left: zara man fall winter 2010 / right: balmain homme fall winter 2010 (last pic from balmain spring summer 2010)
a few thoughts running through my head:
- zara's lookbook for august seems to be heavily inspired by balmain homme fall winter 2010, clothes and styling.
- strange, and somewhat brave of zara to be inspired by a fashion house with a very niche menswear collection/distribution. or brave of balmain to try and take streetwear upmarket.
- much as i do not agree with the deconstructed style and exorbitant price tags at balmain, the pieces at balmain demonstrated fine detailings: collars carefully slashed, cuffs nicely ribbed, buttons gloriously gold and crested. zara's versions are decidedly bland though.
- in an era where fashion is fast and clothes are aplenty, i suggest it's all (balmain) or nothing.
- you might emulate the style but it's hard to get the feel. i guess people who spend £2,000 upwards on balmain coats should in some aspect love fashion and style, and take care of themselves. so perhaps more of a clotheshorse and less of a victim.
- zara's online store will be operational on september 2nd across several european countries, UK included. how will it fare?
pics credit: zara / balmain
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will definitely be purchasing some of those ZARA boots this is a of topic brand but what do you think of allsaints
ReplyDeletepersonally, am not into all saints, ted baker, fcuk and the likes. it's too wishy washy, not decidedly high street enough in pricing, and definitely not leading the pack in fashion stakes.
ReplyDeletei like my clothes cheap (H&M, zara) or towards the top end of the market, not feeling anything in between.
This is why I hate Zara. They keep ripping off other designers. Zara can do well without copying others and having their own creative vision.
ReplyDeleteI saw the Balmain effect so much in the first look especially. I assuming the women's line would have a celine look to it.
ReplyDeleteThough to me even the Balmain look is a "fashion forward" version of very classic looks anyway: navy DBs, striped shirts, chinos. While Zara's is just classic but still modern. If that makes any sense...
I'm not a great Balmain fan, although i like some of there pieces, especially the winter coats. Nevertheless i think they r terribly overpriced - you just don't get your money's worth. Comparing these looks i tend to like more the zara photos -they seem slightly more elegant and laid back too me. But then again it's a photo shoot and the high street clothes always look better on ads than in real life.
ReplyDeleteIs it me or high street fashion is getting a little bit more elegant (i.e. asos 'smart' lookbook). Is it because of the minimal trend?
Heavily inspired is quite the understatement but sure bet that I'll be frequenting Zara to see what Balmain-esque digs I'll snag- especially those tapered sweatpants!
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i think it's ok to be inspired by the works of others but that is totally different from copying. i'm sure zara can be more creative and come up with at least different photos to that of balmain. i agree that balmain appears to be more keen on details while zara skipped over them in an acceptable kind of way (i think). maybe it's their way of justifying why they are a lot cheaper.
ReplyDeleteBoy the similarities are indeed uncanny! Scary or sweet?
ReplyDeleteIt's already one thing for the clothes to be so blatantly ripped off, it's quite another level of laziness that even the stylist and creative director couldn't be bothered to come up with some original shots...
ReplyDeleteI like Zara a lot, but I'm not sure what to make of this. One thing is if an item or two are 'inspired' by an item by a designer, but...here it seems like every look is a copy, even the way the models are styled resembles a bit too much.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I agree on the whole cheap or high end, no in-betweeners thing.
There is inspiration and then there is plagiarism. Never been a fan of Zara although there are a couple of items in the lookbook that actually look ok.
ReplyDeleteI sense a court case coming on...
ReplyDeletevery similar in many cases
ReplyDeleteYou may forget that Balmain is heavly inspired by "military style"..there's nothing really new in this style..you can found jacket and coat àla Balmain in all the "surplus militaire"...
ReplyDeleteWhat's new in Balmain? The styling & the prices...because military inspired pieces are mixed with jersey tracksuit pants and all the regular stuff you can found at Gap or H&m or even...Zara..
I found Zara copy very good because, the fit is there..and this is something you can't always found in military surplus...
So for the balmainisation..you just have to buy Gold Buttons and fix that!
My only problem is that there's a lot of good collections..and Balmain will be the only one everywhere...
Well, always 2-sided coin: it's good for a regular customer and it's a real pain in the ass for the brands. Right now i'm just a student who wants to look stylish without a bank robbery, and it's great to see Balmain-look clothes with Zara's label and, of course, prices. Sense of style won't left you, it's only about "one of a kind" feeling. Sorry if i messed up the english btw.
ReplyDeleteWe all know the high street likes to interpret the latest Catwalk look/trends but this is just bad & lazy. someone gonna get sued
ReplyDeleteReally like the 1st & 3rd looks of Zara tho.
Zara can easily copy the look and style, which are pretty basic military inspired apparel. The Balmain pieces set themselves apart with the material and construction. I was fortunate enough to get the Balmain peacoat and there is nothing from Zara or any other high street retailers that can come close in terms of the fit and cut. And for that, I'm willing to spend a little more to get.
ReplyDeletewhat a rip off! even the shots!
ReplyDeletecheck out the crest in the last looks, ridiculous.
Very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteThe looks are a complete copy of the Balmain collection!
Yesterday I was passing infront of Zara in London and i noticed how they copied the thin bow ties Bottega Veneta did for this season.
But this is a very minor thing compared to what you've shown here!
Total rip off!!
generally, ZARA's merchandises are obvious copies of other luxury brands merchandises, i think that is a fact. but to copy even the ad campaign of the copied brand, that's too much. they should try to exert a little more effort on this part. for me that's the only problem here. if you could afford, then go for Balmain, but if you are short of cash, buy ZARA. for me, to be able to wear clothes that i find looks amazing gives me enough joy.
ReplyDeleteI love to read this type of stuff. Good and attractive information I take from it..Thank you for posting such a nice article.
ReplyDeleteBoth of the designers cover best fashions for man in every seasons but here we are counting who is best between them and I found Zara Man great!
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