Madonna and Jeremy Scott said they envisioned this as “Combat Barbie,” dressed for fashion war. On the surface, the playful context of the Met would seem to encourage this kind of thing, but I wonder if Rei Kawakubo hated it. She reportedly withheld items from the exhibit that she deemed “too readily understandable,” and her work seems to be all about stretching the obvious into something unlikely. Whereas Jeremy Scott is ENTIRELY obvious, to me. He hits every nail on its head with mallets and then some bonus TNT. If he had not said “Combat Barbie,” we would have gotten it, because there is camo, and flaps, and netting, and a purse like a canteen. His clothes smack you so hard that you’re left concussed and with the words YES YES I SEE I GET IT pressed into your forehead skin. Someday a Jeremy Scott theme might make for an amusing and poppy kind of Gala, but I’d have had a better time seeing if he could deviate from his typical yens and do up some more abstract camp.
However, one person loved it:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTk1M3Eg_ae/
[Photos: Getty, WENN]
