The Blonds Spring 2018

Chanel, Thierry Mugler, Oscar de la Renta, Zhandra Rhodes, Calvin Klein, and many other designers established their brand with a signature design aesthetic. And though most iconic brands have evolved their signature look by incorporating a wide array of influences, there are always a few garments in their collections that reflect the signature design aesthetic.

Now, one would not place The Blonds in the same constellation of Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, Chanel or Mugler; however, there is no doubt that the design duo of David and Phillipe have established their signature look with their heavily embellished bustier/bodices.

True to form the bedazzled bustier/bodices are back for The Blonds spring 2018 collection. And their fans love it, which was obvious from all the celebrity fans in the front row—Cardi B, Patricia Fields, Deandra Forrest, and others.

Still, this season The Blonds aspired to take their spring 2018 collection beyond bedazzled bustiers and bodysuits. There were glammed-up torn jeans, a head-to-toe gold bedazzled moto jacket with gold jeans, as well as the multi-colored, rainbow fluorescent jacket that Teyana Taylor opened the show in. (Unfortunately Teyana Taylor’s boob-bouncing, turquoise body suit under fluorescent rainbow jacket ensemble did not enhance the show; in fact, it brought a classless patina to a collection that was already heavy on glitzy call girl vibe.)

Add to that thigh-high boots, Miss Kitty saloon-inspired garments, as well as a few curvy models, and you have an entertaining show. Not as eye catching as last season, but entertaining nonetheless.

Still, does all this bling add up to a fashion collection, or is it just media-grabbing, spectacle moment? Fashion Reverie thinks it is a bit of both. And the both fits right into what New York Fashion Week: The Shows has become, a six-day diatribe on spectacle with a little fashion thrown in for good measure.—William S. Gooch