Fashion 88 : Lacroix Offers More Than a Pouff to Paris
The length and shape of future clothes, especially those worn by the world’s super-rich women, will be decided here this week during five days of fall couture shows.
The city’s top talent, including Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Christian Lacroix and Emanuel Ungaro, will show their luxurious designs, each of which is made to measure for the customer who orders it, and each of which costs thousands of dollars.
In good seasons, these collections inspire designers all over the world, who freely translate the new French looks into less expensive, mass-produced versions. In very good seasons, a new star is born, as was the case last year with Christian Lacroix. In the collection he showed here Sunday, Lacroix had a hard act to follow: himself.
An Overnight Sensation
A little more than a year ago, the 37-year-old designer presented his first couture collection under his own name and became the overnight sensation of the international fashion world.
The furor continued with his second custom collection, after which it seemed no society event was complete unless at least 10 guests showed up in those distinctive and whimsical Lacroix pouff dresses. There were more pouffs in the costumes Lacroix designed for the American Ballet Theatre’s new production of “Gaietes Parisienne,” for which Lacroix was guest of honor at the gala charity premiere organized by New York’s Blaine Trump this spring. And there were even a few pouffs in the ready-to-wear collections the highly publicized designer launched this year.
Inevitably, the backlash began: The clothes were too off-the-wall, too much like Barbie doll dresses and too expensive, some said. And then came the very recent headlines that the parent company, Financiere Agache, had lost well over $2 million with the house of Lacroix.
It was against this background that the designer attempted Sunday to show another side of his enormously creative talent. As his partner, Jean Jacques Picart said: “With this collection, we want to wipe the slate clean; not to have one look stuck on us forever.”
Lacroix continues many of his fashion signatures, such as the high waist and floppy-leg pants; the snug, tight-sleeved bolero jackets; the extravagant hats and jewelry. But there was a looseness and fluidity that are new for him. Before the collection, he said he still is inspired by his native Arles in the South of France, but in a new way. Previously, his inspirations were the colorful folklore of the region. But Arles also has imposing Roman and Greek ruins and the most directional looks in this new collection echoed the intricate folds and drapings of classical statues. For day, and certain to inspire as many copies as that famous pouff, was the mustard-color jersey dress. It was completely draped through the bodice and sleeves, caught at the waist with a double-loop gold belt, and the side-draped skirt just cleared the knees. He covered it with a tomato wool coat.
Lacroix’s baby-doll proportions are a bit different for fall. They’re still short, but often layered with a longer over-skirt, which is slit to the waist.
A ‘Homage to Chanel’
Typical of his quieter mood were two suits: one in grass green, with a cropped jacket over a fuchsia silk blouse. He covered the head with his new fall accessory, a long, trailing scarf. The other suit, in crimson wool, could almost be called “homage to Chanel”--although you would never have seen orange gloves, red stockings and red shoes with a red suit designed by Mademoiselle Coco Chanel.
More quiet beauties for after dark were almost anonymous in their simplicity, but part of the Lacroix magic. The stand-out was an ice blue crepe jumpsuit. It’s top is as simple as a long-sleeve pullover, and it has a wrapped waist and wide-leg floppy pants. With it, a floor-length taffeta cape, tied on the shoulders with enormous pink satin bows.
A black silk velvet, ankle-length sheath dress has white satin cuffs and collar that dips low in back. And a midnight-blue velvet sheath has a wrapped bodice and tulle train. A simply beautiful absinthe-color surplice wrap top teams with chocolate velvet pants hiding under an elaborately embroidered quilted velvet topper.
Some of it didn’t work. The long, split skirts over shorts were not always a successful compromise on the length question. And the gold-embroidered velvet boots were not exactly the right proportion.
On the whole though, Lacroix proved what he set out to do: there are more than just pouffs in his repertory. He proved too that a sense of color--as in an outfit featuring bordeaux over rose teamed with turquoise and mustard--is unbeatable, as were his accessories: the earrings, bracelets, massive necklaces and hair ornaments all derived from antiquity.
Sunday night, everyone celebrated at the hot new club Les Bains Deligny, the downstairs level of which is a swimming pool anchored in the Seine.
