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Unfortunately, Michael Vollbracht's second collection designing for Bill Blass was not an improvement over his debut - last September - which was met with some disappointing reviews. I really like Michael, he is undeniably a talented guy (and a great illustrator), and I would love him to succeed. But for spring 2004, he repeated many of the same 'mistakes': the 77 piece show, which seemed to go on forever, was for the most part filled with items that could have been literally taken from the archives of Mr. Blass - and not even the exceptional, stand out pieces. While there were some perfectly nice suits, coats, evening dresses, (and takes on the 'Day for Night' theme that Bill always stood for) far too many outfits were either uninspired, lackluster, or overdone - and worse - it all seemed to have been frozen in time.
This was not helped by Michael's insistence on using the same group of star models from the 80's that marked his debut (whom WWD jokingly referred to as "The Models of Yore Club"). Don't get me wrong- these gals still look amazing, and they can still do their thing on the runway- there is no question about that. But, repeating the same thing was overkill and a big mistake. Plus, Pat Cleveland's overly theatric runway gyrations, which may have been novel, fun and entertaining the first time around, became grating and annoying, and I just wanted to say, "enough already". Most importantly, it certainly didn't do anything to help the clothes on the runway.
Mr. Vollbracht, who worked directly with Bill Blass, and had been a close personal friend, claims to have been "inspired by animal skins like cheetah, leopard, and sable" and used the fur muff in dark and golden sable throughout. Certainly, these items have long been part and parcel of Bill's signature designs. But in a season that is really all about fur and luscious animal patterns, Michael's interpretations just fell flat. And when you consider the high price of this collection, it was not infused with an overwhelming sense of rich luxury. Better luck next time!
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