8/14/2019 Occasion & Finding Balance

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16International Herald Tribune

Tu e s d ay ,Ju ly 3, 20 07

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M ihara Yasuhiro, the Japanese designer, showed apowerful sporty show, full of pieces that found theperfect balance between inventive and wearable.

The sporty collection included double front-zip tracksuits, sweaters with pixilated designs and fascinating

computer-manipulated flower printtops that morphed into organic-looking ribcages. Tailored suits thatfrom far away lookedstraightforward revealed, on closer

examination, a back cut out innetting, stretch fabric inserted

at the armpit or a track suitwa istline.

Already known in Asiafor his popular sneakercollaborations withPuma, the designer,whose label,Miharayasu hiro, hadsome more sophisticatedlooks in his repertoire.The white tailored shirtthat seamlessly ended ina waistcoat or the blackbutton-down short-sleevetops that finished in anelastic hem, scoopinglonger in the back for asnug fit, were examples

from a designer with abright future ahead ofh im.

Me n s FashionA S P E C I A L R E P O R T

D own on one knee, offering the pearlengagement ring he designed incollaboration with Van Cleef & Arpels,Alber Elbaz showed off his latest La nvinidea on Monday: wedding d resses.

But I didnt want a bride to look likeCinderella what happens if you are 40or getting married in a garden or in Bali?said Elbaz.

So from September Lanvin will have acapsule collection of wedding elements cute layers of compressed tulle, anelongated satin T-shirt, a chiffon-linedshrug and ribbons of pearls, all meriting apost-marriage life in the closet. Pajama, athome and in-flight wear is another newLanvin category, along with T-shirts andtravel bags printed with the designersmerry sketches.

T he couture shoe, floating with feathersand decorated with the luminousinspirations from the insect world, haslanded at Roger Vivier. A bag shaped likea scarab, a crocodile reticule as a gildedoyster and a shoe with a claw heel werelaunched by the creative director Bruno

Frisoni on Monday as Viviers first forayinto haute couture accessories.They have to be spontaneous and

unique that is the essence of couture,said Frisoni, who worked with the feathermaestro Lemarie and Lesage embroideriesto create shoes with plumes curling rounda shocking pink platform or a lacy jewel-embroidered sandal, taking fantasyfootwear into the stratosphere.

Lanvin saysI do to gowns

A S P E C I A L R E P O R T

LAN VINPAUL SMITH

MIHA R AYASUHIRO

Menswear goes light and bright

i h t .co m /s t y l ePhotographs from Paris menswear

Photographs by Chris Moore/Karl Prouse

Finding balance

Dior Homme: Back to the gilded glory days

F or his debut collection for Emanuel Ungaro, thedesigner Franck Boclet had a front row chock a blockwith handsome French film stars and a runway full ofclean-cut and well-groomed models. The clothes weresent out in vignettes, better to spot the right occasion:First, the straight-up business suit in black or gray, anaccent color or contrasting fabric on the lapels to add a bitof intrigue.

Next, the causal night-out attire, which meant easyslacks and relaxed suede or leather coats (trench, safari,blouson) in earth tones. Then came the Im visiting mypolo pony group with the knee-high boot s stuck intojeans and relaxed shirts in breathable cotton. Theweekend wear had scoop neck tops (a nod to the U forUngaro perhaps?) with the brands initials scrollingacross a shoulder or along a hip, mak ing them possiblecol lectors pieces, especially in t he collections mascoteggplant color.

And after the appearance of Cary Grant gray suits andan assortment of tuxedos, those suave leading men hadlaid out before them a collection that left no room for afashion faux pas.

Jessica Michault

An Ungaro occasion

By Suzy Menkes

Light in weight and in color was a powerful story for thespring/summer 2008 menswearseason. Fabrics like nylon, polyes-

ter or washed silks and satins gave aweightless effect both to outer garments,likeparkas and jackets, or to the layers ofshirt and vest underneath.

With light goes bright meaning either

shimmering effects built into the fabric,paillette embroidery or maybe a flash ofvividcolor. In fact,the season in both Mi-lan and Paris was noticeable for dark,wintry shades. But that was balanced bythe range of cream, beige and white thatoffered a neutral summer palette.

Monochrome also was an insistent idea,taking one color from collar to feet, so thateverything blendedin. With texture offer-

ing intriguing surface effects, that single-color look could still be i nteresting.

All the shades of the ocean made this asummer of blues, but those seashore col-ors were brightened up with more tropicalshades like melon, mango and papaya.

Also on the color register were primarycolors, adding a burst of brightness withred, yellow and orange, often used in apainterly way as blocks of the differentshades .

La nvins showhit the spot, withits ul-tra-light layers thathad the slithering tex-ture of nylon but were, in fact, washed silk,bringing a luxurious but never heavy feelfrom silk shirt to shiny metallic shoes.The designer Lucas Ossendrijver, workingwith AlberElbaz, has lightenedup Lanvinmenswearin every sense,makingit notahaven for tailoringbut a play on elements

of a masculine wardrobe.There were shorts of course (what is the

2008 season without them?)and airy bowties. But Lanvin caught that balance be-tween formal and casual with its ocean col-ors from gray to deepest blue and green andalways with a literal light touch: a trickle ofgleaming sequins down a tie or even another-worldy shimmer to a laptop case.

There was the David Hockney lookagain with signature bow tie and owl

glasses at Paul Smith. But at leasttheBritish designer understood the Hockneyheritage better from my own artistfriends when we were young. Bright col-orsand stripe and polkadot patternsweredosed with beige tailoring. Only poloshirts and shoesadded primary colors. Itmade for a relentlessly upbeat show butmixing layers rather than just colorswould have added a further dimensionand enriched the offering.

Suzy Menkes is fashion editorat theIn-ternational Herald Tribune.

EMANUEL UNGARO

Th eCollections Pa ris

Courtesy of Lanvin

Lanvin models in a engaging tableau.

CourtesyofRogerVivier

I wantedto turn thepage, said KrisVan Assche(at far right, with mod-el)to explainthe variationson a whiteshirt in his first Dior Homme col lec-tion. From the tiny tucks on the dickeyfront, through origami foldson a collarto a tracery of openwork stitches, thedesigners debut collection was rich indetail. Itwas shownnot on the runway,but in a grand and gilded Parisian man-sion, the better perhaps to understandthe flow of high-waist 1950s- inspiredtrousers from Christian Diors era.

In this 60th anniversary year, them a s te r s taste, as seen in old portraits,appeared as seven neckties polka dot,Prince of Wales checks or knitted tex-tures.

AfterHedi Slimane, the previous de-signer, brought a minimalist, pencil-sharp look that made Dior menswearrock, this season looked like a con-scious decision to turn away from allthat sleek modernity.

Van Assches concept of evening, dayand morning wardrobe was shown ingroups of suits or tu xedos and had somegraphic elements in the tailoring or inthe black-and-white trellis shoes, someembroidered with a caviar of beading.

But here is the conundrum: Can a ro-manticdesigner who may,in fact, benearer to Christian Diors own sensibil-ity give the cuttingedgeof tailoringand cool that rejuvenated the brand?

Suzy Menkes

N uts about knotscould be themotto of AlexisMabille, whosesignature bow tiesfor Impasse 13 h avenow morphed intochic accessories(think bow-shapedevening clutch) andhave been re-workedas elegantembel lish ment.Bows sprouting asepaulettes, on shortsor worked into theback of a jacket aredesigned for aunisex wardrobe.

Shes a sexysecreta r y, sa idMabille, who admits

that he has a preference for the male side ofhis dual collection but has the couturesensibility to take his ideas forward both assculptural shapes and as feminine frivolity.

Suzy Menkes

Courtesy of Alexis Mabille

Jessica Michault

S o l d e x c l u s i v e l y i n L o u i s V u i t t o n s t o r e s . w w w . l o u i s v u i t t o n . c o m