Looking back while charging forward
A dowdy Dior show? That’s right, it wasn’t Paris fashion’s ringmaster, Dior designer John Galliano, who dazzled us midweek. It was Hussein Chalayan, a Cypriot trained in Britain and known by few outside the art and design worlds, who showed mechanical dresses that morphed into different styles right before our eyes.
A model walked out to the center of the runway in a Victorian dress with a high, frilly collar and a full-length skirt. Her clothes began to quiver and twitch. The bodice split open, the neckline lowered, the hemline lifted, crystal fringe dropped out and voila! She was wearing a flapper dress, having time-traveled through three decades of fashion history in a matter of seconds.
Chalayan repeated the feat on five more dresses working up through iconic moments in fashion to the present day, transforming Dior’s 1940s New Look into a Courreges-like 1960s mini-dress with mirrored slats, and so on. Besides being a brilliant technical accomplishment, it was a provocative commentary on fashion’s tendency to lazily look backward instead of forward. And with all the talk about futurism this season, this was the only true glimpse. Really, isn’t it about time that clothes did more than just hang? Too bad they were just for the show and won’t be marketed.
At Dior, it certainly seemed as if someone had taken the stuffing out of Galliano, who has shocked and delighted us over the years with his kabuki girls and French revolutionary heroines. How does such a maverick decide to show loose-fitting suits in shades that can be described only as cadaverous? With Christina Aguilera’s “Back to Basics” for a soundtrack, there was an obvious effort to strip down the excess and return to Dior’s roots, perhaps to bring the ready-to-wear collection closer in line with the needs of customers, not critics. For day, it was all about skirt suits. Boxy jackets with scissor cuts at the elbows or tiny silver chains around the cuffs and hem picked up on the medieval theme Galliano hatched at couture. Other than that, embellishment came in the form of an unremarkable patch of floral embroidery that migrated north and south from look to look.
Evening was another monotonous parade of draped silk and chiffon dresses, some with braided bodices, others worked with subtle gold embroidery. Even the accessories were tame. Nobody was going to fall off these suede ankle-strap platforms or slingback cowboy booties, positively sensible compared to the other shoes we’ve seen this season. And the new handbag with chain-link handles wasn’t much either. You could see it on the blank faces of the starry front row -- the Olsen twins, Lenny Kravitz (here putting the finishing touches on a clothing line), Kanye West (here researching a potential clothing line) and Dita Von Teese (here to do a guest spot at the Crazy Horse). It’s always a quandary balancing the commercial with the creative, but this season Galliano went too far in the safe direction.
The 30-year retrospective that began Jean Paul Gaultier’s show was a reminder of his extraordinary talent for challenging convention and bringing the street to the runway. A cone bra like the one made famous by Madonna, a Shtreimel hat from his controversial Hasidic collection, a denim ball gown, a trompe l’oeil coat dress with a single lapel, men in kilts and tattooed T-shirts, it was all here.
Then, a familiar voice came over the sound system. Was it my evil fourth-grade teacher? No, it was Jane Fonda from her aerobics days saying, “Are you ready to work out?” Oh, the memories. The curtain opened onto a gym with models working out on a treadmill, elliptical machine and with dumbbells covered in glittering crystals. At the core of Gaultier’s spring collection was the satin baseball jacket in dozens of colors, cropped short with billowy chiffon sleeves for day, or elongated with crystal and chain fringe for night, cut out over the shoulders with “30” embroidered on the back, or used as a bodice for an evening gown, and always worn with high-heeled sneakers. He even made a sweater version in red, layered under a great-looking khaki suit with the sleeves sliced open and ruffled like cabbage leaves.
The sporty theme resurfaced at, of all places, Dries Van Noten. The Belgian designer known for his opulent use of fabrics and trim took a break this season, showing instead basic anoraks, track pants and blouses with the ease of polo shirts. Not that there weren’t beautiful pieces. A white anorak was worked with floral embroidery, a pair of comfy khaki pants topped with a dazzling sequin tank in Fauvist colors, and a gray camp shirt paired with a knockout pair of iridescent green shorts. The black track pants weren’t exactly Juicy Couture, either. They came in a cropped length with the tiniest white stripe down the side, worn with spring’s favorite billowy blouse for a play on the volume trend, or a beaded top and lily white high-heeled sneakers. It was a great lesson in how to make special pieces work with a more casual wardrobe.
Putting this sports trendlet aside, the biggest news for spring is really old news, the dress. And Valentino proved nobody does it better, beginning with a perfect accordion-pleated A-line number in fire engine red, which should have gotten stylist Rachel Zoe’s blood pumping in the front row. This may not be a brand starlets turn to except on Academy Awards night, but this season there was lots for them to like in shorter lengths, including a lighter-than-air ivory polka dot organza shirtdress with ruffles down the front, and swing coats, one in a plucky pink and yellow plaid. Even the shorts, with a folded-over waistband and ribbon bow belt, looked fresh.
At Givenchy, Italian Riccardo Tisci just can’t seem to get any traction. His third collection for the Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned brand was a fatal collision of Modernist geometry, tribalism and S&M.; There were black dresses hiked up to the upper thigh on one side, batik print bubble skirts, union suits topped with ‘80s-era vests, patent leather breast plates and codpieces, Wicked Witch of the North striped stockings, horsehair fringe and more under this big top. Of course, you never know what it will look like when it lands in stores, but when the horrendous blue satin finale gown came out with glittery black rope coiled around the model’s neck like a noose, one couldn’t help but see it as a sign.
