MODELOS: julio 2014

DANIELA DE JESUS (MAJOR)

ZUHAIR MURAD

FALL 2014 COUTURE

Beirut has been undergoing an architectural renaissance, with Herzog & de Meuron, Norman Foster, Steven Holl, and Zaha Hadid among the starchitects making their mark on the Lebanese capital.

Zuhair Murad, who is based there, saw the potential for a Couture collection built from geometry—particularly Hadid's extreme forms.

To most eyes, Murad's interpretation might seem tenuous; dresses generally adhered to classic cocktail or gala silhouettes, with an occasional angular bustline, displaced hemline, or enhanced-volume overskirt.

But look closely at the surface detail and you could see how the stretched, encrusted wave patterns; guipure macramé; and puzzle-piece prism motifs expressed a certain neo-futurist edge—especially when rendered in black, white, and silver (the result of hammered metallic sequins).

In trading last season's precious garden inspiration for a modern cityscape, Murad nudged his aesthetic forward, even if only incrementally.

To his fairy-tale wedding dress, he added a 5-meter-long veil; yet the crosshatched embroidery evoked the distinctive cladding employed by various architects today.

The designer could have pushed further beyond his signature glamour comfort zone—but perhaps his clients (well-evidenced by the primped-up women sitting front-row) don't demand this of him

He mentioned that his couture customers are younger and younger—in age and also in spirit, and maybe the beaded, multicolored jump-short number will be purchased less because it represents a good investment than a youth-affirming indulgence.

The penultimate look, a shimmery belted caftan, was an outlier in its Art Deco vibe; its unstudied elegance was the most modern statement of all.

DANIELA DE JESUS (MAJOR)

ANASTASIA IVANOVA (WOMEN)

STYLE.COM

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.