Paris Is Burning With Retro Glamor
Deep six Seventh Avenue. Put Milan on the back burner. And, ma chere, start planning your next winter wardrobe around this city’s designer offerings of eclectic, electrifying, great-looking clothes.
Remember the New Year’s Eve millennium bash that bathed the Eiffel Tower in an endless spray of fireworks? Well, the fireworks are back--but they’re on the runway in fashions with edgy individuality.
Sure, there were beaucoup luxurious creations parading down the catwalk in cashmere, fur and butter-soft leathers.
But coats with trains sweeping the floor behind you? Olivier Theyskens did it with flair.
Cashmere that reverses from a daytime skirt into a glitzy number--held up with magnets, no less--for a night out? It was a chic magic act for Thierry Mugler.
Or how about a fur muffler worn with a tweed coat and corduroy pants that could easily have come from a thrift store? Michael Kors for Celine says there’s nothing wrong with a luxe mix-up.
What about thigh-high leather leg warmers worn with a slinky knit top and high heels? Alexander McQueen for Givenchy says go for it, girlfriend.
No wonder they call this place the city of light. French and other designers showing here have more bright ideas than the repetitious ladylike looks recently presented in New York and Milan. Paris was living up to its mega-watt fashion reputation as the fall ready-to-wear collections unfolded this week before rain-drenched capacity crowds.
After all, this is ground zero of the fashion universe. Remember the “I Love Lucy” episode in which Lucy and Ethel wore burlap outfits and feeding-bag hats that Ricky and Fred tricked them into believing were the latest French designs?
While that look hasn’t materialized--yet--artistic license is a given from the likes of McQueen,, Kors , John Galliano for Christian Dior, Stella McCartney for Chloe and Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto--all of whom have cleverly broken the fashion rules and concocted new twists on classic looks for the thoroughly modern millennium woman. The shows included a final one by Alber Elbaz for the Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche collection (see box).
Homage to the ‘70s and ‘80s
McCartney--with her famous dad, Paul, and guests Vidal Sassoon, Jerry Seinfeld and wife Jessica, and Sean Lennon in the audience--presented a retro-style collection on Wednesday at the Paris Opera House. The designs, she says, were inspired by her childhood during the ‘70s and ‘80s. She mixed day and evening wear, luxury and simplicity, in a collection filled with diamond-print jerseys.
McCartney, an animal-rights advocate, reinvented fur by loading many coats and sweaters with artificial feathers fashioned out of large paillettes. They were among the collection’s boldest standouts.
She sent out models in ecru-colored, maxi-length army trench coats, and distressed-canvas jackets sporting regimental military patches on the right sleeves. Matching trousers featured three or four rows of military stripes down the right leg, but mostly the coats were tossed over diamond-print jersey mini-dresses in soft greens, many with sleeves that resembled bat wings.
The military-styled coats, she said, were made to resemble a boyfriend’s second-hand coat as a last-minute answer to the sexy evening dress, worn with stiletto-heeled boots.
Like McCartney, McQueen for Givenchy presented a retro-style collection that was both sensual and menswear-inspired.
For instance, he threw a leather tie around the neck of a crisp white blouse worn with a micro-mini coat dress. But that was just about the only thing the model donned--well, that and zip-up leather leg warmers and stiletto heels. Or how about one leg warmer--always the right leg--with the left one bare?
McQueen’s collection was devoid of glitz and shiny prints, opting instead for a mostly dark palette of brown, black and greens that looked black, as well as patent leather and a colorful plaid on the tightest of stretch trousers.
He showed low-cut hipster pants--a hot trend in just about every show--in wool and gabardine and matched them with tailored jackets, about the only ensemble one could wear to the office without being sent home to change.
On the other end of the Givenchy spectrum, there were clingy pullovers, minis that zipped up all over the body and purple leather dresses--all exposing lots of skin.
For evening, patent-leather tunics and dresses looked mod, especially when worn with colored tights or long, leather evening gloves with circular cutouts along the inside of the arm.
Emanuel Ungaro’s collection did some time traveling, too. It was back to the 1980s for the Ungaro woman as models strutted to the party music of Grace Jones and Billy Idol.
He showed several pinstriped wool suits topped with sequined leather tops and set off by clear plastic pumps with gold stiletto heels or zippered stiletto go-go boots encrusted with gold sequins.
Tie-dyed red and black slim pants were worn with a ruffled red sheer blouse loaded with crystals. Camouflage coats in neon colors had purple Persian lamb collars. Beads and feathers danced on jackets and dresses.
Coats in bright colors featured epaulets with long gold chains dangling from the right shoulder. Others had side cargo pockets and a high slit up the back and were teamed with pointy-hemmed silk pants and those plastic boots.
Also inspired by the 1980s was Kors of Celine, whose collection mixed the best of practical American wear, such as denim and jersey separates, with French luxury--fur and a gazillion Swarovski crystals.
“I think this collection, which is probably the most Parisian collection I’ve ever done, also has a sense of humor to it,” said Kors backstage after the show.
He said his collection’s muse was actress Chloe Sevigny, an Oscar nominee for her supporting role in “Boys Don’t Cry.”
“Chloe is the modern Leslie Caron. She’s the new Gigi. She wears thrift-store corduroy with couture. That’s how today’s woman dresses. Today, fashion is all about the blend, a touch of glitter on something that’s never had it before, denim with a silk jacket and a sable muffler.”
“We’re in a very glamorous moment in fashion right now, and the French are great at taking pieces of clothes and playing around with it in a glam way,” Kors said. “New York is too serious. Paris is all about fun.”
He added that his Celine collection--with defined shoulders in coats and jackets and nipped waistlines for a more fitted look--was about “Celine doing Celine.” Chocolate paisley prints on jersey dresses were reminiscent of old-school Celine but updated by Kors’ new school of sexy: worn off the shoulder and belted tightly with gilded chain belts for that ooh-la-la look.
Among his prettiest looks: leopard-print jersey dresses and blouses--several embellished with crystals for evening wear--silk charmeuse blouses and denim and sable skirts.
Herringbone suits and brocade blazers were accented with over-sized sable mufflers. A wool houndstooth coat was worn with a white herringbone-patterned mink stole. And lest we forget, corduroys--a la Kors’ “It Girl,” Sevigny--in a bronze paisley print worn with a cashmere pullover and--natch--a sable stole. Call it the lifestyles-of-the-rich -and-famous- who-wear-Goodwill-hand-me-downs look. Kors did.
Clothes for the Hootchie-Mama Fly Girl
With any show, the music sets the tone. At the house of Dior, a hip-hop sampled version of Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Why the Lady Is a Tramp” signaled what was to come: flash and trash.
Galliano presented an over-the-top collection reminiscent of his spring ready-to-wear line inspired by the look and music of Lauryn Hill. His inspiration this time around was the baddest fly girl along the Champs-Elysees.
And that’s good.
She’s hot, sexy and super fly--a hootchie mama destined for the opera or at the very least, the “Jerry Springer Show.”
And, of course, she dresses the part. Under mink, fox, sable and chinchilla diva coats were sheer dresses with asymmetric hemlines, plunging necklines or slits up to one’s imagination. There was bleached denim trimmed in fur, crystals and sequins.
Logos adorned many of the coats, boots and accessories, and looked especially dramatic when the total look was a walking Dior billboard by way of a hat-purse-and-coat ensemble.
Trench coats, bags, boots and sheer ballerina dresses were printed in a newsprint design with the masthead of “Christian Dior Daily,” with headlines and stories about Galliano blazing on the garments as well as on the underwear showing through the dresses.
Valentino, on the other hand, steered clear of sheer. The master of romantic looks doesn’t do urban flash. He does sophisticated looks--and he does his ready-to-wear line masterfully, as if it were couture, especially in evening looks.
He set the tone for daytime with wool herringbone trench coats with matching slim trousers and suits with fox-fur collars and knee-length skirts.
Coats were created of snake and lizard skin. Trousers and the hems of the herringbone coats were floral embroidered, and Mondrian motifs were splashed on pastel dresses.
Suede trousers, wool macrame jackets, sky-blue cashmere coats with a star motif on the front, purple wool suits and skirts with ruffles, in taffeta, tulle and lace would please the ladies who lunch at the Ivy.
Valentino’s trademark red gowns stole the show--including a red crepe dress with a floor-length red taffeta trench coat, and a red taffeta draped dress with 14 pleated ruffles elegantly accented with a sash.
Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton scaled back on the LV logomania of his last collection and presented a mostly sporty look that included oversized tops and jackets worn with skinny hip-hugging pants or short shorts. Most outfits were topped with berets, some beaded and jeweled.
He used luxurious fabrics, creating cashmere leggings, lame blouses, silk trench coats, leather pant suits, oversized cashmere bodysuits, mini herringbone skirts, mesh see-through sweaters, sheared mink sweatshirts, crocodile car coats, crocodile suits and sequined dresses made from cup-up monograms.
Yohji Yamamoto showed on Sunday, and people are still talking about his epic collection of voluminous shapes accented with chamois suede and fox fur, real and faux.
You either loved or hated it.
Yamamoto, master of the classic white shirt and kilts, showed none. Instead, he took guests on a Doctor Zhivago sleigh ride to a land where fur-trimmed coats, hooded jackets, padded skirts and quilted dresses (what could be more comforting than a down-filled comforter?) are the norm, in beiges and browns, a paisley-like print, wool brocades in rich cranberry and tapestry prints.
Only Yamamoto’s creations are, well, bigger than life. Think McSupersized, sweeping Victorian shapes, several with asymmetrical hemlines, sleeves that curve softly around the shoulders and then practically fall to above the knees, coats that look too large but somehow, because of Yamamoto’s deft tailoring, look like they should be worn that way.
For a while, forget Yamamoto’s titanic approach to proportion. There’s more to him than that--his creative cuts, inventive draping and daring silhouettes. He speaks in volumes--poetic volumes--for sure, but as always, his bold experimental fashion prose is about his love for his craft.
Like his collection, Yamamoto is an original. And because of that, we can shout: Vive la difference!
Michael Quintanilla can be reached at michael.quintanilla@latimes.com.
