Rochas Spring 2010

Being the bitter, grudge holding bitch that I am, I wasn't going to give Rochas a second chance.  After Procter and Gamble had announced that they were shutting down the fashion division in July of 2006 and kicked Olivier Theyskens to the curb, I had written the brand off and expected nothing good to come from the name ever again.  Out of nowhere, in 2008, Procter and Gamble named someone else to the helm of the brand.  I was determined that I would not give Marco Zanini a chance.  I took a look at the collection for Fall/Winter 2009 with a bitter taste in my mouth and was left uninspired.  There was none of that new life in the collection that Olivier so successfully brought to a house that was virtually unknown for decades.  I had my mind set that I would not give the Spring 2010 collection a single glance.  I would turn my face away from my computer screen at the sight of Rochas.  For 2010, I decided to drop my grudges and give everyone an equal opportunity to impress me.  I can't say that this collection swept me away to fantasy land the same way that Olivier's work did, but I also can't deny the fact that there was some nice work presented in the collection for Spring 2010.  The collection is infused with romanticism, which I believe was one of the strongest attributes that Olivier was able to bring to the house, but there is also a wonderful(and MUCH needed!) sense of optimism in this collection.  There is vintage appeal to almost every piece that walked down the runway - a nostalgic quality that has emerged from the most influential runway collections of the season.(It's funny,we always look back in history for inspiration in times where the future seems so dim.)  There was also an ease and wearability to every piece in the collection, which felt refreshing.  The color palette and prints in the collection are also fantastic!  I'm now starting to see promise in the future of Rochas, which makes me very happy!  I also love that the soundtrack to this runway show is "Sea Within a Sea", by The Horrors - a wonderful song by a band who I really loved in 2009. 

Here's to a New Year and giving things a second chance!