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6 | FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2010 INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

SUZY MENKES special report

Red, red lips

PARIS A frisson went through the fash-
ion crowd as a tautly tailored tuxedo,
ostrich feathers spilling out from a
gauzy top, appeared at the opening of
the GIVENCHY show.
It could only have been a deliberate
choice by the designer Riccardo Tisci to
stage Givenchy haute couture in the
same salon where the late Yves Saint
Laurent historically held his shows.
If that were not enough of a clue, the
makeup — glittering smoky eyes, red
lips and rod-straight hair — had that
decadent look of glossy surfaces hiding
a sexual charge.
‘‘Early ’70s Paris — erotic,’’ said Mr.
Tisci backstage, while a hip crowd led by
the singer Ciara and the front-row fix-
tures Kayne West and his partner Amber
Rose, charged at the hot young designer.
The show was audacious, if frustrat-
ing as just 22 models whizzed by in high
speed. It was also a powerful statement
that the designer wants to rebuild
Givenchy couture on the YSL funda-
mentals of hard and liquid-soft, graphic
and vaporous.
Condensed to essentials, the show had
tuxedo tail coats with pants, or Bermuda
shorts as an alternative, but this tailored
geometry was open to boudoir embel-
lishment, from visible bras showing a
peek of flesh at the midriff to cascades of
ruffles. There were also moments of
calm, as in an ink blue column of a dress
under a vaporous chiffon cape.
Underscoring the masculine/femin-
ine 1970s vibe were over-the-knee boots
or platform sandals appearing below a
glitter-green sheer top and pants.
The show deliberately disintegrated
into a disco mania of purple and electric
blue — a wild rave of evening clothes,
calmed by two ball gowns with psyche-
delic colors on the hem ruffles.
The collection was almost too com-
pressed, as though Mr. Tisci could not
leave enough time to savor a thought
JEAN PAUL GAULTIER VALENTINO
before taking another bite. But it was
strong, upscale and without the street
feel seen in his previous collections —

nor the louche vision of the 1970s
channeled by Tom Ford at Gucci in the
1990s.
The workmanship and the tailoring
both spun the message that Givenchy
has the true spirit of haute couture —
but with a jerky, exhilarating 21st centu-
GIVENCHY
ry vibe. SUZY MENKES
John Paul Gaultier and Arielle Dombasle
Touched by ‘Avatar’
PARIS Blue-streaked faces, a jungle of
spiky palm leaves, plaited hair and a
feeling that nature had been given a di-
gital makeover — the undercurrent of
the haute couture summer season was
a homage to ‘‘Avatar.’’
The fragile ecosystem of that imagi-
nary distant moon Pandora has im-
pacted fashion in color, texture and feel-
ing. And it is a safe bet that these 3-D
cat-like people and the ‘‘green’’ mes-
sage behind the movie is going to effect
an entire fashion generation, as ‘‘Star
Wars’’ did before it.
Yet the inspirations that matter — es-
pecially in Paris couture — are those
that are absorbed by designers into
their own aesthetics.
JEAN PAUL GAULTIER is the past-master of
the themed show. Often his command of
technique is drowned by special effects.
But this season his combination of
Aztecs, ‘‘Avatar’’ and ‘‘Apocalypse
Now’’ gave the show a triple ‘‘A’’ rating.
‘‘I saw ‘Avatar’ – it was extraordinary.
I was thinking about nature and ecology
and tropics and Mexico,’’ said the de-
signer backstage, among the welter of
palm leaf hats and bags, trellises of
gaucho plaiting and flashes of Aztec tur-
quoise hand jewelry.
The most obvious theme of the show
was Mexico. Make that ‘‘Mexicoooooh’’
as sung by the Basque chanteur Luis
Mariano on the soundtrack, while the
French icon Arielle Dombasle, in a red
hot chili dress, lip synched her own
Latino rhythms and took a bow with the
designer.
‘‘All I need is a glass of tequila and a
sombrero,’’ said the performance artist
Dita Von Teese, swaying her hips as the
show ended in whoops and cheers.
As a role model for how to turn a click
of inspiration into high fashion, this was
vintage Gaultier: his precision tailoring
inset with trellis work; silver-em-
broidered ‘‘denim’’ that actually was a
jacquard effect; audacious inserts of his
signature bustier corsets; and a shawl
skirt with a wild jungle of fringe.
At times the collection was sober — as
in a shapely suit with the trellis work on
the pockets or a dress with braided
sleeves. A tuxedo, with its tail fanning
out in pleats like a palm leaf, was simply
beautiful.
In contrast to the ultra-sophisticated
craftsmanship and the classic pieces,
there was a wilder streak. Mexican hats,
some airy in straw, others with nestling
flowers or concocted from palm leaves,
were perched on hair plaited like the
Na’vi people of ‘‘Avatar.’’ This sense of
the savage beauty and fragility of
nature came through when bangles
were worn as armor on arms and legs —
a meld of conquistador and native pro-
tection. Even the color palette mirrored
ecology, with its overall green tinges,
Mr. Gaultier’s favorite ginger brown
and the streaks of clear, clean turquoise
blue water.
Whatever the underlying message,
this Gaultier collection was a magnifi-
cent meld of imagination and skill. The
designer is as much a master of leather
as he is of feathers. And the show proved
that Mr. Gaultier has not only made the
long climb from street style to haute
couture. He has reached its summit.
Digital trees swaying as a backdrop to
the VALENTINO show were not just from a
mesmerizing installation by the Ameri-
can artist Jennifer Steinkamp. They also
sent the intense message that the design-
ers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo
Piccoli called their ‘‘Virtual Eden.’’
This arty ode to nature was a fresh de-
parture by the design duo from their
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRIS MOORE/KARL PROUSE
lacy black collection of last season and
their respectful homage to the Valentino
past of a year ago. And although the col-
lection lacked the daytime clothes that
once would have dressed the couturier’s
loyal clients, there is a sense that some-
thing fresh is happening.
The front row, with its lineup of 20-
something Euro aristocracy, was clearly
the target. And Bianca Brandolini, dan-
cing the night away at the after party in
a short wafty Valentino dress, said of the
show: ‘‘I loved it.’’
Streaks of Avatar blue on face and
shoulders, scarves binding the eyes or
lapped as chiffon ribbons around the
shoes, gave an other-worldly feeling to
the clothes, which had the fragility of
flower petals. The sheer organza leg-
gings that went under brief dresses
looked like trying too hard to be hip. But
the clothes themselves, with swathes of
drapes or inserts, using layered chiffon
in different pastel colors, were delic-
ately done.
‘‘We had to find our own path — it’s
such a big change but we are quite
proud of this direction and this season is
another step,’’ said Mr. Piccoli.
The best of the collection could be
seen only close up: a blazer intricately
made with opalescent feathers; cop-
pery embellishment like scarabs; the
green and sky blue colors shifting with
the chiffon layers. Yet the way they
were shown hinted at other designers —
Balenciaga, Givenchy or Rodarte.
To be in the flow of fashion rather than
among its leaders is not necessarily a
bad thing. The Valentino designers
caught the eco/nature vibe. The work-
manship of the studios has been used
for a younger, more ethereal style. Like
breaking out of a chrysalis, the meta-
morphosis would seem to have begun.
SUZY MENKES

In an Elie Saab world A close look

PARIS It must be nice to live in an ELIE
at a new arrival
SAAB world, where all a woman needs
are sparkling evening gowns and For his debut runway collection in
flower-embellished short dresses. On Paris, the Lebanese designer RABIH
Wednesday, the designer allowed the KAYROUZ cleverly used a small venue
international press into that universe that had the front row inches away
for the half-hour it took 44 fairytale from the catwalk.
dresses to glimmer and shimmer down This up-close-and-personal
a mirrored runway. encounter made it easier to
This season Mr. Saab was inspired by appreciate the fine
the fluid artistic style of the Impressionist craftsmanship of dresses sliced
period. Hopes were raised with the first open in curving cuts and held
look, a floor-skimming gown in a together with delicate pearls,
romantic print of oversized pale blooms, or form-fitting knit gowns that
which seemed to indicate that the elegantly undulated from
designer was going to take things in a almost transparent stitches to
new direction. But then the oh-so-familiar opaque black folds.
red carpet gowns that Mr. Saab has built The designer’s focus on
his reputation on turned up, albeit in clothing that enveloped and
pastel shades of dusty pink, lilac and caressed the body made the
celadon, which are right on trend. collection feel utterly modern,
In the end, the collection was while the feather
Alhambra undeniably beautiful. The layered looks embellishments worked into
of fitted nude gowns covered in the folds of tunic tops and the
www.vancleef-arpels.com embellished lace or shear tulle stitched arcing ‘‘torn’’ fabric on a
with sequined flowers tapped right into velvet dress added a romantic
every little girl’s fantasy. But it would undercurrent to this fine first
be nice if Mr. Saab did a bit more show. Jessica Michault
exploration of dream dresses for grown
ELIE SAAB RABIH KAYROUZ
women. JESSICA MICHAULT