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February 1, 2015

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Home 禄 Sunday 禄 Style

Previous eras make a splash as youth served

Source: Shanghai Daily | February 1, 2015, Sunday | Print Edition

ASIAN inspiration for Armani

Robin Wright chatted and laughed with her “X-men: The Last Stand” actor partner, Ben Foster, a relative newcomer on the red carpet circuit. They shared the Armani front row with actresses Paz Vega, Juliette Binoche and Kristin Scott Thomas, who has recently said she’s quitting cinema.

In the gentle, 68-piece collection, it was all about Oriental musing for the octogenarian Italian couturier.

A set of haphazardly placed bamboo columns acted as catwalk obstacles for the models who filed by devastatingly stylishly (and slowly) in silk looks that featured bamboo prints and large statement Chinese sashes.

The delicate structure of the Orient was evoked in the jacket silhouette, which featured in nearly half of the catwalk looks. There was a notable, transparent quality to some of the voluminous culottes in gazar, or the almost watery bamboo-effect lace tops.

Chanel keeps it light

There was a joyous feeling in the air at Chanel.

Perhaps it was to do with the fun surrealism of the sculpted paper flowers, or maybe it came from the clothes themselves: youthful, colorful, fresh and served with a twist of the freedom of the 1960s sexual revolution.

Circular stand up collars, A-line minis, bolero jackets and daringly low exposed midriffs defined many of the silhouettes — the latter first popularized in the West during the time of blond bombshell Brigitte Bardot.

“The new cleavage is the stomach,” instructed Karl Lagerfeld.

Elsewhere there were flashes of other eras, reimagined. Hemlines often went south to the prudish pre-Sixties midcalf.

Large-brimmed straw “picture hats” from the Fifties were given an imaginative twist with a black, tulle trim and cloche hats were embellished with feathers and beads.

Marriage becomes fashionable

Jean Paul Gaultier chose to explore marriage in white — and divorce, in black — for his first couture show after the end of his ready-to-wear line.

Gaultier, ever the optimist, said that the end of the ready-to-wear had given him more time to “perfect the techniques and the work of the atelier, which was unbelievable” — such as a trompe l’oeil dress resembling python skins, which was, in reality, embroidered silk knots.

Whatever this aging enfant terrible does, one thing is a constant: Fun.

The show, almost exclusively in black and white, was a tale of two silhouettes — with many dresses split down the middle.

The best look was a figure-hugging black crepe number with another gown, in trompe l’oeil 3D hourglass tulle, placed creatively on the front.

The 62-year-old designer said the show celebrated “all forms of marriage, and for all ages, and as many times as you want... And, yes divorce.”

It was a joyful collection.

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