Lacroix harks back to his roots
‘Back to Lacroix basics’ was how the designer described his approach to his 38th collection for a result that was romantic yet modern, chic, as well as effortlessly littered with southern references.
“A kind of starting up again, of rebirth”, he said after the show. Luxury goods group LVMH sold Lacroix’s label - which it launched in 1987 - to the Falic Group, the second-largest US duty-free retailer, last year.
The designer explained he had sought to “recapture the energy that appeared in 1987” after his first show. “The sun, carnations, roses, prints, they can be forever revisited.”
Emerging from behind a huge old engraving of the town of Arles, models sauntered along golden sand as the decor aimed to create warmer climes inside Paris’s Fine Arts School than outside.
It worked. The thermometer immediately soared with a stunning flounced trench coat in red taffeta woven with fuchsia roses, while a small Provencal jacket was stamped with garlands and bouquets.
White satin ‘matador’ pants were painted with pink and gold patterns, and a black organza ‘bull-fighter’ jacket with antique gold embroidery paired with a white organza dress was striking.
Black Chantilly lace accentuated different parts of the garments; one of many examples of the exceptional savoir-faire that went into crafting the couture collection.
Lacroix, a long-time favourite of the Paris fashion crowd, received a standing ovation as the audience threw the red carnations that had been placed on each chair on to the runway.
Givenchy’s young Italian artistic director discarded the catwalk, instead showcasing his clothes at the Bourdelle Museuem. Tisci’s vision for summer featured masculine wide black pants, striped, with rose motifs or in black lace re-embroidered with ostrich feathers.
Haute couture shows for spring-summer are due to wrapped up with France’s Jean Paul Gaultier and Lebanese designer Elie Saab.
