Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Goodbye Rochas

I'm in shock. I've been summing up the best FW06 collections in my head in the past few days and so far, my list consists of Balenciaga, Rochas and others yet to be decided. Rochas has one of THE top fashion designers, Olivier Theyskens as its creative director and even Anna Wintour loves him. Which is why yesterday's news came as a shock: (from telegraph.co.uk)

Proctor & Gamble, which owns Parisian fashion label, announced the closure of the house of Rochas. A statement from Parfums Rochas said: "After four years of support, Parfums Rochas has decided to cease further investment in the fashion house as it does not represent a core business for the company. Rochas fashion is a beautiful brand. However, we must make tough choices on where to focus our resources.”

(Pictures above and below are from the SS06 collection.)
“It is really very unfortunate,” said Anna Wintour. “It seems Proctor & Gamble was not the right company to capitalise on Theyskens’ design strengths and was not willing to go the extra distance to support him. If he’d been with LVMH or Gucci, it would have been a different story.

“He (Theyskens) is exceptionally talented and so brilliant at understanding that fashion success is not just beautiful ballgowns. He can do well-crafted, well-made suits and clothes that women really want to wear.”

I absolutely loved the Rochas FW06 collection (above), especially the gorgeous dresses at the end. The white dress is so angelic in an elegant way, and the black dress appears to be swirling around the model. The perfect word to describe this collection: divine.

The FW06 collection will make it to the stores as scheduled, but after that, it's goodbye.

The big question is of course, where will the CFDA 2006 International Award winner go. With Anna Wintour as his big supporter and three succcessful years of reviving Rochas under his belt, he's certainly got an excellent resume. Let's hope we see his designs again soon.

*Sigh* Now who's going to make those beautiful dresses Rochas was so brilliant at?

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