When Valentino recently bought a stake in Proenza Schouler, it allowed Jack and Lazaro to keep doing what they're doing, except with more pocket change to throw around. I was excited to see what they would do with the extra money: nicer fabrics? Killer shoes?

Here is Proenza Schouler, Chapter 2. The color palette and even the one-shouldered dresses remind me of Balenciaga's Spring 2007 collection. Where the two collections differ, however, in Proenza's tribal graphic prints, military-inspiration, and lots of leg. The collection is very tactile; some long astroturf-like fringe appears in all different colors and in all different places: sleeves, skirts, entire dresses. There is also an obsession with belts, as well, only one pair of pants appears in the entire collection!

All in all, this collection feels a tad recycled from past runways, and not necessarily very Spring-y, but I do love those Proenza boys so maybe they just need to figure out how to spend that extra dough wisely...

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