Givenchy

Riccardo Tisci doesn't so much test his boundaries at Givenchy couture as transmogrify them. His all-Asian couture class of last year was lauded as an industry breakthrough, and his premise this year goes further. For spring 2012, half the models were put into gowns simulating medieval chainmail, while the others were photographed in more modern silhouettes, with frothy draped sleeves, bare shoulders, and a classic New York palette of black and white.

It's a sinister juxtaposition. A closer look at this group reveals that movement has been deliberately restricted around the wrists and legs. And this, coupled with Tisci's famed preference for armor and reptilian scales, serves to reinforce the Givenchy clash of luxury and street, heritage and sport. An all-croc gown (reportedly the fruit of some 350 man-hours) and giant, dangly nose rings? We'd be darned if this doesn't go down as one of his finest moments.

• Posted Jan 24, 2012
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Christian Dior

Couture is the James Cameron of show season. Everything from budgets to petticoats follow one unflagging rule: the bigger, the better. Though "better" isn't exactly the term we'd affix to the sensational Dior saga of last year. Not only did 2011 witness the graceless exit of John Galliano, the house also had to weather fervid—and still ongoing—speculation about his successor, as well as the mixed reviews of Bill Gaytten's debut as interim creative director.

It is therefore not surprising that this particular couture presentation—Gaytten's second—was met with some trepidation, and not a little curiosity. In his illustrious 25-year career, Galliano had proven himself time and again to be an unassailable master of the craft, and one can't help feeling it's no fault of Gaytten's that he has such formidable shoes to fill. But instead of following in Galliano's footsteps, Gaytten turned the reins and ventured down an old road that predates Galliano. His was a restrained endeavor that drew on the classic contours of idealized, trim-waisted femininity in a chaste mix of tulle and silk, prom-skirted dresses beaded sweetly with roses, and a patent-belted suit made from ostrich leather.

Even more impressive was how comfortably the clothes were carried in the face of such unmitigated sensuality. Factor in the chin-skimming Grace Kelly coifs and it become obvious that Gaytten has traded in over-the-top fantasy for the timeless refrain of old Hollywood. Aptly, the show's soundtrack came courtesy of fellow tabloid target Lana Del Rey. It's no John Galliano, but it's soft, sweet, and as pop as pop can be.

• Posted Jan 24, 2012
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Alexis Mabille

His name may not be as ubiquitous as McQueen's or Saint Laurent's, but where haute couture is concerned, suffice it to say that 35-year-old Alexis Mabille can hold his own. In fact, he was something of a teen prodigy, acing his training at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Pariesienne in two years instead of three, and working alongside John Galliano and Hedi Slimane at an age most people would have wasted in a keg-induced stupor.

Mabille's collection was an intuitive cross between artifice and the dollars and cents of selling clothes. His conscientious incorporation of some of 2011's blockbuster trends—body-con, menswear-inspired separates in every imaginable shade on the Pantone spectrum—would have been construed as derivative if his models weren't sporting brightly painted faces (a la Viktor & Rolf) and rosette headpieces the size of satellite discs.

Each gown was each radically different from the last. Evidently, Mabille's collection aspires neither to cohesiveness nor cultural critique, but rather a diverse template of what he deems to be the most iconic ensembles in fashion history. The show indexes key looks from popular culture, with surprising references to various national costumes; flamenco sleeves, brocade, and lace bibs appear alongside voluptuous mermaid hems, Lilly shifts, and chiffon shoulder ruffles (a 90s red-carpet fixture)—for a very postmodern look.

• Posted Jan 24, 2012
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Backstage Fashion & Frolic

Paris men's, fall '12
Photos by Sonny Vandevelde
Music by Oliver (are your headphones on?)

Click image for a pop-up slideshow...

• Posted Jan 24, 2012
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Thom Browne

The Paris men's shows couldn’t have found a better ending than Thom Browne’s Punks and Jocks, an exhilarating, visually exciting parade of chic renegades. To a solemn soundtrack of Prokofiev, models zipped through the grand gallery of the Musée de la Mineralogie wearing studded, scalpel-cut jackets and multi-zippered kilts. Spikes were a recurring adornment on shoulders, sleeves, face masks (a trend), and elbow and knee patches.

But the vibe was more humorous than harmful, especially in light of the inflated torsos of the jocks—think Popeye as a Wall Street banker. And there was levity in the cartoonish gaits of the models, a stick jutting out of a model's zipper, and a skirt suit of the Margaret Thatcher variety that appeared in a fantastic pink and green section of the show.

Punks have haunted fashion runways ever since they invaded the streets of London in the late 1970s. Here, Browne rekindled the memory. The outrageously protruding derrieres brought to mind Vivienne Westwood's faux-culs or Comme des Garçons' famous "bump" collection of the 90s, while the exaggerated shoulder lines recalled Viktor & Rolf's glory years.

Despite the crossdressing and irony, the show was really about Browne's fashion convictions, namely impeccably cut men’s tailoring. In his two last shows, that message has been muddled by heavy mise-en-scènes. This time around, the fast-paced, straightforward défilé did the clothes justice. They had a newfound energy, probably because the designer ditched bourgeois inspirations in favor of a theme that originated in the street.

• Posted Jan 22, 2012
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Dior Homme

Maybe Karl Lagerfeld has a thing for soldiers, or maybe he was just on the look-out for good design. Either way, he caused quite a stir when he showed up at the Dior Homme show, an ode to military uniforms.

Designer Kris Van Assche used a near-exclusive palette of army green, with a little navy blue, black, ecru and ivory thrown in—almost all of it tone on tone. Experimentation was left to fabric choices. Accessories came in croc, quilted bomber jackets were shown in matted leather, and a double-breasted trench had contrasting silk sleeves. Another jacket had a sort of outer silhouette in shaved shearling.

At show's end, a rather interesting print of birds, perhaps doves, could be seen on trousers, coats, and hats—a peaceful conclusion.

• Posted Jan 22, 2012
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Bernhard Willhelm

The invitation to Bernhard Willhelm's show came with a child-like drawing of a penis, and the words "hart" (German for hard) and "schwanz" (dick) scribbled on another postcard.

And to make sure we understood the designer had male genitalia on his mind, the entrance to the venue was decorated with a mammoth urn brimming with...bananas. What followed was a wild, relentless celebration of gayness, suggested by tattered and fringed sportswear occasionally printed with a highway pattern and the word "transit" (get it?), or more overtly expressed with a headband reading "I love black cock." Ironically, it was a gorgeous tiger-printed pink tracksuit that almost stole the show.

By the time the puckish designer took his bow—sporting long hair similar to his models'—the message was clear. Leaving behind the beefy, porn-standard hunks of previous shows, Willhelm is currently exploring gay sex through lanky and bearded guru types. The fun-filled show expressed a freedom, an independence, and a devil-may-care attitude that is increasingly rare in fashion.

• Posted Jan 21, 2012
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Walter Van Beirendonck

"After last season's uplifting message, I wanted to show another side of me," said Walter Van Beirendonck backstage after his colourful fall show, cryptically titled Lost Never Sleeps. "It was about protection against the world, Tahitian voodoo, and fetishism."

As usual with the Belgian designer, those disparate references translated into a merry affair, in this case dandified black men in bowler hats, S&M-like masks and shaman canes dangling with chains and keys. They strolled through a white gallery space wearing suits with a frontal circular insert that, on closer inspection, gave the illusion of a shorts suit. Leather was used unexpectedly, not only in the aforementioned accessories but also in gardener-style overalls and fur-tipped, elbow-length gloves. The terrific "puzzle" knitwear actually consisted of a three-piece set that seductively bared the models' backs. Other outstanding pieces included a mohair tracksuit and sweaters attached to ears.

Van Beirendonck is hotter than ever, not least since his current must-see Antwerp retrospective features items so relevant they are impossible to date. His show today had the same youthfulness and energy.

• Posted Jan 21, 2012
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Maison Martin Margiela

Maison Martin Margiela began with an exhibition of fall's key pieces. Suspended glass vitrines showcased rubber-soled men's shoes in rich beiges and sheepskin bags that had spectators gawking. Standouts included a cardigan hand-knitted from plastic garbage bags and classic leather shoes covered in gold and silver leaf.

But the collection was really about outerwear, and the mashing and morphing thereof. Is it a pea coat or a blazer, a duffle coat or a bomber? Denim boiler suits were reworked like only the Maison can, by adding detachable parts—a collar, for example. Ample fur and sheepskin were also used, as well as faux leather, especially in pants—a continuation of Margiela's riff on fetishism.

• Posted Jan 21, 2012
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Givenchy

Riccardo Tisci's fall men's collection for Givenchy didn't have the spanking newness and shock value of last season's tropical escape, and there's a reason why. The designer is apparently in a nostalgic mood, preferring to sample the major themes of his brilliant four years designing men's. Again we saw nods to Americana and high-testosterone masculinity, expressed here in an unusual minotaur reference. It made for an endearing show, if something of a déjà vu.

Just like his first men's outing, Tisci offered an abstract reworking of the American flag. A miniature version of the Stars and Stripes served as a dark logo on jackets and sweaters, while wide stripes appeared on polo shirts and stars adorned box-pleated kilts.

In his men's pre-fall collection from earlier in the week, Tisci explored denim for the first time. The legendary fabric resurfaced here as kilts and jackets, braided Chanel-style, but with zippers.

The knee-high, studded boots drew from the classic derbies worn by Italian immigrants when they arrived in the United States in the 1940s. Precious sweaters and shirts, gleaming with jet embroideries around the collar, closed the dimly lit show, held in a transparent tent that offered a view of the beautiful Hotel des Invalides, bathed in carnal red light.

So what do minotaurs have to do with all this? They inspired the crystal nose rings that dangled from the models' nostrils and covered their mouths. Talk about kiss-proof jewelry. 

• Posted Jan 20, 2012
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