What could easily have been a fashion disaster turned into an act of renewal. Against all odds, Karl Lagerfield of Chanel, Gianni Versace and Christian Lacroix breathed life into the haute couture spring shows last week. And with his season-closing performance, Yves Saint Laurent pointed the way to keep the fashion blood flowing: classic looks.
For years, the concept of made to-order clothes, painstakingly fitted to individual customers, has been considered an anachronism. The styles were hopelessly old-fashioned. The five-figure-and-up price tags had reduced the client pool to an estimated 2,000 women throughout the world. And plans to broadcast the shows over closed-circult television had fallen through: The $1,600 charge for a single ticket was considered too steep.
It was predicted that the new space for fashion shows below the Louvre Museum would overshadow the clothes, but the first models sent out by Lagerfeld in the first show established that the clothes were viable.
Once again, the designer had re-interpreted the venerable Chanle suit. The jacket was lightly fitted and fingertip length, the skirt slim and even shorter. Instead of combat boots, so popular in recent seasons, the model wore shoes with instep straps and high splayed heels.
After the long-jacket suits, the models appeared in another variant: waist-length jackets over trousers. Both jacket styles worked. Long dresses with a wide polonaise drape across the hips ending in a bow in back looked impressively effective. But the suits clearly were the main attraction.
Then, like a well-made play, Gianni Versace`s collection had a strong beginning, middle and end. It started with overalls and finished with ball gowns. In between were little jacket suits with short flared skirts as well as flashy dresses of silver mesh.
The main element was the bib top and suspender straps of overalls. To watch this feature of work clothes transmuted into bouffant ball gowns with an 18th Century flavor is too see dressmaking at its most imaginaive. Other Versace concepts that will leave their mark on the season: his fascination with silver-on lacquered fabics as well as metallic mesh dresses-and crinkled fabrics.
Christian Lacroix kept the fashion spirit high, starting reasonably simply with a midriff-baring military jacket over wide-leg pants. Then he added more and more and more.
Prints on prints, embroideries and laces, and big long dresses over short ones are some of his themes. As the clothes grew more complex, there were echoes of the 18th Century, flashes of gold metal and menswear plaids, all in unpredictable juxtapositions.
And finally, at week`s end came “Classic Saint Laurent,” as the designer put it.
The collection starts with the pants suits he made fashionable 25 years ago and that are still going strong. Tailored dresses look increasingly important as an alternative to suits, and Saint Laurent has some go-anywhere beauties-business lunches, courts, shopping-in pale blue shantung and navy blue with white pique collar and cuffs.
