"IN PARIS, A NOD TO OLD MASTERS".
"In Paris, a Nod to Old Masters".
"CHRISTIAN DIOR". Jackets in romantic shapes to flatter the face and waist. "More Photos »
"Times Topics: Christian Lacroix"."John Galliano".
"ALEXIS MABILLE A flower, embroidered coat over satin shorts. "More Photos >
"12.01.2010."THE economic crisis doesn’t really scare the people who still practice haute couture, that small, vanishing world of embroiderers, dyers and feathermakers who serve the imagination of the few remaining couturiers. Asked if the economy was having an effect on the spring couture season, underway here, Karl Lagerfeld of Chanel said, "Only on the conversation".
"The reply is a good front, in a way. The French luxury-goods world is supposed to be inviolable, as snug and secure as a Cartier diamond in its box. That’s why, when Chanel announced recently the layoff of 200 temporary employees, about 1 percent of its 16,000-member work force, the newspaper Le Parisien called the news a bombshell".
"Coming from Chanel, whose owners, the Wertheimer family, never speak publicly about their business, it was indeed shocking — and not all that revealing of the true state of luxury or Chanel, which saw sales gains in all divisions in 2008, the company said. The layoffs were first reported by trade unions".
"A decade ago, Pierre Bergé, the former chairman of Yves Saint Laurent, summed up the contemporary problem of couture when he called it "the opposite of a business". Even though people recognize the marketing value of an extravagant couture show, to help promote and sell less costly products like sunglasses and perfume, they find it harder and harder to grasp its real value, which is to make exquisite, one-of-a-kind clothes using all the various needle crafts".
"A decade from now, if there are more than two or three houses still producing twice-yearly haute couture collections, it will be surprising. The costs of skilled labor to make a dress or suit entirely by hand will be a factor in couture’s demise, but so will the supply of design know-how. Mr. Lagerfeld is in his early 70s".
"Strange as it may sound, there will always be a customer for exceptional clothes: the wife or daughter of an oil billionaire, the girl who dreams of a couture wedding dress. Sidney Toledano, the chief executive of Dior, said the house had seen an increase in couture customers in the last two years".
"These numbers are relatively small, to be sure, but the interest tells Mr. Toledano, as he put it, “that we have to give more of a sense of the work we do".
"The suits and evening dresses that John Galliano showed for Dior certainly put the house’s skills on display, and without the history-book heaviness of previous collections. Drawing on a Flemish palette of pale blues and pinks with lots of off-white and the odd slash of scarlet, Mr. Galliano used Dior’s classic tailoring as the starting point".
"At first glance, the rippling skirts seem unmanageable, a Galliano effect, but a second look brings the jackets into sharp focus. They are really the story. Mr. Galliano’s beguiling range of romantic shapes do essentially one thing: they flatter the face and waist. And worn with a softer skirt or pair of trousers, they open your eyes to what’s possible from a distinctive cut".
"Dior wouldn’t be Dior without the swagged ball gown, but while they were beautiful, with delicate vines of embroidery, there was more surprise and contemporary charm in slim satin cocktail dresses with open necklines, a dollop of draping and a half-hidden corset".
"The main facts about the Chanel show are these: the collection was inspired by writing paper, Mr. Lagerfeld is a complete antique in that he doesn’t use a word processor, and all the clothes were white or black and white".
"What made the show a rare pleasure was Mr. Lagerfeld’s supreme ability to concentrate on a single idea and find endless ways to express it. He was like a fly that landed on a leaf and surveyed all. But the leaf told him everything".
"So there were white wool jackets with narrow, squared-off shoulders shown with the season’s new skirt, an A-line with the illusion of a split front. The lines had the crispness of cut paper, and if the sharp shoulders, with a seam across the top, suggested the galactic, they were in fact based on a historical ladies cape called a berthe".
"Some of the day suits were edged with tiny silk braid, while others were outlined with black sequins. Feathers and faceted paillettes glazed square-cut evening tops and layered silk chiffon skirts. The show was essentially about tailoring, at the couture level".
"And every so often Mr. Lagerfeld would halt his stream of thoughts across the page with a punctuation mark, say, a short dress embroidered all over in black sequins with a draped panel at the back".
"Maybe it’s his experience, but Mr. Lagerfeld has a deep connection to couture’s past. At the same time, he is aware of the moment. This feeling was missing from the collections of Christian Lacroix and Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy".
"Mr. Lacroix opened with some smart-looking jackets piped and brass-buttoned in military fashion, and there were some luscious colors in his evening chiffons, but the familiar Lacroix spirit wasn’t there".
"Mr. Tisci also likes strong shoulders, except his seemed more like camel humps under sheer tops. The collection had that slight "ode to the East" feeling, registered in beige and ivory tones and veiled dresses, but while some of the looks were appealingly soft, the hand was heavy".
"Alexis Mabille is a newcomer to the couture scene, at least with his own label. The clothes seesawed from awkward "his-and-hers combinations in red satin" to sophisticated, with a lovely tunic in beige chiffon embroidered with sailboats and a peacoat blazing with crystal buttons. But Mr. Mabille has the couture juice".
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