FASHION / PARIS FALL ’91 COLLECTIONS : Body-Huggers Suit Autumn Designs for Evening Wear
It’s proving to be a transitional time in fashion, as seen in the fall collections by some of the big-name designers shown over the weekend, starting with Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto.
At first, it seemed as if both Kawakubo and Yamamoto were flashing back to the somber post-nuclear look that launched them into the Paris avant-garde in the early 1980s. Kawakubo’s greasy-haired models wore lipstick the color of dried blood, and Yamamoto’s knot-haired women had ghostly green shadows stenciled under their eyes.
But first impressions proved deceiving.
Kawakubo crafted a cutting-edge collection that was closer to the mainstream than normal. Usually arty and anti-social in her fashion tastes, she restrained herself this time to graffiti-painted shoes and baggy fishnet leggings rolled up to mid-calf. The best of the show were her navy blue suits with short, pleated skirts and wide jackets dipped in vinyl at the collar and pocket flaps--just enough to make them shimmer.
But the first fashion shock of the week was Kawakubo’s strapless ball gowns--exquisite airy bubbles of padded red or white silk painted with golden frames. Usually she tends toward unadorned shifts as formal wear.
Yamamoto went the other way entirely, indulging in intellectual exercises that seldom translated to wearable clothes. His ankle-length skirts and matching vests made of hinged wooden slats recall the 1930s man-as-machine paintings of Marcel Duchamps. This was Duchamps’ famous “Nude Descending a Staircase”--dressed.
Equally odd were Yamamoto’s short kilts that became puffy bloomers in back.
To his credit, Yamamoto dared to risk the glaring mistakes in this collection in order to test new directions in dress. The man is a genius--and eventually something useful will come of all this.
Closer to the real world, Yamamoto’s short navy blue coat with circular pieces attached at the shoulders moved like mobile sculpture in a breeze. And black wool jersey mini-skirts had sheer net hems that extended to mid-calf, sidestepping the question of short versus long. (These days, longer lengths seem contrived and dowdy, while short looks are modern and mobile. Many designers show both, but most only pay serious attention to short.)
One designer who managed to make both lengths work was German-based Helmut Lang, who has developed quite a following in Paris.
Lang featured minimalist contoured minis, maxis and modified bell-bottomed pants reminiscent of the early 1970s. Lang’s brown mink mini had rhinestone slip straps that spilled from under capped sleeves. And something about all his fabrics--perforated suede, stretchy silk and fake fur, not to mention the body-hugging fit--had the audience peeking and squinting to see what might or might not be underneath.
In the Karl Lagerfeld show, almost every outfit began with an iridescent body suit in graphite gray for day or antique gold for evening. The newest way to wear it was under curvy, short full coats; for evening, he put it under lace tunics or slip dresses.
Before the shows, observers had speculated that attendance would be low because of the worldwide recession and lingering fears about the Persian Gulf War. And in fact, attendance does seem to be lower, as it was in the earlier shows in Italy. But you wouldn’t have known it from the packed crowd at the Jean Paul Gaultier show.
Gaultier’s quilted satin skirt resembled two parkas turned inside out and tied together around the waist. Snugly fitted dresses with calf-grazing hems topped active sport unitards.
Evening dresses seemed to be slip-dress-and-coat combinations, but it turned out that the coats were part of the dresses.
Meanwhile, the strength of Claude Montana’s collection was a series of short black leather dresses tipped in sterling silver. Adapting ideas from his spring, 1991, collection, Montana also showed short oval-shaped white skirts with sculpted azure-blue jackets for fall.
In the midst of all the shows, rumors about Romeo Gigli had buzzed and reports had appeared in fashion trade publications that Gigli and his partners, Carla Sozzani and Donato Maino, were feuding and that Sozzani and Maino had moved to sell their shares of the company.
A spokesman for the company who asked not to be identified said that a split between the three partners seems inevitable but that the company will survive.
The brouhaha was quieted, at least temporarily, when Gigli showed a collection with a theme of tranquility in nature.
Gigli’s unique eye for medieval wrap-and-tie shapes; textiles from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and handicraft work all were apparent in this collection. Crocheted coats, sheer blouses made three-dimensional by appliqued leaves, black crocheted leggings and dresses that appeared to be wound around the figure were the heart of it.
His evening dresses were a frothy mix of net, lace tulle and iridescent beading that hugged the body and extended to the ankle.
Indeed, what looked newest in all the collections was the idea of a body suit under evening wear, as Lagerfeld and Gigli showed it, or a body suit under a short full coat, as Montana and Gaultier did it.
Don’t panic. The latest body suits look to be as stretchy and strong as a good old-fashioned girdle.
