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敬请期待中文版  Picture credit: Indigital SMART PHONES OUT, search Google: who is "Anne-FranceDautheville", this season's inspiration for Chloé? The mystery woman turns out to be French, a journalist andwriter, who biked around the world in the 1970s. Oh ho! It's backto that hippie era again. Judging by what came down the runway and the pieces of hessianthrown over seating benches, this fearless journalist would zoomalong in her skinny red pants and biker jacket until she reached awatering hole. There she would wander in a flimsy chiffon dress orthrow on a poncho, perhaps bought from a local on this hippietrail.  Picture credit: Indigital Sounds familiar? It was. Although designer ClareWaight Keller made this character seem appealing in her"wanderer's wardrobe". "Motocross - and looking at women with a boyish attitude," saidthe designer who revealed that she wanted to mix the femininity offloaty fabrics with a sense of escapism. Clare seemed to have gone back to a youthful freewheeling thatseems essentially English, in these rather charming hippie clothes,delicately and beautifully decorated. But they never focused on thebody in a Gallic way. Not that Chloé, now a global brand, should besending out "Frenchie" clothes. Nor that young French women dressso differently from other millennials around the world.  Picture credit: Indigital And yet... when designers from every nation are sending outtautly tailored capes, is a poncho - either like a beige horseblanket, sagging white knitting or what looked like a Persian ruggrabbed off a tent floor - making real sense as a modern outfit?The same concept in white with ethnic embroidery was charming, butunconvincing as an Autumn/Winter 2016-17 wardrobe.  Picture credit: Indigital There was plenty to like at Chloé, where dresses in peach andbanana colours, floating in light chiffon waves, made the most ofClare's taste for easy dressing. Yet there is something more profound that bothered me about thisshow. We all know that a female (or indeed male) journalisttravelling through the turbulent Middle East today should bewearing a bullet proof vest not a coat of coloured feathers. Thewhole idea of wandering freely on a trip without borders has beenaltered by the traumatising images of desperate migrates.  Picture credit: Indigital It is inappropriate to bring politics into fashion, but adesigner still has to respond to the moment. The hippie era may formany still be a beautiful dream of freedom, but this is 2016 - 40years on. Carven: Who's That Girl? Out came the models, round lights like balloons abovetheir heads; all the better to highlight the bright purple of atop, the sheen on an angular A-line mini skirt, and the silhouetteof skinny trousers ending in ankle boots.  Picture credit: Indigital She's cute this young woman. But who is she? The models wouldhave had to wave flags marked Carven for me to be sure which brandwas on the runway. Designers AlexisMartial and AdrienCaillaudaud have got the right idea in making their targetyoung, fashion-conscious women. But it is a very crowded fashionfield.  Picture credit: Indigital What stood out were smart basics like a shearling coat, soft andsnug against the marbled floor; a half-wrapped, furry-edged tweed;and all kinds of cool jackets. A skirt with sunray curving pleats,the pattern running down the body, was almost as striking as alightning-strike print breaking over a zippered top, or the imageof the "hands of God" showering diamonds down a scuba top.  Picture credit: Indigital So there was plenty to catch the eye at Carven. But theFrench-ness that was the essence of the elegant, art-loving MadameCarven has vanished. The designer who called her fragrance "MaGriffe" - my signature - has lost that distinctiveimprint.  Picture credit: Indigital It seems churlish to say after the duo's third show thatdesigner GuillaumeHenry (who re-located to Nina Ricci) better captured the senseof fresh, young Parisian woman from a middle-class arrondissement.But I don't think the current designers are even thinking aboutthat. They are making clothes for a global audience. And they dothat just fine. (责任编辑：admin) |