Show Report
The entire content of this collection really could have come from any one of Felder Felder's collections over the past five-or-so seasons.
What does Felder Felder stand for? A bit of leather, a bit of fur and a lot of hardware. All those trademarks were certainly evident in Daniela and Annette Felder's A/W 2011 show: they titled it 'The Transformation Collection', but in reality it was about maintaining the status quo with as little transformation as possible. The rock leathers were in evidence as short, sharp little jackets and skirts jutting sharply from the hip in a brief A-line or caught into a prom dress. The fur was Mongolian lamb and goat, frothing at shoulders, tufting from necklaces, wrapping wrists and even dropping to knee or mid-calf in a couple of chunky skirts. The hardware was came as studs on straps and flaps, and a series of silver embroideries around neat cut-outs over slinky, drippy silk cocktail dresses and vintage lingerie.
It was all perfectly passable, especially in London - everything seemed adequately constructed, nicely finished. The fabrics looked expensive. The seams were straight. But when you have to retort to detailing a collection's quality-control like the back-pages of a mail-order catalogue, there's something amiss on the creative side. The entire content of this collection really could have come from any one of Felder Felder's collections over the past five-or-so seasons. It's what bagged them stockists, got them noticed, and dragged them onto the official schedule. It's understandable, I suppose, that they would want to tread water and consolidate their relatively new position rather than forge ahead with new ideas. Granted, they did show a few - that (slightly tired) rock-chick vibe of theirs was joined this time by sixties references, all space-age bacofoil silver leather and stiff Courreges mini-skirts. Vaguely Blondie, vaguely Sprouse, all vaguely familiar.
Felder Felder's signature was established a few years ago. And it shows. This label really needs to push ahead and find a new message in tune with the times if they want to continue to interest and innovate. A few stud-by-number frocks won't cut it.
