How the 5 fashion season debuts went

One of the unspoken rules of fashion journalism is to always suspend judgment on debut collections. We're not just talking about the collections of rookie designers, but also those of new creative directors at established brands. When a new creative director takes over a brand, they often have very little time to put together a collection – in some cases, just a few months or even less. For example, Alessandro Michele's debut at Gucci remains historic, providing a general idea of the brand's new direction but was much more sparse compared to what would follow. Additionally, many debut collections are like casting a wide net in the water, to carefully gauge which looks and styles resonate best with the audience and adjust course for the next season.

So, we must weigh the five debut collections seen in recent weeks with some detachment, without leaning too heavily in one direction – time, like a good judge, will confirm or overturn the verdict.

1. Tod’s

A veteran of Rochas, Schiaparelli, Pucci, and especially Bottega Veneta, Matteo Tamburini has weathered the landing at Tod’s with great grace. Partly because his product sensibility has supported the momentum the brand had gained with Walter Chiapponi, and partly because the show he organized, in one of ATM's historic warehouses, encapsulated very well that "Milanese" essence that is emerging these days as a response to the classic French chicness seen on the streets of Paris. In a somewhat lackluster and feverish season, Tamburini provided a clear, sharp demonstration, suggesting that interesting experiments may lie ahead.

2. Blumarine

Moving from Nicola Brognano to Walter Chiapponi was like switching from Cosmopolitan to red wine. Blumarine is a deceptively simple brand, whose perception varies by generation. Those who followed and consumed fashion in the '80s and '90s certainly remember the frisson of Anna Molinari's style, Helmut Newton's campaigns with Monica Bellucci, that coquettish '90s lolita elegance. Others are attached to Nicola Brognano's radical sexiness and The O.C.-esque sensibility. A world as playful as it is mischievous, which Chiapponi steered towards the same aesthetic territories as Christiane F., Davide Sorrenti, and Nancy Spungen, but without the same taste for the precious and the decadent. We might have wanted to see more abandon, more romanticism, and, lacking better words, more bite.

3. Moschino

The big question: what is Moschino? Without wanting to give fashion connoisseurs who came of age in the '80s and '90s a heart attack, nobody remembers anymore. Especially after twelve years of fluorescent bombardment and Jeremy Scott's teddy bears. If we were to narrow down the brand's essence to a single adjective, it might be "witty", which doesn't mean "clownish" but rather clever, winking, campy, vital. Now, the collection seemed to appeal to those from previous generations, and perhaps we, in our inexperienced ignorance, didn't fully grasp the message. However, the location and the colors of the collection appeared dim, the atmosphere gloomy, the archival references together verbose and dreary. And this we say with full respect for Appiolaza, who is one of the most talented archivists and designers on the scene – perhaps next time, he will grant us the same verve and sparkle he demonstrates for his outfits.

4. Alexander McQueen

It would be easy to play spot-the-reference to the various collections of the great Lee McQueen. Eshu, Banshee, Pantheon ad Lucem… the names of those original collections already sound like films or novels. Sean McGirr's first attempt was extremely difficult, a Pyrrhic victory one might hesitate to call it a victory at all – yet the new creative director told Vogue that McQueen should be "uplifting" and playfully aggressive, adding: "I'd like to bring a certain lightness to McQueen." Words we don't feel like sharing and which are also somewhat amusing: it would be nice to bring lightness to Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, but then it wouldn't be a masterpiece anymore. Making Alexander McQueen's work reassuring is like trying to give a manicure to a werewolf. But we trust that the talented McGirr knows how to capture the antiphon.

5. Chloé

After a series of vaguely sepulchral debuts, Chemena Kamali arrived on the runway like a fresh, fragrant breeze. Of course, Chloé's debut collection could certainly have been more balanced; some looks were overloaded with ideas that could have been streamlined more succinctly, but Kamali confidently understood what constituted the freshness and vivacity of the brand. It's immediately apparent that her hand leads with a certainty that makes us breathe a sigh of relief: nothing in this collection is approximate, nothing feels outdated or stale. The future seems bright.