The Worst-Reviewed Runway Shows in Recent Memory

July 8, 2014

Kanye West Spring 2012

Kanye West’s first effort for his namesake fashion label was greeted with much fanfare and, of course, much hype from the man himself, but sadly, the clothes he put out were thoroughly disappointing. Most critics complained the looks were ill-fitting and very referential to other already established designers. The “genius” Kanye had proclaimed he possessed seemed to stop at music and not spill over into fashion design. People were also confused about the gratuitous use of fur in a spring collection. Of course, Kanye was upset about how his collection was received and though his second go-round wasn’t as disastrous, his first will go down in history as one of the worst-received collections ever.

The Low Lights:

“There are wishes, and there are realities. I feel bad, actually, that there wasn’t anything to grab on to. But you can’t just dump some fox fur on a runway and call it luxury.” – Long Nguyen, Flaunt

“His show was described by those who attended as, at best, a disappointment, and yet the rapper could be found almost everywhere during Paris Fashion Week defending himself.”- Eric Wilson, The New York Times

“While the technical difficulties and aesthetic miscalculations were myriad, the collection’s gravest flaw was that it simply had no vision. It was a little bit of Balmain, a smidge of Balenciaga, a few vague references to Yohji Yamamoto and Rick Owens. There was even a touch of Issey Miyake mixed in for good measure. It was a chaotic stew of leftovers.” – Robin Givhan, The Daily Beast