ALEXANDRE VAUTHIER FALL 2014 COUTURE

AMANDA WELLSH (IMG)

ALEXANDRE VAUTHIER 

CAROLINE BRASCH NIELSEN (ELITE)

FALL 2014 COUTURE

Some couturiers send out a wedding gown as their final runway look; Alexandre Vauthier presented a black body-skimming gown that offered quite the peep show from behind.

A pearl-embellished band running diagonally across the right cheek functioned as a decorative bridge between the lower back and the upper bum, ostensibly holding the dress together.

JOSEPHINE LE TUTOUR (ELITE)

Such asset-flaunting bait will prove irresistible to Vauthier's mega-muses: Rihanna, Bey, Kim, Rita. But with this collection, the designer ensured that there was more than enough of his mastery to go around, from a jumpsuit in a laser-cut pony hair that mimicked lace, to crystal-studded leather pants, to a slinky minidress covered in ribbons of python stitched to tulle.

Before the show, Vauthier seemed particularly excited about his foray into a print that appeared on a silk parka and high-waisted trousers; no run-of-the-mill geometric motif, this was a reinterpreted archive find from Clerici Tessuto, the century-old Italian fabric house.

It's all too tempting to linger over a one-shouldered dress that sparkled like pomegranate seeds (the 196,000 ruby-red stones required 1,850 hours of Lesage embroidery) at the expense of Vauthier's stellar tailoring—straight-edged but not boxy.

 Patent shin guards unnecessarily accented a few leggy looks, as if he hadn't already offered enough aesthetic armor with a pearl and crystal cardigan (120 hours of embroidery) or a series of plush fox cabans.

Of course, the designer knows there will always be an appetite for the Tom Ford school of sexpot, but his point of differentiation—his expert eye for fit—can get overwhelmed by glam.

Vauthier described this collection as "excessively chic," adding a rapid succession of "très" for emphasis. And to the extent that people will be apt to remember that right cheek most of all, this was très true.

DEVON WINDSOR (IMG)

MANON LELOUP ()

WALESKA GORCZEVSKI (OUI)

GRACE MAHARY (IMG)

KATLIN AAS (IMG)

XIAO WEN JU ()

TANYA KATYSHEVA (NEXT)

LEILA NDA (NEW MADISON)

AMANDA WELLSH (IMG)

CAROLINE BRASCH NIELSEN (ELITE)

DARIA KORCHINA (WOMEN)

JOSEPHINE LE TUTOUR (ELITE)

ALEXANDRE VAUTHIER

ALEXANDRE VAUTHIER SPRING 2014 COUTURE

SASHA LUSS (ELITE)

ALEXANDRE VAUTHIER

ZUZANNA BIJOCH (NEXT)

SPRING 2014 COUTURE

GRACE MAHARY (IMG)

With a wall of glowing lights at the far end of a glossy black runway, it seemed that Alexandre Vauthier wanted to establish a nightclub ambience for his Spring couture show.

 KATE BOGUCHARSKAIA (NEXT)

Not so. "It was beach and windsurf!" he said emphatically, noting that even the ambient music reinforced the mellow vibe. There was, come to think of it, a beachy attitude to the oxblood bra that appeared midway through—its cups framed in crocodile—and to the hot pants that opened the show.

 CAROLINE BRASCH NIELSEN (ELITE)

They were shown with heels and a fold-over clutch that had a chain running between them, mimicking a surfboard leash: This was surf fetishism, perhaps. 

 LINDSEY WIXSON (ELITE)

 LAIS RIBEIRO (OUI)

Vauthier also gave exposure to a loosely interpreted ethnic theme that played out as jewel-encrusted paneling, extra-long fringes, and intricate leather braiding. If it vaguely recalled a not-so-distant Givenchy couture collection, the designer's pursuit of exceptional fabrications became the more interesting story.

 HANA JIRICKOVA (SILENT)

 LINDSEY WIXSON (ELITE)

A preview of the clothes a day earlier at his showroom brought this into focus. Here, a leopard-spotted lamé reproduced from Saint Laurent's atelier. There, a deceivingly simple oversize warm-up jacket in rare white astrakhan. Up close, sheer leggings combined extra-fine tulle and lace in contoured accord.

 MAUD WELZEN (ELITE)

 CAROLINE BRASCH NIELSEN (ELITE)

The rigid ruffles were the stuff of hat construction, an idea that emerged from Vauthier's correspondence with Maison Michel. Ingeniously, he affixed them to a bodysuit instead of a dress—and just like that, the surf theme reemerged. If only he had kept proportions tight and short instead of extending the swirling mass into a creeping tail. 

CHIHARU OKUNUGI (NATHALIE)

There's some pleasure in knowing that Vauthier does not shy away from extravagance—or bike chains as choker necklaces—as long as the final product bears witness to his creative process.

SASHA LUSS (ELITE)

  LAIS RIBEIRO (OUI)

Plus he clearly understands restraint, avoiding closures on his men's-style blazers to keep his top layers fluid. 

 KATLIN ASS (IMG)

 KATE BOGUCHARSKAIA (NEXT)

He could benefit from recalibrating his ratio of hyperfeminine to token masculine; this way, his collections might not end up as engulfed by their sexiness. But one imagines that for some clients that is precisely the appeal.

LEXI BOLING (FORD)

  HANA JIRICKOVA (SILENT)

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