Dear Shaded Viewers
Autumn arrived with a bang on Monday. Victor Weinsanto presented “Audace,” his spring/summer 2027 collection, conceived as a tribute to the LGBTQ community and a showcase for a never seen technicality that keeps growing. The real surprise, though, was the overall picture: a precision in the tailoring that could carry Weinsanto toward haute couture and well beyond.
First came the triumphant return of La Grande Dame. She has spent recent months building a debut album, a melancholic, workmanlike sound that recalls young Sakamoto. Now she has never looked more eccentric. She opened the show by staging a mock feud with therestless photographer Vlad Dobre, who assertion model’s aura in any situations. A blasting opening setting the tone for a collection that kept surprises after surprises and improved with every look.
In a black miniskirt and a bustier hung with seed-bead fringe, she made the case that camp and tailoring can share a rail. Who said they were opposites? The looks that followed confirmed the pairing, most of all a jacket with built-up shoulders and a lapel trimmed in crystal fringe.
Craft was everywhere, infusing the authenthic French spirit . The deconstructed lace pieces were hard to resist, their seams picked out in exposed tape. The geometry of the cut gave the models authority without bad taste.
Les Teintures de France, the Paris-area dye house with some three decades of savoir faire, handled the animal skins: flesh-toned snakeskin, panther and zebra, in tropical colors and remarkable detail. Kevin Jacotot carried the motif into the models’ hair, a styling approach that grows more accomplished each season.
The biggest twist was the restraint in clothes color. Black, white and beige dominated, a palette that should appeal to a wide range of customers, and that sobriety leaves plenty of room for freedom in the structure.
Asymmetry and sensuality traced the curves of the body, and the clothes often hugged it. Layered sheers and corset lacing gave the women a commanding presence, with the raw sensuality of queer culture. “Audace” looks fluid at first glance. It is in fact a blend of poshness and outsider spirit, and it carries the dignified power of the LGBTQ community.
Later,
Mael Heinz
