Paris Fashion Week, Day 6

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Kenzo A/W11
Kenzo A/W11Photography by Quentin de Wispelaere

A sad mood hung over the John Galliano presentation. After the tumultuous departure of the prodigious wunderkind from Dior, as well as his namesake brand...

A sad mood hung over the John Galliano presentation. After the tumultuous departure of the prodigious wunderkind from Dior, as well as his namesake brand (which is owned by Dior, or LVMH respectively) the planned show was stripped down into an intimate salon presentation at an Haussmannian Belle Étage in the noble 16th arrondissement. It was playful and seductive. The atelier showed its savoir faire to work the fabrics into convincing looks, starting off with a dominant houndstooth tweed, adding a louche PVC-skirt under a voluminous jacket, or making a dress look light and transparent with printed chiffon and inserted lace. There was a fluid gown with roses that seemed to dissolve into gently violet smoke. It wasn’t a show really and should not be judged by such standards, as the coherent vision of a genius was gone, but it showed some grace and kept the legacy of John Galliano alive.

At Kenzo, designer Antonio Marras also played the flower game. They came in autumn colours, moss green, different shades of brown like wilting leaves; printed all over the looks and worked as roses into the elaborate braids in the models’ hair by Eugene Souleiman.

Alber Elbaz lifted the spirit by introducing some bright colours into his collection for next winter at Lanvin. A dress in scarlet red, rose jacquard, or other numbers in purple or pink were made in a structured, quite spaciously woven silk gazar. Body hugging knit columns only got into the right shape when they were stretched around the female bust and hips and came across as toned down, in olive or grey, but sexy and attractive nonetheless.

Text by George Ghon