Givenchy - Paris Fashion Week AW15 show report

Δημοσιεύθηκε: 9 Μαρτίου 2015 - 01:03

Victorian gangsta was how you might describe the women who made up Riccardo Tisci's AW15 collection. Inspired by the Mexican and Puerto Rican chola, the Latin American street gangs who identify themselves with aggressive facial piercings, pencilled eyebrows and hair slicked into baby curls around the face, Tisci had imagined her Victorian counterpart. "The cholas are very Latin, and very stylish, which I love," Tisci explained backstage of his intergenerational mash up. "And Victoriana is an obsession which I have had since childhood but was afraid to explore until now."

The two themes made an exquisite partnership: the high ostentation of Victorian style working seamlessly with the ballsy codes of the street gang. In lieu of flannel shirts, his tribe wore dresses, inset with mesh bodice details and flounced in velvet, ruffled at the seams or fitted in a jacquard. The classic gangster bomber jacket was fabricated in a peacock-patterned fur, or swaggered with a raccoon tail fringe, like the spoils of an internecine war (circa 1900). Where the chola wears trainers (specifically Nike, with whom Tisci just collaborated on a third sellout collaboration), the Givenchy girl gang wore stocky, heeled boots, some with velvet details, all with stomping attitude.

The extraordinary facial jewellery - great gobs of sparkle, jet and silver that were set around the eyes and cheeks, and encircled the nose and chin - was menacingly beautiful (and will be sold as pieces with which to do at home). The only danger is that all that mesmerising crystal nearly upstaged the clothes which were exquisite. Beautifully cut, expertly tailored, and extremely flattering, these were garments for all ages. Tisci credited his skill at pattern-cutting, and the dresses' form-fitting elegance, to the years he spent doing couture at Givenchy, a line which was suspended at the house two long years ago. This collection served both to remind us of Tisci's technical skill and how much more exciting the world of couture would be with him in it again.

Photographs: Catwalking.com

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