Dear Shaded Views,
Happiness is in short supply, with so many things weighing on our minds from politics to global warming, from eating healthy to vaccines. It was truly uplifting to discover that although couture should be about a certain glamour three designers houses opted for party, celebration and uptempo. Leaving the venue of a show elated and buzzing can be caused by any number reasons, but happiness is the best. So over to Julien Fournie, On Aura Tout Vu, and Germanier
Julien Fournie
If being fifty is an excuse for celebration, in the view of this French designer it was also a cause for liberation. He’s an extrovert figure and a man whose lively personality is reflected in his collections. Fournie loves small waists, full skirts, siren dresses, glamour, sexy princesses, flirtation, wit, and couture that speaks of strong women, cinematic situations, and unexpected scenarios. This season at the Theatre Mogador he ticked all his stylistic boxes at full speed and with the volume turned up. It bought a packed audience to applaud and cheer and sent them off into the damp Paris afternoon smiling.
Fournie has gone on record about his approach to couture and his clients, his passion for the fit and the special attention to the person buying and wearing the look. This was totally apparent in the variety of silhouettes and stories following rapidly after each other in a drama of several acts. Combat soldier to Alice in Wonderland rabbit, Seraglio Scheherazade to Fifth Avenue or Bond Street smart, Fournie has an answer.
So, what made it so glorious? It wasn’t the rousing danced finale in which the designer himself worked through some energetic choreography, it wasn’t the gyrations of dancers or the flirtations with the audience by the models as they strode or ran between the seats. It was the clothes, indeed a series of wardrobes of clothes.
In a carefully staged show his pairs and groups of models showed us military with bold details in velvet, sensuous draperies with a nod to Les Visiteurs du Soir, other worldly siren dresses or a baroque decorated tuxedo, a pollen yellow swirling redingote, glittering tiger stripes, a bolero of emerald green, and Arabian Nights iridescent violet chiffon and golden coins, but throughout the show there was constantly the thread of cinematic stars past and present, French or Hollywood. This came together in the final four looks. Thierry Mugler’s Planet was always a film in his head, and with these lightening sequinned looks that Planet was once again landed upon, with renewed vigour, and reflected and refreshed by Julian Fournies’ vision.
On Aura Tour Vu
If haute couture is about knowing your customer no one knows their customer better than Livia Stoianova, Yassen Samouilov do.
So many of the audience were wearing past seasons and indeed at Paradis Latin it was less a show than a party. I spoke to so many people, as they squeezed past, or simply stopped to be photographed. In a world of gloom this was a moment of lightness and happiness, a group of people who had come together to celebrate the designer’s work.
The atmosphere was joyful and everyone who had dressed up was happy to show off and twirl, everyone applauded, laughed and as well as singing and dancing in their seats. Joie de vivre is in short supply today, but this crowd certainly embraced it, and also diversity in every sense of the word was present, but untrumpeted simply there.
The collection opened with sequins, plumes and glitter and continued on an upward spiral throughout the show. The customer is not looking for a neat little blazer of a black jacket at this house. The show divided into colour or pattern groups segueing from black through to silver via electric blue, and lacquer red. There was a sensational print group with bold patterns on fluid silks. Although by compare with other stories I thought this was sensational with a sexual mixed with almost a Lily Pulitzer vibe to it that I think is both beautiful and very much missing from many collections. Intensely coloured but with a soft painterly quality, sometimes embroidered with sparkles it had true elan.
The very broad shoulders contrasted with slender silhouettes of many of the looks was strong, but the collection encompassed long floating mousseline, and sculptural brocade type fabrics as well, the designers certainly didn’t offer limited options for their clients.
Of course, the collection wasn’t for everybody, but strong design philosophies are needed to prevent blandness. Mr Armani, Ronald van der Kemp or Erdem stick to their mood, their inspiration, their fashion theories without compromising or becoming stale. One of the most interesting creative notes to appear from designer’s collaborations with Jean-Paul Gaultier across the seasons, is to see how much of their own personal handwriting dominates Gaultier’s own signatures. What I’m saying is that in this On Aura Tout Vu by remaining faithful to their own signatures had an audience, cheering clapping and smiling.
Germanier
As the closing show of the Paris couture days Kevin Germanier was a great choice. His disco, outer space,upcycled/recycled/deadstock/found-objects creations always lift the spirits, lift the tempo and require strict questioning before commenting since the assembly and creation of the pieces can be anything from old Scottish gentlemen’s tailoring to something knitted by his grandmother to an assemblage of Caran D’Ache pencils. Never take the glittering or frilly pieces at face value if Germanier is creating them. The show in a vast white space had some dry ice, but no other tricks so we focussed on. The pieces, and goodness, what pieces, some encrusted and layers and looped and fringed with a 2025 take on what’s couture embroidery might look like. Again and again, he defied conventional wisdom on colour mixing and literally made us gasp at the spectrum seemingly thrown together in a single garment but clearly the result of perfect judgement and an instinct on colour balance. The ruffles in gold were like Baroque embellishments and the swaying loops and fringes on some pieces hinted at flappers, but the entire point of Germanier is its his vision and trying to link it to anything before or since is not really required. The three “creations” like gigantic kinetic sculptures or perhaps inspired by the concept of a model wearing a huge outsize decoration throbbed, pulsated, and danced as they went past causing smiles to appear on even fashions notoriously grumpy faced front row. The solid core of the collection with both menswear and womenswear were about wonderful, lavishly decorated pieces which can be mixed with anything from jeans to black basics, although of course really, they should be teamed with more Germanier. Truly couture in that no high street chain or mid range company can even attempt to water down or copy, this show placed Kevin Germanier where he belongs in terms of definition of his house – extraordinary.
Later,
Tony Glenville
