Bare Essentials...

Lanvin

Imagine, if you will, a Lanvin collection stripped bare of all beading, feathers, fringing, draping, volume and jewelry. Easier said than done, right? That's because all of those things, which of course sound like a successful recipe for a drag revue, are at this point so much a part of Lanvin's identity that imagining a collection without them is like not imagining a collection at all. But the lack of all those things is precisely what defines the Spring Summer 2011 collection that Alber Elbaz whipped up. Compared to recent offerings this one is uncharacteristically spare, and it's probably better off for it. Don't get me wrong, I love what Alber does with embellishment and drape, but he's been on that train of thought for a while now. I loved (and still love) his Fall collection, but like I said when I reviewed it, the pieces that I responded to most were the sharp, simple ones that opened the show. At the time they felt fresh and this collection sort of picks up where those looks left off. The clothes for spring have been almost universally stripped bare of anything extraneous and as a result the clothes, from the zippered day dresses worn with flat sandals to the billowing skirts worn with what appear to be bodysuits, read more like sportswear than anything Elbaz has done in a while. In fact many of the opening looks, with panels of draping inset onto a fitted dress or those aforementioned billowing skirts, almost make me think of modern dance wear, the kind of stuff Martha Graham would have worn. Actually looking at it now quite a few of the looks make me think of that. Pieces like that chocolate off-the-shoudler caftan, the full, billowing nylon parkas, and even the few short chiffon goddess dresses in colors like rust, nude and lichen could be costumes for some kind of performance.

In place of beading, volume or heavy draping there are details like zippers, leather belts or harnesses, and tight Fortuny-esque pleating. Even the colors are mostly on the subdued side, save for a middle passage that included neon yellow, hot pink, crimson, and plum. Much as I like some of the pieces from that section I don't really get the color choices. Compared to the rich mineral colors that opened and closed the show they seem kind of jarring, pretty as they might be. I also don't get the four suits comprised of a jacket, matching skirt and matching skinny pants. They seem really odd for the sake of being odd, and that's never a good thing. As usual the collection is pretty dress heavy, though a number of them could be worn for day as evidenced by the choice to pair them with flat sandals and shoulder bags. Overall the clothes were easy to like and seem like they'd be really easy to wear, and while I kind of feel that the pendulum might have swung a little too far into the direction of "practical", robbing the collection of some of it's potential lust-worthiness, the bottom line is that these are still pretty clothes. It must be said though that the collection is extremely disjointed, like it's unsure of what it's trying to communicate. I don't think that's ever been an issue with a Lanvin collection before, so it's a little hard to process. Still, I think this might prove to be the right direction to take the house in moving forward. I don't think anybody wants to see Lanvin lose any of it's luster because it refused to change.

all images from style.com

Simply Irresistible?...

Each season the Lanvin campaign is highly anticipated, mostly because there's no telling what it will look like. Most of the time that anticipation pays off, with Alber Elbaz and Steven Meisel delivering unusual, striking campaigns that perfectly suit the collection they're selling. While I can't go so far as to say that the Fall Winter 2010 ads have completely failed at their mission, I have no reservations in admitting that I don't think they're the best they could have been, not even close. The weird thing is that, despite how below par I feel they are, they're still pretty dynamic looking. Mostly though I just don't think the spirit of the collection, with it's almost animalic rawness and an unmistakable aggression, was translated into the photographs at all.

First off, I don't like the coloring or the lighting that Meisel and Elbaz settled on. With all of the rich shades of brown, hints of warm, deep jewel tones and tarnished metallics that made up much of the collection I was hoping for and expecting the campaign to have the same kind of warmth and sensuality. Instead the lighting is cold and harsh, which works in some situations, but I don't love it here. I don't particularly love the styling either. I have a soft spot for Patrick Nagel's work, but it's been over two years since designers, photographers and makeup artists began revisiting the 80s and started channeling his white skin/black eyes/red lips look. As dramatic a look as it is, if I have to see one more model made up like one of his portraits or one of the girls in a Robert Palmer video I might crack. But the thing that's bothering me most is that there's something about this campaign that doesn't feel very "Lanvin". dior_couture1245 at the Fashion Spot brought that up, and as I looked at the images more I really did start to agree with him. Part of Lanvin's image is the slight imperfection in the clothes, or styling, whatever, and when you remember that, these super-slick, super-produced images seem very distant from the actual product. For an idea of what I might have liked this campaign to feel like, look no further than Dolce & Gabbana's S/S 2005 ads. I'm not suggesting that's how this campaign should have looked necessarily, although some similarities wouldn't have hurt in the least, but that's most definitely the vibe I pictured for Lanvin this season.

all images from WWD.com via Flashbang at tFS

Hot Voodoo...

Lanvin

The words "Lanvin" and "tough" aren't usually found in the same sentence. Commanding, assertive, bold; all of them could be used to describe what Alber Elbaz sends out on his runway, but tough? Not exactly. That could be why I find the Lanvin Fall Winter 2010 collection exciting. There's a hardness and severity to it that I've never really seen in Alber's work before and I'm really liking it. It's as if he took all of his signatures--the loose draping, the rounded shoulders, the soft tailoring--and sharpened them up. Those flattering sheaths are more angular, darts and seams are reversed to contour the body, coats are shaped like an inverted triangle with exaggerated shoulders and pegged hems, and those goddess drapes are pressed flat into place to form pleats. Combined with the blunt cut jet black wigs each model wore and the aggressive looking accessories, Elbaz showed off a different side of the Lanvin woman, one that's more than a little bit dark. Even the flamboyant feather embellishments look more sinister than Swan Lake, with patches of ostrich or coque feather sprouting randomly out of the torso and trimming edges. Overall the impression was of a woman caught somewhere between civility and savagery, human and beast. With the predominantly dark color palette of black, browns and beige with hints of plum, burgundy, blood red and burnished gold or bronze, there was a subtle hint of tribalism to it. As the collection progressed it became louder and more aggressive until metal, feathers and sparkle were combined for an effect that was almost bombastic. It always impresses me that Elbaz never quite loses control of the elements he's working with. When it comes to embellishment, beads and feathers can easily go overboard and turn ugly quick, but somehow he manages to make it work, no matter how random or extreme they might seem. That's definitely easier said than done.

I'm sure a lot of people would gravitate to the more ornate evening stuff towards the end, and with good reason I suppose. There's just so much visual interest, from the sharply pleated lame to the tufts of ostrich feathers, they're the kind of clothes that beg to be touched. But for me the most exciting pieces come earlier in the collection. All of those plain dresses with their sharp, angular cuts and the coats with their domineering shoulder line were what really drew my attention. It's probably because, while the over the top embellished stuff at the end is fun to look at and probably fun to wear as well, the simple, graphic pieces feel fresher. That's the overall impression I'm left with from this, it's fresh, a little jolt of something different to keep people's attention after a few years of softness, volume and draping. I have a feeling that combined with the showroom collection this season's offerings will probably resonate with more customers than Alber's spiraling togas and filmy satin do. Women can't be goddesses every day, can they?

all images from Style.com

The body beautiful...

Ann Demeulemeester

It's rare that I ever swoon over an Ann Demeulemeester runway show. Clothes aside (and her clothes are always beautiful) her vision can at times be a little unrelenting. Don't get me wrong, I know that Ms. D has her clientele and knows what they want. She doesn't invest much time in thinking about what's trendy or of the moment. Some might say that's part of her appeal, others might dislike her for that very reason. I personally fall somewhere in between. I don't mind that she sticks to her aesthetic, it's just that sometimes I wish there was a little more variation from season to season. While Ann may not spend much time thinking about fashion's next direction, that doesn't always mean that she's completely out of the loop either. In a season where so many designers are revealing skin, Demeulemeester decided to cut away at her signature layers and bare some flesh...in her own way of course. The collection she showed for Spring 2010 reminded me of two of my favorite Ann D collections of the past, S/S 2001 and S/S 2006, which could explain why I like it so much. Then of course there's the undercurrent of sex and bondage that's on display. I mean really, it'd be kind of strange if I didn't like it at least a little. Keeping the silhouette predominantly lean, with an emphasis on short skirts and black leather, Demeulemeester's band of nomadic poets looked tougher and sexier than they have in quite some time. Her artfully destroyed jewelry and soft, flimsy layers were replaced with chains of zippers and bare sternums. Her trademark cropped, boyish trousers were shown in black leather and paired with everything from roughly beaded tunics to matching leather bandeaus. Belts were made of zippers that had been undone so as to fall apart in places, making them look more like harnesses than belts. Those zippers also appeared sweeping down the lapel of jackets and coats, dangling down the front of tops like fringe, even wrapped around the models' faces (romantically, of course). Balancing out the aggressive elements of the collection was a black and white print of birds, which I honestly wasn't a big fan of. Normally I like Demeulemeester's prints, but overall the avian motif didn't really do much for me. Worn with most of the looks was a leather cummerbund/girdle kind of thing that gave the silhouette a high waisted look, and also prevented the looks from baring too much skin all at once. I love the look of a plunging neckline that's been interrupted by something that has the look of fetish wear. For evening, or at least Demeulemeester's version of evening, washed leather vests or slouchy jackets were worn open over long, sylph-like skirts that dragged along the floor. Accessorized with those multi-harnessed belts or a thin chain collar dangling from the neck and attached around the waist, they were an edgy update of a cliched evening silhouette.

Like I said, I think the reason why I like this collection so much is because it's not territory that she always explores. It's not often that she goes for a really tough, aggressive, sexy mood; her vision has skewed more romantic and soulful these last few years. So it was a welcome change to see her embracing sex and severity. I also like that the lines of the clothes are kept close to the body, stripped down to their simplest forms instead of layered, gathered and voluminous. While I would give anything for her to delve into color more, like she did last spring, it's nice to see her shaking things up even a little bit.

Haider Ackermann

I've been aware of Haider Ackermann since about 2007, and in the two years since first seeing his clothes on Luisaviaroma.com I have followed his work and slowly fallen in love. On the surface there are some similarities to his fellow Belgian Ann Demeulemeester, as well as to Rick Owens. But once you look closer it becomes easier to spot what makes Ackermann distinct. For one, he uses sensuality and sexuality much more freely than Demeulemeester or Owens does. His clothes, from his twsited, super-soft leather jackets and fluid tailoring to his languid, soigné goddess dresses, are designed to exploit the female form. He has no qualms with baring flesh, cutting away fabric to reveal shoulder, back, hip or leg, which gives his work an erotic edge that isn't really to be found in the work of many of the designers whom he can be compared to. Perhaps that's due to his background. It seems natural that someone who was born in Colombia and raised in Belgium would design clothes that are a clash between passionate sensuality and moody romanticism. It also seems natural that Ackermann developed a bit of nomadic streak in his work. This season his mind went to India, though not being one for themes the results were anything but literal. In a way though the inspiration suits Ackermann's talents perfectly. On the one hand you have the elegant, regimental tailoring of the English colonial period; on the other you have the sensual wrapping of saris. That basically sums up the two things that he is best known for. Whatever led Mr. Ackermann to his inspiration, it produced what is probably my favorite collection of his thus far.

Opening with one of his signature washed leather jackets with attenuated shoulders and sleeves pushed up past the elbows worn over a short, twisted mini dress in what looks like suede that was slashed open across the hip bone, he didn't seem to stray too far from the look that has become his trademark. Sure, the silhouette was shorter, and the dress was more body conscious, but the look was instantly recognizable as his own. Then followed a number of riffs on a safari jacket. One was sleeveless and worn with cuffed leather shorts, while another in black leather was lengthened into a kind of mini dress. Yet another had been hacked away to create a halter top that was worn with a long bias cut fishtail skirt. Around look 7 was when the sari-esque elements came into play. A charcoal mini dress had cutout cold shoulders and was wrapped at the waist, while an asymmetrical top had one sleeve and was paired with slim pants in wrinkled washed satin. In the soigné department, a mannish safari jacket with face framing collar was worn over a mini skirt with a billowing train. All of these looks were in varying shades of black and gray, which isn't surprising as Ackermann tends to stick to fairly monochrome colors. Look 13 then was quite a surprise coming from him; a golden yellow silk military vest paired over matching draped shorts that swooped up across the front of the vest.

After that the collection lightened up. There was another head-to-toe yellow look of a cropped jacket worn over a draped halter gown with that same double-length skirt (which would appear throughout the collection. Then came a few looks in deep navy satin that were the perfect contrast to the bright yellow that had come before them (and which I wish there had been more of). After those three navy looks the color lightened even more into pale icy blue for a clingy v-neck column gown and an asymmetrically wrapped mini dress, faded blush for a halter dress and suede jacket combo, a soft sand colored jumpsuit in softly metallic looking fabric, and some pale, vaguely military inspired looks in beige and taupe before the collection moved into dark browns and finally black. Closing the show were three black looks, a single sleeved gown, a jumpsuit with cutout shoulders and a keyhole neckline, and finally an asymmetrical one shoulder goddess gown designed to bare one breast.

Like I said, I think this may be my favorite Haider Ackermann collection of all the ones that I've seen. His signatures are all there, the draping, the sensuous tailoring, but there's something more. Maybe it's because the pale color and the unabashed display of naked flesh is so on track with where the season seems to be going. Maybe it's just that all of the elements he's become known for seem to be amped up a bit more; the color is more unusual, the sex appeal is more overt. I'm honestly not sure what it is. It's also interesting to note that this is probably the first time that Ackermann's collection has been so much apart of the trends that are going on, but I'm sure that was purely coincidental. He's just not a trendy designer. Still, it doesn't hurt that he managed to give everyone what they want and expect from him while also managing to be a part of the moment. Whoever said you can't have your cake and eat it too clearly didn't work in fashion.

Lanvin

What can I say about Lanvin that hasn't already been said before by those with more colorful vocabularies than mine? Beautiful, glamorous, feminine, flattering, timeless; all of them work. This season, in addition to all of those things, Alber Elbaz injected his collection with more than a little bit of sex, and a big dose of good old-fashioned fun. It sounds kind of cheesy when it's put that way, but really, that was the most exciting thing about this collection; it was all about the joy of going way over the top. If you look at this collection and last season's collection side by side, they'd appear to be polar opposites. But last season, besides the restrained glamour and echoes of wartime austerity, there was a hint of eccentricity. That's nothing really new for Elbaz, his collections always have this slightly askew feel to them, but last season the effect was a bit more pronounced...at least to me. This season however the volume was turned up all the way to 11. The collection seemed to revel in that beautiful eccentricity. The show opened with sharp, fitted dresses and skirts that were finished with exaggerated, exuberant ruffles that traced the edges of a top or the waist of a dress creating a peplum. Skirts were cut tight and cropped well above the knee, while dresses or tops with deflated puff sleeves fell assymetrically off the shoulders. This whole opening section had echoes of Elbaz's F/W 2007 collection, with it's focus on exaggerated mutton sleeves and sculpted ruffles. Here though the effect was sharper, more aggressive in a way. Paired with the models' messy chignons, smoky black eyes, mile long legs, as well as the cinematic lighting, these looks made for some of the most overtly sexy looks that I can ever recall on a Lanvin runway. Mixed into the sharper looks was a beautiful asymmetrically draped ecru dress that was twisted to one side. Even that though had a sexuality to it because with the dramatic lighting and the softness of the farbic, it seemed to blend into the models' skin. There was also a one sleeved draped black jumpsuit, a surprisingly trendy moment in the collection that was a sign of what would follow.

From there Elbaz began to lighten up, both in shape and in color. After the parade of monochromatic looks that had come down the runway, out came 5 draped dresses, some slinky, others more structured, in different shades of red and pink. Two in particular caught my eye and were a good indication of the new-found sex appeal to be seen throughout the collection. Both were softly draped with a wrap skirt that opened on the side, one with a draped v-neck and a single rolled up sleeve, the other seemingly tied and knotted around the neck and falling off one shoulder. The beauty of them was that, sexy as they were, they looked like they had simply been flung onto the body and artfully arranged; like they would fall into a puddle of fabric on the floor at any moment. That's the beauty of Lanvin though, as haphazard and spontaneous as the clothes appear, they're always perfectly made. There were two looks in leather, one a black dress with puff sleeves, the other a draped chocolate blouse worn with a black skirt, that offset the prettiness well, though I do think that they would have been better had they been shown with the more aggressive opening looks. After them Elbaz moved into soft makeup shades of blush, pale tawny orange, beige and taupe. This section of looks, all of them falling in soft drapes or gathers, tied in perfectly with the whole super-soft, super-pretty lingerie mood that's become the dominant theme this season, though the clothes never really referenced lingerie. Then came two more jumpsuits, one in a faded cocoa color, the other in a pinkish taupe. The fabric of the brown one almost had the look of loose Fortuny pleats, and worn with a jeweled belt and whopping enamel and brass snake collar, it definitely recalled the era when Fortuny was at the height of his popularity.

Up until now there was no embellishment on the clothes, but it almost seems like Elbaz made a conscious decision to not only embellish the evening clothes, but to go as far as he could with sparkle and glitz. First came a fleshtoned one shoulder jumpsuit completely covered in beadwork, accessorized with a jeweled belt and layered necklaces. A beaded t-shirt was worn with a draped skirt that had clashing beadwork lightly scattered on it. Another ensemble paired a matching top and pants completely encrusted with brass colored paillettes with a beaded track jacket, again finished off with huge layered necklaces. And finally a trio of sparkling party dresses, one each in green, sulphuric yellow and red, had contrasting pieces of black that almost looked like a t shirt layered under the dress. Mixed in with the over the top beadwork were simpler draped options. Two floor length dresses were slit all the way up the thigh. One in khaki was almost like a draped shirt dress, while the other in washed black was gathered on one shoulder. Again these looks were uncharacteristically sexy for Elbaz, but they still had the languid ease and unfussiness that is associated with Lanvin. There was a beautiful navy jumpsuit with those same destroyed Fortuny-esque pleats, a simple full skirted dress in pleated teal silk, and the final look which was a nude body that had randomly draped bright pink tulle covering it. It kind of looked like cotton candy.

Needless to say, I love, love, LOVE the collection. The one thing that Alber Elbaz consistently does is create beautiful clothes that make the viewer (and I would assume the wearer as well) feel good. I love the feisty twist that he gave the collection. There's a sexiness to it that feels both right for now and fresh for Lanvin. Don't get me wrong, Lanvin is always sexy, but it isn't usually so overt. I also love how deliciously over the top this all is. In almost any other designers' hands (save maybe for Lacroix) accessorizing a fully beaded, brightly colored party dress with multiple statement necklaces, bracelets and earrings would be way too much. For whatever reason though, none of this comes off that way to me. Instead of being tacky or loud, it reads as quirky and fun, and fun is something that fashion is in desperate need of right now.

all photos from Style.com

Pussy Galore...

Finally the Lanvin campaign has debuted, and for the first time I'm truly excited by a campaign since the F/W 09 ads began to surface. That's not so surprising given that Lanvin campaigns have the unique distinction of never being truly bad. Oh of course some are better than others, but because each season looks so distinct (which means they're unpredictable) and the ideas are always so interesting (which makes them stand out) it's a sure bet that you'll never be let down. Since 2005 Alber Elbaz has used Steven Meisel to bring his visions to life, and the results have produced some of the more creative fashion advertising that I can think of. This campaign is no exception.

Picture this if you will; supermodel Kristen McMenamy, elegance, madness, a touch of Bourdin and a pair of black cats. The result is sort of Crazy Cat Lady: The Early Years...before her beauty withered and her surroundings became squalid. As for those black cats, they bring to mind so many different things; mystery, the occult, danger as well as the legendary Chat Noir in Montmatre. For me though the whole thing kind of brings to mind the scene in Batman Returns when Michelle Pfeiffer is killed and then transforms into Catwoman, particularly the first shot.

As of right now I'm going to call it; I love these ads. I love the look of insanity etched on Kristen's face. I love the severe lighting, white skin and odd, angular poses that recall Guy Bourdin. I love that the only color is the red lipstick, and most of all I love that the ideas used in the campaign combine to create something completely unexpected. I mean, can you honestly say that this is what you would have expected to see given the collection of vaguely '40s Parisian elegance Alber delivered in March? I certainly wouldn't have, and yet, the ads suit the collection perfectly.

images posted on theFashionSpot by surrealseven

Almost, and just right...

Christian Dior

In a very short amount of time, just two years almost to the day, I have gone from dying to see John Galliano's ready to wear collections for Dior, to dreading seeing them. It's because for the last few years John's work at Dior has been singularly fixated on the Dior archives, and he's pretty much given up the magpie mad genius part of his personality that got him the Dior job to begin with. The reasons for the change can only be speculated upon, and there are plenty of possibilities. I'm beginning to think that instead of pressure from the company heads, it was triggered by Steven Robinson's death and that John was more affected by it than he may have let on. Since Robinson passed away John's collections for Dior have been lacking the one major thing that made him him; passion. There's none of it to be found, and even though you might be able to create a convincing argument against that, saying the passion is still there under the surface, I personally wouldn't be convinced because in all of John's work, through every stage of his career that I have seen from the early 90s to when it started to decline, the passion was always in your face. That burning need to create something new, something beautiful, something strange was always the defining characteristic of what he did. Even when the work became a little stagnant, like with his F/W 04 Haute Couture collection, you could tell that he at least poured his heart, soul and guts into making it. Sadly, that is no more. Then there's the fact that at the time Steven died John had recently celebrated his 10th anniversary at Dior by delving into the Dior archives more literally than he ever had before. Maybe since he no longer has Steven around, he doesn't know what the next step to take is and has just been treading water. But my theory brings up a who new set of questions, like why his namesake ready to wear collections suddenly got stronger around the time of Robinson's death. Point is, there is no clear cut answer just yet.

So, as has become normal, I approached this collection expecting something flat, lifeless and extremely commercial, much like his dreadful S/S outing. Thankfully the fashion gods were feeling oh so slightly benevolent, and the collection wasn't the downer I was expecting. Don't get your hopes up though, it was hardly the visceral event of days gone by, but there was a sense of relief to see that some of the old Galliano is still there. The inspiration this season was Orientalism via Paul Poiret. Now, Galliano has called upon the spirit of the self proclaimed "King of Fashion" in the past, most memorably for his S/S 1998 Haute Couture collection, but in a way. Poiret's influence is often to be found in John's work, sometimes subtley, sometimes overtly. This season was sort of in between. The show started with more of the Dior inspired tailoring that has been the main focus at Dior for some time now, this season showing up first in black and white ikat prints, then in electric purple tweed, violet floral brocades and gray spotted jacquards. Instead of a circle skirt or an A-line skirt, this season's skirt for the New Look suits was a bubble shape brought in tight at the hem, a sort of take on Poiret's hobble skirt. A black and white ikat print coat with a flared out skirt came trimmed in black fox as did an electric purple wool dropped waist coat that called to mind Poiret's lantern shapes. A gray straight cut coat with a frog closure and fox trim definitely harked back to Poiret's kimono shaped opera coats, though heavily watered down and de-glamourized. A jacket in a black and gray print with rounded bracelet sleeves and horizontal pleating was quite beautiful, but it looked more like something you'd see on an Armani runway than at Dior. So far the collection was immensly helped by the hair and makeup, which featured bobbed hairstyles covered in bobby pins and burgundy bow lips paired with penciled on eyebrows that upped the ante in terms of glamour. But still, the clothes were pretty standard, so while the potential for greatness was there, they didn't quite manage it.

After the largely monochrome opening with shots of purple came a section of completely mundane paisley printed silk dresses and some stuffy skirt suits in red or pink. Completely forgettable in my opinion. Then the extravagence started to make an appearence. Straight cut silk chemise or directoire line dresses in golden yellow, cerulean blue and peach were mixed in with golden brocade lantern coats, harem pants and bias cut columns covered in silver or gold embroidery. A purple and gold brocade jumpsuit with voluminous harem pants made for the most interesting and trendy piece in the collection, while a deep purple chiffon and organza dress had scrolling fabric embroidery along the V-neck which gave a beautiful touch to an otherwise uninteresting dress. Overall the eveningwear was like a commercial-ified take on Galliano's own F/W 08 collection, where he helped start this harem pants trend. Here though, with the mish mash of bright colors, straightforward use of the theme and pretty but largely forgettable pieces, it just came off as kind of flat.

Usually when a designer taps into vaguely Eastern exoticism there's a real stream of decadence to it, very rich, very sumptuous and very heady. Here, not so much. It's like Orientalism for dummies. There's no need to know what an odalisque is, or who Poiret was and where his influence can be seen in the collection, or even to be able to pinpoint what part of the world it seems to be referencing. It's homoginized and pre-digested for your convenience, just like his take on Africa was last season. Even something as simple as a different color palette would have changed the mood of this completely and made it more sophisticated. Instead of the bursts of red, peach, magenta and blue, how about some richer colors like burnt orange, dusty olive green, prune, ochre, and bloody burgundy? As it is now the effect is more Disney's Aladdin than Wilde's Salome, but at it's core the place where it's coming from is closer to Galliano's spirit than his recent efforts have been. However it's just not quite there yet, it's still too controlled and methodical in the thinking behind it. So while my faith is still not quite restored, I think there's a chance that it can be.

Lanvin

Smoky light, wet pavement and a little black dress. It's the ultimate in what everyone imagines Paris to be, and turned out to be the look and feel of Alber Elbaz's collection for Lanvin. If last season was largely disappointing, then this collection more than made up for it. Continuing with the eccentrically chic, decadent mood of his gorgeous pre-fall collection, Elbaz stirpped away some of the prettiness, and what he ended up with was a fabulous collection of gorgeous clothes. There was a strong Pre-War Parisian vibe to it; elegant but not quite, austere, but still very sexy, and extremely contemporary all wrapped up with a hint of the late 30s/early 40s. In a nutshell, it was all about women and the many contradictions that make them so very intriguing. This season Elbaz cut many of the pieces on the bias, from coats, to jackets, to his signature minimal sheath dresses which, as anyone who has either cut something on the bias or worn something on the bias can tell you, makes the garment infinitely more flattering and sensual. The first look out was a one shouldered black dress, knee length, very fitted in the body with a voluminous puff on the shoulder, a detail carried over from Spring and perfected here. It was worn with long leather gloves, platform pumps and a feathered headband in the girl's hair. Then came a shapely skirt suit, the jacket flaring out at the waist worn with a thin belt. A red belted coat had a molded scroll at the hips that gave it an hourglass silhouette, and a stunning strapless sheath had a large draped ruffle spiraling from the bust and over the hip. Furs came patchworked onto felt or knit coats, straight skirts were gathered onto one side or folded randomly to give a bit of dimension to a simple shape, and a gorgeous chalky white coat was gently molded to the body, the only details on it were the reversed seams down the side, across the shoulder and around the armhole. It was so classic, so spare and clean, but with that slight twist that made it utterly Lanvin.

At this point, besides the Pre-War Parisian mood, I also was getting a sort of eroticism. The way the clothes were worn, very elegant but slightly askew, accessorized to the nines with big jewelry, leather gloves and those feathered hairpieces, the occasional fur stole thrown haphazzerdly over a dress or coat, combined with the wet pavement that made up the runway made me think of prostitutes as captured by Brassai. It was subtle, but it was there. A girl in a long, loose black coat with a floppy collar could very well be naked underneath. And a gorgeous velvet dress in the same shape as the dress that opened the show had a trim of tulle around the collar bone.

Tulle was also layered over a black shift and formed two little puffs on the shoulders, made into a sheer blouse with a zip down the front which was paired with a pencil skirt that was also draped with tulle, and ruched into a ruffle on one side to make a fleshy beige colored dress. From there Elbaz started introducing some opulence in the form of chunky beadwork on chemise or shift dresses and devore velvet cut into draped dresses, voluminous gathers and tunic tops. Paired with major necklaces that were a little bit tribal, a little bit futuristic and a little bit like the kind of silly dress up jewelry girls play with, they added an irreverent and contradictory touch to the elegance of the clothes.

It was an extremely strong collection. Strong in focus, strong in technique (which is always the case with a Lanvin collection) and strong in it's harmonizing of pragmatism and fantasy. It's truly investment dressing in that these are clothes that will never, ever be out of style. But the thing is, they're not boring. A Lanvin collection never reinvents the wheel, it's rarely about a trend although Alber has given birth to more than his fair share of those, and it's never far reaching in terms of some statement that it's trying to make. Elbaz just has an innate ability to make really simple, practical, flattering clothing seem extremely desirable. I have no idea what it is exactly, but I'm assuming you'd need to put the clothes on to fully appreciate them. Still, just looking at them on the runway and on the rack is always a pleasure.

all images from style.com

La Vie en Rose Colored Glasses...

It's a wrap. The Spring/Summer 2009 collections have come to a close and now the world can know what they'll be wearing next season...or something like that.

I wish I could say that the designers whose job it was to make what will ultimately be the last impression of S/S 09 hit it out of the park, but like a lot of what's been shown this season I'm left wanting something more.

Lanvin

Alber Elbaz has been fashion's darling since he showed his first collection for Lanvin back in the winter of 2002, and since then his reputation has grown so exponentially that he's one of the only designers I can think of where almost anybody, regardless of what their personal taste and style usually is, can find something to like about his work. It's universal in it's appeal, but strangely, it still manages to demand respect as some of the highest of high fashion. His clothes are easy to comprehend, but because Mr. Elbaz is so thoughtful and contemporary in his approach to dressing women his clothes don't become banal. His light hand for draping, soft tailoring and intricate detail ensure that his clothes are, above all, beautiful. Because of his simple approach to fashion, and all of the things he's managed to contribute to it, he is arguably one of the most influential designers working today.

Last season, Elbaz reigned in a lot of the volume and drapery he's known for in favor of something more fitted and more graphic. He based that entire collection on using ribbons of fabric to construct clothes. In print it sounds very pretty and very feminine, even girly, but it was quite the opposite, in fact, it was down right erotic. Because the collection was comprised of only black, navy, brown and beige the ribbons had a hard edge. I actually think that ribbons and bows are much more suggestive than anyone would have you believe, they're delicate and flirty on the surface, but in truth they have a kinky, sexual undercurrent that people probably wouldn't notice.....unless they've've got the imagination that is.

This season however Elbaz went back to what he is more known for, trading his curvacious lines of last season for something colorful, voluminous and more overtly pretty. Many of the opening looks revisited the voluminous, vaguely leg-o-mutton sleeves that he first played with for F/W 2007, though here they were less exaggerated. Paired with tulip, pencil or gathered skirts that were cut above the knee, tapered cigarette pants or as the top half of a shift dress they looked beautiful and are certainly on trend with all of the attention shoulder pads have been getting, but they were familiar Lanvin territory.

Mixed in with all of the color and volume were some of Elbaz's signature easy classics like unstructured jackets, trench coats and LBD's. I especially loved a grey textured jacket/skirt combo with voluminous hips and cinched waist, and a sexy off the shoulder gathered mini-dress that, unfortunately, got drowned out by some of the more colorful and decorative looks.

For evening it was back to color, with ensembles that often paired two clashing shades of the same color together; red-orange with scarlet, maroon with burgundy, cobalt and sky blue. It made me think of Saint Laurent and how he mixed colors it shocking and sometimes odd combinations, but that's not surprising since Mr. Elbaz was a protege of Mr. Saint Laurent's, Since YSL's current designer, Stefano Pilati, seems so hesitant to use any daring colors in his collections, somebody needs to carry on the legacy.

Overall this wasn't Alber's most powerful or directional show, it was more of a re-evaluation of some of his recent collections. The thing about Elbaz is he's not the type of designer who's trying to reinvent the wheel every season. His approach is to zero in on one thing, a detail, a shape, a feeling, and build an entire seasonal wardrobe out of it that can easily integrate itself into any number of women's closets. He's at his best when he focuses on something as unassuming and minute as a length of ribbon, the shape of a sleeve or the movement of the fabric. This season he threw a few too many ideas, but not enough work, into the mix which is probably why this isn't his best collection. Even still, it's a testament to his talent that even when his collection isn't great, it's still pretty damn beautiful.

Louis Vuitton

Marc Jacobs' signature collections are viewed by many in the industry as being the unofficial start of the fashion season. His collections for Vuitton are among the last collections to be shown on the major fashion calendar, and for that reason can be viewed as the end of the fashion season. The interesting thing is that these two collections, more often than not, are coming from a very similar place. I know what you're thinking, they're by the same designer so it's kind of a no-brainer that they're similar looking. But Marc makes no secret of the fact that out of the three collections he does per season, his signature line is the one that's the most personal. In relation to this, Vuitton is usually a more perfected, more exaggerated and more concise essay on what Jacobs was thinking. Even with that knowledge though, you can never really predict what Vuitton will look like.

Inevitably, one of the two collections ends up being better than the other, if only by a fraction. This season, for me at least, his first outing was more powerful and more clear than his second. The Marc Jacobs show was easily the highlight of New York fashion week and up til now is one of few collections that I actually felt really enthusiastic about. It was joyous, nostalgic, optimistic and had some really fantastic clothes hidden in the layers of references that comprised each look. That collection was vaguely described by Jacobs as being about America, though many people saw references to Yves Saint Laurent. For Vuitton, Jacobs and his team were in fact inspired by Yves Saint Laurent, not surprising since the late master seems to have been on a lot of designers' minds this season. There was one comment on the Fashion Spot that went so far as to say that Vuitton looked more like Saint Laurent than the recent Saint Laurent collection did....and in a way, I have to agree. Each look presented would require an entire entry just to describe it head to toe, so here's the highlights reel; Opium collection, decadence, Africa, glamour, strong shoulders, bold color, mix and match, big jewelry, tight waists, Obi belts, full trousers, lots of leg, feathers, shiny, the 70's, the 80's, patchwork, kimono, Josephine Baker, Harlem Renaissance.... i'm probably missing something. Each outfit was styled to the hilt, to the point that the bags, LV's bread and butter, could almost go unnoticed. I mean, how could something as mundane as a bag possibly compete with an outfit that comes with everything but the kitchen sink?

And it just kept coming, multilayered references mixed together in an array of madness and extravagance.

At first, I was more than a little overwhelmed. It's a lot to take in, and tbh it reminded me of his S/S 06 Vuitton collection in spirit, which I despised at the time and I'm still not fond of it to this day. But now that I've been looking at the pictures for a while, it's started to grow on me. It's certainly one of the more "alive" collections we've seen this season, and for that alone you have to appreciate it. Even though I think his first outing was more successful at getting his point across, it was nice to see a designer embrace all of the things that make fashion so captivating and so exciting. But above all it was nice to see a little bit of optimism, even if it's completely irrational.

all images from Style.com and Catwalking.com