Kanye West debuts at Paris Fashion Week

Published on October 3, 2011 09:50PM EDT

Kw Kanye West 03 — Photo: Francois Mori/AP Images

Leave it to Kanye West to become the talk of the fashion world. The uber-successful rapper, who’s long had an affinity for women’s wear, took his appreciation to the next level by debuting a much-buzzed about Spring 2012 collection at Paris Fashion Week on Saturday, and the opinions are already starting to pour in.

With an audience that could very well double as a who’s-who of the fashion industry (Anna Wintour, Alexander Wang and Jeremy Scott were just some of the big names), Kanye presented a line comprising of plunging necklines, bandage dresses, and fur (lots of fur). Thus far, the reviews have been mixed. A couple of excerpts below:

“Though designers in Paris are presenting collections for next spring and summer this week, Mr. West’s collection was heavy on leather, fur, and coats, some pieces dripping with so much fox you couldn’t tell if they were stoles or backpacks.” — New York Times

“The clothes? Heavy might be the operative word: zippers in excelsis; suede and leather high-performance clothing; beading, crystals, and appliqué weighting jackets and tops.” — Style.com

“Overall, the collection was strong, showing great promise for the future.” — Billboard

For me, the line, though disjointed, was certainly not without vision. (Then again, that’s never really been Kanye’s problem). In fact, it may have just suffered from too much vision. Like many of the critics above, I felt like there was an overload of everything: fur, leather, skin. (Honestly, let’s pull those tops up a little, gals). But that’s not to say it can’t get better from here. Kanye’s collection certainly seemed more thought out than other celebs-turned-designer’s presentations — too many disasters to name — and assuming he learns to reign-in/refine, he’s certainly one to watch for next fall. But maybe that’s just me. Take a look at the images below and post your own review.