Osman 2016

"I ask you for violence, in the nonsense, and you, you give me grace, your light and your warmth." Osman Yousefzada quoted a wonderful pang-of-passion Frida Kahlo love letter in his notes while references to both her art and her personal style were scattered here and there throughout this collection. The beaded tree decorations in the closing looks, some of the suiting and Stephen Jones's take on Kahlo's trademark headbands were among the most sharply drawn. Yet Yousefzada insisted, with a touch of weariness, that such accents were mere mood music: "For me it's just the same thing that I do again and again. Clothes, basically. Which I think women will want. And that's what it's about." Well, yes.

Whether women will want these clothes depends on the women. Certainly Osman has a fan base that's especially dedicated to his raved-about suite of pants. He is exploiting this happy niche not just by extending his selection of cuts, but by extending his market to the most pant-dependent constituency - this collection featured his first runway menswear, which starred notable horizontal moire corduroy jackets with a lapel shape imported from cutouts featured in his Fall women's wear collection.

Although that beading looked fine and the silhouette was dramatic, Osman's closing yellow column dress was clearly a trial for the model to walk in. More harmonious amalgamations of theory and practice included the striking same-shade halter-neck tiered dress in waxed duchesse silk and his blown-up ikat brocade on blown-up silhouettes. The skirted three-tiered pants combined daintiness and jaunt. This collection featured a lot more flashes of grace than nonsense.

(vogue.com)