Article and images courtesy of stylebubble.typepad.com
Luxury brands have a history of buoyancy. And these days, many people are fast realising that cheapie Primark frocks have their consequences, and are moving into a slower and more expensive way of buying into fashion. But on the flipside, there seems to be a tendancy for the cheap with a bit of tackiness.
I don’t mean dresses constructed out of Tesco bags or such ironic ‘cheap’ statements, but I’m talking about things like polyester getting a new lease on life, exemplified by the 100% Italian polyester dresses seen at Lanvin SS08. Or the lux-tackiness expounded by Balmain’s AW08 collection (I suspect there is one Christophe Decarnin-obsessed stylist dressing the whole world in Balmain but I’m not complaining…).
It’s always a hint though, a subtle nod towards tackiness that doesn’t veer right into universal bad taste.
When I see Bjork & McElligott’s AW08 collection modelled by Ben Grimes, I see that lux-tack vibe coming through.
If I’m honest, some of the clothes do remind me a little of this shop called ‘Selene’, that was on my local high street back in North Finchley when I was a teen, where I’d see orange lace shirts and black lurex dresses ahoy.
I don’t mean that in a derogatory way though, because the great thing about lux-tack is that just as you think it’s a little bit ‘cheap’ looking, you touch the fabrics and see the construction and realise that it’s not.
There’s a certain accessibility about ‘lux-tack’ that is way less overwhelming than full on lux-lux. It’s that awkward/sexy thing that I’m always attracted to, which springs out to me when looking at the collection…
