One of the things you'll often hear a designer complain about is the number of seasons for which they have to design - Spring and Fall are the standards, but then there's Pre-Spring, Pre-Fall, Resort, Holiday, sometimes even Summer, and then those random capsule collections they might do that are probably driving each of them slowly insane, something Jane Mayle once touched upon when announcing the end of Mayle.
But Stefano Pilati isn't fazed - he's just announced a new, annual collection he'll produce, Edition Soir, a 26-look evening wear collection topped off with matching accessories and shoes to be sold worldwide alongside the normal YSL Fall 08 range.
He's even borrowed from Isaac Mizrahi, who once launched a made-to-alter collection a few years back, and designed each look to have interchangeable color/fabric/embroidery choices from which his customers can choose.
It sounds like semi-couture, except it'll never see the runway and sounds entirely based on what the customer wants as opposed to the designer's potentially irrelevant vision. So, a boring line that might end up on pageant stages nationwide? Or a democratic line for the people, (kind of) by the people?
Either way, we're sure Pilati's design assistants are working major overtime these days.
