Runway Review: Christian Lacroix Couture

Christian Lacroix Couture was a combination of juxtapositions. As always dresses were beautiful and fantastical, but it was also a little confused. I wasn’t always sure where he was going with his theme, “The Designs of her Nature” as his intentions became blurred with too many elements. There are many celeb worthy concoctions, but in the end I wasn't sure exactly what the take away should be.

Black, navy, stone and nude started off the show in sharply tailored daywear silhouettes.
The cropped jacket with vest and full pleated trouser was one of my favorite looks of the show. Contrasts continued with the pairing of a soft chiffon tiered dress with a military jacket or bold stripes or bold and bright primary blue. Sparkle was apparent and added accent to more somber looks.

He combined delicate lace and flowers in soft colors that felt almost Rococo in the frivilousity with with screaming brights and graphic stripes and dots in stark black/navy and white. The polka dots were often Minnie Mouse scale, and combined with solid brights or a combo of mini dots.

Midway through the show a sudden rainbow of brights emerged. Classic Lacroix touches never look sickly sweet but kind of rock and roll included bows tied at the neck and sparkly heart necklace.

Giant corsages reminiscent of Carrie Bradshaw from SATC while other pieces just got a smattering of loose petals. While acidic color choices reminded me that this isn't pure Victorian served straight up.

As with other couture shows, the emphasis on shoulders continued but in a slightly different manner, it wasn’t so much the sleeves that were creating the puffs, but giant puffs that flowed out of the one shoulder looks.

Runway Review: Jean Paul Gaultier Couture

Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture collection was an exercise in making what goes around come back around. He brought back some of the things that he first showed in the 80s and made them fresh and new again, including pinstripes, sharp tailoring, corsetry and sailor detailing. He double emphasized this by having 80s iconic model Inès de la Fressange walk his show.

Deep V-neck Tuxedos looked fresh especially when layered with triagle bikini tops. As with other couture shows this season emphasis on the shoulders was key. With winged & rounded exaggerated shoulders parading down the runway.

There was also an emphasis on the sides of the body, with cut out/sheer side panels creating interest.

Key colors include black, white, nude and grey. Accent colors include red and neon green. Resulting in angelic, not so innocence vrs. dark and vampy lady.


Spirograph like calligraphy swirled around embellished dresses in a way that was reminiscent to currency. When combined with the sheerness of textural lace, netting and chiffon it often created optical effects. Resulting in looks that were sometimes art deco and other times reminiscent of futurist art.


There were many celeb worthy gowns that I'm sure will make their way onto the red carpet. The middle dress just above is one of my faves.

Overall JPG succeeded in making old things new and fresh again, but there may have been slightly too many elements that cluttered his overall vision.

Runway Review: Chanel Couture

Chanel Couture Spring 2009 collection was one that was started with a piece of white paper, a pair of scissors and Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld wanted to clean house and decided that he “wanted everything graphic itself, no bling-bling”. What we got was a beautiful collection in predominantly white, save for a few smatterings of black.

In the wrong hands, this could have potentially been monotonous and dull, but it was actually really fresh, clean and utterly beautiful. Every texture seemed to be alive, miniscule details sang to be be noticed.

Gently squared shoulders, often in cropped capelets/jackets were paired with a-line dresses and skirts or slim pants. Miniscule sequins dotted garments often creating stripes or gradations that were sometimes white on white but often in contrast for a sporty historic Chanel vibe. The classic Chanel Braid trim was trimmed down and sleek. Applique, sequins and feathers added dimension and depth.

The only print was a warp print rose silhouette. The graphic tears were actually seed beads sewn to form a pattern rather than a print.

Also spectacular were the paper hair ornaments/flowers that were crafted by Japanese hair genius Katsuya Kamo and a team of several people working in the Chanel Atelier while staring at images of 18th Century Porcelain. The results are nothing less than art.

Overall, I loved the clean freshness of the collection, very classically Chanel, but very new at the same time. The toning down of bling had fantastic textural results that were simply visually stunning. In this economy many people are down against the elitist nature of couture, but when times are tough beauty and inspiration are important and Karl Lagerfeld with this collection just proved his cause for couture.