will be interesting to see which retailers pick up the collection for spring. Who do I see wearing this collection? Beyonce, Carine Roitfeld and maybe even the Olsens. Moving forward, I hopes he dedicates the time to making sure that what he produces is in line with what women really want to wear.

Images via Style.com