Post #4 - Fashion Reporter's Language

Fashion writers need to be cultured on all fronts in order to draw references in collections and write intelligently. My favorite writers in the industry are Nicole Phelps, Tim Blanks, and Cathy Horyn. They can often change my opinion on a collection, seeing things I may have overlooked, or conversely, faults in a collection I liked. I'm constantly reading their reports during fashion week. This is Cathy's review of Balenciaga (my #1 show this season):

Balenciaga: Geeks and Spies

By CATHY HORYN

Typically, Nicolas Ghesquiere stages his Balenciaga shows in a cozy, fondant-white salon at the Crillon or in his showroom. But this morning, in fog-bound Paris, we all convened at a new office building on the Left Bank.
Huh?
The first clue that something was truly different was the uniformed posse of young men and women waiting at the security turnstiles (a feature of corporate life, right?) and by the elevators. “So serious,” a magazine chief whispered as a Balenciaga-clad woman directed us toward a waiting elevator car. Someone giggled.
I admit that my first thought was Hotel Balenciaga, given the cute uniforms and caps. But, in fact, Mr. Ghesquiere’s idea was to show the differences in corporate dress styles: banker, advertising executive or perhaps a woman who works in cosmetics. “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a while,” he said.
Accordingly, there were conservative double-faced coats, A-line skirts with sweaters, dresses with sheer and solid panels, and jackets in metallic animal prints. When I asked Mr. Ghesquiere about some puffy, oversize tops (as in sweatshirts) with cartoonish graphics on the front, he replied, “They’re the corporate spies.”

1. Silhouette & Design
- double-faced coats
- A-line skirts
- sweaters
- dresses with sheer and solid panels
- jackets
- puffy, oversize tops

2. Details
- caps
- corporate dress
- metallic animal prints
- cartoonish graphics

3. Color
- fondant-white

4. Fabric

5. Creative Jargon 
- the Crillon
- Left Bank
- Hotel Balenciaga