Review of Denis Gagnon for Bedo
Montreal’s fashion darling Denis Gagnon officially launched his line for fast fashion store Bedo today. With it, a throng of black clad fashionistas showed up, a type of crowd I have not seen since my foray into Fantasme the previous year. Here the hippest and savviest of them all sip on white wine and nibble on hors d’oeuvres as dozens more sift through the racks of Gagnon’s Fall 2010 collection.
Fashion editors who have had the chance to preview the collection weeks before its launch, noted that the collection was more of a review of previous Gagnon collections than fresh ideas. There were loads of signature zipper-clad jackets, skirts and mesh dresses, and funky white t-shirts with Gagnon’s portrait in black ink outlines - a kind of commercial gimmick Karl Lagerfeld normally pulls off. Most of the studded pants, dresses, and sweaters were left untouched, people were going more for the zipper jackets and ruched dresses. And boy was it crowded.
Gagnon was already swarmed by acquaintances and a media crew, with Yso standing nearby observing the madness around them.
I had the opportunity to snag two dresses I wanted to try on that was still in my XS size: a long sleeved black batwing dress that had a deep cleavage, and a navy ruched long sleeved dress (pictured below).
Immediately, the clothes were not easy to put on, the long sleeves on both dresses flopped around a lot as the seams for the shoulders were non-existent. But I managed to put the batwing dress on, and felt like I was floating in it despite its snug fit on the arms. It didn’t quite flatter the body and made me look bigger than I really was. Next.
The ruched dress was a better success, but the neckline was an extreme snug fit over my head. My petite 5’1″ frame didn’t quite fill out the long sleeves but they were easy enough to push up, and because of it’s design, the dress fell decently down the back of my knees. There’s a hike off on the side showing some leg, but not enough to be indecent. Were I about 5 inches taller, this would’ve been a pretty sexy number, but it fell to a perfect length that I could wear for the office, always a plus. The dress cost $98 and made of 95% rayon and 5% spandex, machine washable.
Close up on the dress
All items are made in China and priced under $300, so don’t expect anything extraordinary in terms of materials and fit. As I was queuing at the dressing rooms, I noticed how a lot of clothes hid unwanted areas on bigger women, or were made of stretch jerseys that will mold to most types of bodies. The mesh dresses were cute but the mesh felt cheap and probably wouldn’t last in the wash or dry cleaners for long. I also wondered about the washability of the zippered numbers, were the zippers going to tarnish in the wash? Or do you have to dry clean?
As my usual self, I didn’t stick around to mingle with people. I never felt comfortable in these types of social settings and there wasn’t anything I wanted to ask Denis Gagnon that hasn’t already been asked.
The launch to the public will be tomorrow, I’m sure it will at least have some partial success, but as a one off collection, I think it will leave a lot of people wanting more Denis Gagnon but will alas not be able to afford his actual line.
Image credit: Marie-France Coallier, The Gazette
August 26th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
First of all, I just wanted to thank you for keeping such an amazing blog alive! You are honestly one of the few people I have met that seems to possess the same philosophy at shopping as I do – placing importance on quality and fit rather than what’s simply hot and trendy. I love art and as such love fashion but find the fleeting nature of the fashion industry to be overwhelming at times!
Since you mentioned material in your article, I was wondering what you think about the increasing presence of synthetic materials in clothing, even from the seemingly “high-end” stores (by which i don’t mean designer as I can hardly afford designer ready to wear!). I find myself checking out the labels a lot for the fabric(s) used (especially in knit-wear) and find myself hesitant to buy items that contain acrylic or something…i hate when my sweaters pill!
By the way, I checked out the current fall collection at Bedo and absolutely hated it. The zipper trend is so recurrent everywhere to point that it’s become almost of cheap fad. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of having metal details or leather on a softer material but it’s just become an overkill! I used to love love love Bedo for their chic, classy and nicely structured designs but this recent collection highly disappointed me with what seems to be like excess glittery clubwear.
August 26th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Synthetic materials have their pros and cons, some could be easily produced while others may be more complex to create. Some qualities about synthetics is that they last longer and don’t wrinkle as much. But some fabrics like polyester are made of oil, and keep moisture and heat (not very good for exercising bodies).
That’s why with designer clothing, you’ll mostly see natural fabrics and animal hair being used (wool, linen, cotton, cashmere, etc) since they have natural properties that can cool you in the summer, keep you warm in the winter and can be unbelievably soft.
For knitwear, you’d want to look for animal hair like wool (high quality wool, not cheap wool that makes you itchy) and cashmere. The latter is really pricey because of how warm it keeps you and how soft it is, starting prices for cashmere sweaters are around $500+, and of course depending on complexity of the knits and the brand, you can find cashmere sweaters fetching well over $1500. I find Pringle of Scotland makes some amazing knits, but I could never be able to afford one unless I’m will to not shop for like half the year.
Glad to know that your quest for better quality shopping is a priority, there are too few of us out there making conscious decisions about our purchases. Keep it up!