COUNTRY SCHOOLGIRL
Paul & Joe is one of few truly commercial labels showing in Paris, an attainable and wearable Junior and Contemporary collection reflecting today's trends. For S/S 10 the look was a retro country schoolgirl: there was a slouchy sweatshirt paired with a ruffled mini for gym class, the studious brainiac in glasses and white tie-neck blouse, and a sweet
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POST-MODERN ROCOCCO
Heavily layered and intricately detailed, Wolfgang Joop's S/S 10 Wunderkind collection stitched together a barrage of references: rococo silhouettes, colors and florals worked alongside swatches of country gingham, active-inspired bralets were juxtaposed with fanciful hand-drawn graphics and contrasted with the platform shoes that anchored voluminous dresses and skirts. Although such textural and stylistic depth may seem like too much,
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RISING SUN
Antonio Marras draws sartorial inspiration from a different region or culture each season, and for spring, against a backdrop of a gold foil sun, the designer transported Paris to the Sahara. The designer smartly only alluded to the theme, which seems to be a popular one for the season, mixing North African harem pants and safari suits with asymmetrical
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READY FOR HER CLOSE-UP
Earlier in the week for Dior John Galliano drew inspiration from Hollywood's Lauren Bacall, but for his own collection, the designer captured a more tragic heroine — the fictional aging star, Norma Desmond, from the classic 1950 film Sunset Boulevard — and as tragedy often fuels creativity, the clothes were better for it. The models’ faces were
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AGE OF INNOCENCE
Considering our culture’s obsession with youth and aging, Miuccia Prada played with the dichotomy using girlish prints on sophisticated silhouettes. Cats, dogs, doves and flowers came together with what seemed to be a Biba-influenced Deco-meets-disco sensibility, the various motifs appliquéd, sequined or printed on slim pantsuits and high-waisted skirts. Skin-baring crisscrossed tops, cutouts, sheer stretch chiffon and
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GAME SET MATCH
Tennis, the sport of the leisure class, was the inspiration behind Jean Paul Gaultier’s collection for Hermès. Beginning with pleated minis, polos, sweatbands and matching bangles that looked like wristbands, Gaultier took his inspiration quite literally. But as the collection moved on, the tennis skirts were elongated into ankle-grazing styles and made from non-traditional materials like luxe snakeskin.
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MEDITATION ON THE SQUARE
For his spring collection, Roland Mouret explored the possibilities of a square piece of fabric. In his skilled hands, the simple shape evolved into soft architectural forms that enveloped the body and fell away in fluid cascades and gentle folds. The exercise also contributed a new sense of ease to the designer’s trademark body-hugging, controlled draping. Skirts
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TOURIST TRAP
The announcement that the Louis Vuitton show would be broadcast live on Facebook should have been the first sign that Marc Jacobs was up to some new tricks. What resulted was a collection that is sure to please the tech-savvy generation, turning Vuitton’s polished sophisticate into a wide-eyed ingenue on a worldwide tour, circa the 70s and 80s. Jacobs
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FANTASY LAND
Notoriously over-the-top Jean-Charles de Castelbajac's ready-to-wear Spring collection read like a who's who of a classic adventure tale. All the characters were there, from eye-patched pirates, to jaunty sailors and grass-skirt-sporting hulu girls. Fantasy inspired spectacle as it was, the French designer is very clued-in to the current pop culture sensibility, evidenced by the presence of fashion it-girls Dita
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NOT JUST FOR BOYS
For his sophomore outing as a womenswear designer, Tim Hamilton incorporated his expertise in menswear (for which he recently received a CFDA award) with an innovative twist in silhouettes and drapery. A cream-colored suit’s pants had elongated pockets, which gave them a jodhpur shape, and a built-in cummerbund suggesting masculine formalwear, while a relaxed linen top had
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RUFFLED EMOTIONS
A Valentino show without a red dress? After their FW 09 collection’s reverent tone, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli placed their own stamp on the brand while not steering too far from the archives. This season’s collection felt young and upbeat, a necessary evolution for the brand if it is to remain afloat in the stormy market.
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STYLE INSTITUTION
French Label MF Girbaud has gone through many incarnations since it was established nearly 40 years ago, and this season things took a slightly twisted turn for husband and wife duo François and Marithé Girbaud. The message was an interesting juxtaposition of freedom and restriction, with smiling models literally dancing down the runway clad in what felt like mental
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FUTURE FRONTIER
Known for her futuristic proclivities, Junko Shimada envisioned a post-apocalyptic tribe settling into a new frontier for the spring. Buttery suede was worked into staples of the Old West — jodhpurs, dusters, Pocahontas jagged-edged dresses, and poncho tops. Native American motifs were deconstructed into colorful beadwork, Op Art prints, and inky ikats. An openwork crochet outlined with swirls of
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BEAUTIFUL TOMBOYS
Hannah MacGibbon’s Chloé girl is casual and no-nonsense, preferring a flat leather sandal to the towering experiments in gravity that other designers have offered this season. With natural hair and minimal makeup, the models looked comfortable in the relaxed fit of the clothes. Boyfriend blazers were plentiful, shown as part of roomy pantsuits or paired with ankle-grazing skirts for
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DENIZENS OF THE DEEP
Coinciding with the United Nations’ global conference on climate change last week, several designers have woven an environmental theme into their collections. While some, like Vivienne Westwood, voiced a protest with written placards, McQueen was more subtle and conceptual with his Plato's Atlantis collection. He imagined the effects on the human race if the polar ice caps
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