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Photographed by Richard Spiegel
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WERE surprised that Custo Barcelona—an oft-favourite here at Lucire—did
not emerge as successfully amongst our team as they reported back from
the fall–winter 2002–3 shows at New York Fashion Week.
Custo has always had a sense of fun but perhaps the
mood wasn’t there in the audience. Surely fall had those regular
elements, such as interesting hats and berets, distinctive prints, oversized
faces, asymmetrically printed jeans where left leg did not match right.
Haven't there been plenty of Lucire articles where we have complimented
a designer for knowing her or his market?
Perhaps in recessionary times it is harder to be as
outgoing and fun and expect to find the same favour among journalists,
or even the consumer in general. There have been other periods where uncertainty
sets in, the usual bright colours are out and there's more gloom in general
in the colour palette. Not at Custo. Vibrant as ever, knowing that there
are consumers who just won't go with the flow. If black and grey were
the new black at New York Fashion Week, then Custo is there for the non-conformist.
Red, orange, green, white—all seen before and all
finding homes—appeared as Custo’s colour palette, not that that
should give a reader the impression that there were fixed themes on that
front. Instead, the inspirations seemed wilder than ever.
So what had been the issue from those who had been to
CB? At a guess, it wasn't the Spanish spirit of vivaciousness. But it
may have been the fact that some of the garments had gone from happy restraint
to garish uncertainty in some cases—but those cases were the ones
that we remembered as we left the show.
The face-on-the-front printed panel had been done but
this time it was less natural, colours clashing. The bold red stripes
on his black suit indicated more of what might be expected from the third
instalment of Austin Powers than the fall outing of Custo Barcelona.
Lettering that appeared had a street feel but we were left wondering about
which street and which neighbourhood.
Overall, there were plenty of decent items and in many
of the cases, Custo did not leave the wardrobe lacking. General impressions
by media do not always translate to the same impressions by customers.
On the racks, these are bound to jump out. And after numerous weeks since
we saw the show, the collection really doesn't jar us quite as much as
we first thought. Pioneering? No, but at least there's plenty of effort.
Vibrant? Oh yes. 
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