Fringe Leather Rash

The leather-dress hunt ramapge continues and for something that is looking to be a short-lived one-season trend, judging from the SS08 shows, the high street options are being churned out faster than ever.  H&M, M&S and Zara all being in the game, with probably the others to follow.  For me, those dresses all seem to want to send a very non-threatening, non-hostile message to prospective buyers: ‘Yes, I am made of leather but I’m in a very very wearable shape and I won’t try and make you look like a sausage squeezed into a dress.’  This is I think a wise approach, but my own eyes will be diverted elsewhere (it’s amazing how eBay sellers and vintage stores are so trend-aware that more and more leather dresses are popping up all over the place…) for those 80’s throwbacks that used leather in more interesting ways – panelling, different colours and textures, shapes, strap features.  Seeing as it is that one-seasonal, I think I’ll have a lot more fun with it on the vintage route…

…HOWEVER, this Zara dress that has popped up on eBay did not escape my attention.  How could it when a) the price is  ‘Yeesk’-inducing high for a Zara dress and b) it ticked the Gareth Pugh SS08 black leather fringe box so immediately after the show…?
I’m doubting the design reference here is Pugh but rather, the fringing seen at Prada SS07 combined with the overall AW07-8 love of texture and leather.  It’s supposedly a limited design and certainly I’ve yet to see it in a Zara store.  It does perturb me however, how scarily catwalk-driven Zara is, touching upon not just the mainstream trends but the more daring ones too.  I have a sort of :S expression when I go into Zara.  It dances between ‘Oh, I love everything’ and ‘Oh, how disturbing that dress is EXACTLY like it was on the catwalk’.  In this way, I’ve been snared in the past but now I’m just pondering, how would a designer feel about seeing their designs watered down/revered (depending on how the designer feels about the copyright of design) by Zara?  This is one of my many in-brain topics that will require further analysed thought.
For now, though, if this dress is anything to go by, it does seem Zara’s limits of high-fashion-homage will continue to be pushed higher and higher. 

19 comments

  1. It was in the Glasgow Zara shop but it was in brown and looked just too much like those hideous fringed Prada bags.

  2. I saw this dress in Portugal a couple of weeks ago, it looked gorgeous and of course way way cheaper than in here, well it’s fair to say Gareth Pugh was not a reference.
    I actually think Zara is doing a good job, its great how eveything seems so well put together.

  3. I saw this dress in Portugal a couple of weeks ago, it looked gorgeous and of course way way cheaper than in here, well it’s fair to say Gareth Pugh was not a reference, i was going to buy it
    but then I remember that I do not really have a place to use it.
    I actually think Zara is doing a good job, its great how eveything seems so well put together, and i like the fact that sometimes they pick up different references from the catwalk and create something new, in my opinion that’s when Zara is at their best, much more than when they make an almost exact copy.

  4. Is it just me, or is that dress terribly unflattering on that poor girl?
    Actually, I believe it would be terribly unflattering on anyone.
    Don’t get me wrong–I love leather. But I’d prefer a more structured look.

  7. Trust me ppl! In no way am I saying this is a fab dress…but a rather odd dress from Zara don’t you think and a little….fashion-forward if you see what I mean? High-fashion homage doesn’t always yield good things…

  8. It actually sold out in record time in the Glasgow store – they had them in one day then they were all gone the next! What that says about Glasgow I’m not so sure…

  9. Hello Susie
    I don’t always know what the hell you’re talking about, or always get what you’re trying to do with your outfits, but I love it all. Its all superb.
    Anyhoo…the NYTimes has dedicated a few articles of late on this phenomenon. The latest, I believe was titled “Before Models Can Turn Around, Knockoffs Fly” by Eric Wilson. There was also one of those nice NYTimes slide shows, but I can’t find it.

  12. i was in a zara yesterday and there was a very cool-looking messenger bag with panels of navy-blue patent leather (fake of course), and though i was drawn to it, i had to ask the sales guy whether it was a direct knock-off of some actual designer bag, because i could not stomach that. he sort of just stared at me, and i went on about “you know, some things at zara are designed in house but a lot of it is copied, you know, and i just dont want to be carrying a bag that is a copy of something real,” etc. in the end i didn’t buy it, and i definitely identify with your uncomfortably mixed reaction while browsing the many copycat looks on the racks. i think in a way it’s a good thing in the end because though zara gets it out faster and cheaper, the fashion-educated will still always be looking elsewhere for design with a little more integrity.

  14. HI MY NAME IS SYLVIA AND I’M THE EBAY SELLER OF THIS DRESS.
    I MUST ADMIT THAT ALTHOUGH IT;S NOT REALLY MY STYLE OF DRESS IT DOES SELL VERY WELL, I KEEP RUNNING OUT OF THEM AND I’VE EVEN HAD TO TRAVEL ABROAD TO BUY MORE SINCE THEY SOLD OUT IN 2 WEEKS IN PORTUGAL!!
    THANKS
    SYLVIA

  17. Silvia, do you have the dress yet? because I’m VERY interested to buy it to you!!

  18. hi I wish I did, but ALAS, it’s gone now! it was last seasons and it just flew off my shelves! how i wish i could help you!.
    do come and check out my ebay store as i do have loads of other things.
    xxx take care and God bless
    Sylvia
    Angels.boutique
    ebay

  19. oow this dress is so cute! I need this dress!! where can I buy this one?? can anyone help me?

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