UNA NOCHE EN EL MUSEO

"UNA NOCHE EN EL MUSEO"

ELLE ITALIA JUNIO 2015

MAUD WELZEN (ELITE)

FOTÓGRAFO MICHAEL SANDERS

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)

CORTESÍA DE STYLE.COM

BELSTAFF PRE-FALL 2013

 BELSTAFF

 PRE-FALL 2013

 MAUD WELZEN (DNA)

 "We love our heritage," said Belstaff's Martin Cooper, "but I never want to be beholden to it." Off come the shackles, in rushes the fresh air. 

 Belstaff, which has been cranking out motorcycling gear for the better part of a century, has, since its revival in 2011, navigated a course between its history and the demands of its new status as a high-fashion house. 

 With the pre-fall collection, the label's first for this important sales season, it moved forward yet again. The line, Cooper said, was, "more than anything, exploring an urban feeling for the brand." 

 The first section he dubbed city dressing, and while the racing details remained—in the form of padded leather elbow patches on a double-woven cotton car coat—the pieces here all felt more like part of a real woman's wardrobe.

 Leather motorcycle pants gave the old vroom-vroom feel, but they matched up with the soft, slinky silk tops Cooper uses for masculine/feminine balance. 

 A country-mouse section was "equestrian meets biker," in the words of the designer, with high quilted-leather riding boots and quilted jackets. Fox fur vests and a gorgeous navy shearling brought us back to the city.

 Despite the line's skyscraper prices, details like lamination on knits and oversized zippers gave the pieces a hit of low-key cool. ("Hardware is our jewelry," Cooper explained.)

 As an added bonus, loosening heritage's hold on the whole gave Cooper a chance to embrace it more strongly in parts.

 Since relaunching the brand, he's re-created the classic Trialmaster jacket in leathers and skins, but never in its original waxed cotton. Here it was back in action, only slightly nipped and tucked.

 BY MATTHEW SCHNEIER

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