MODELOS: Alexis Mabille

miércoles, 19 de agosto de 2009

Alexis Mabille Spring 2010.

Champagne and sequins are appropriate for any time of the day or night. That's Alexis Mabille's pleasure principle. He served up both at the breakfast show that launched his first all-men's collection.

Fashion maven Katell Le Bourhis was on hand to call out the style numbers (à la old-style couture) and offer a thumbnail sketch of who might wear them, and where.

Hence, the School of Economics student in a cotton gingham shirt over a Swiss-dot tee, or the habitué of Paris nightspot Le Baron in a brocade bolero and sprayed-on jeans. (Mabille is very proud of his butt-cupping cut.)

Clearly, there was an element of unabashed campness present in the show, but the archness of the presentation truly suited the clothes. The jeweled buttons, the lamé belts, the sequins, the tiny bows that trimmed back pockets, were mere gilding on a lily of extreme proportions, extravagant fabrics and pedal-to-the-metal loucheness.

But if you were to extract ideas that might emerge in other, less untrammeled environs, Mabille's reconfiguration of the tuxedo offered some direction, particularly with a tailored hoodie in black crepe.

As for those killjoys who would pose the question about target market, Mabille trilled impishly, "This is the way I dress every day." And isn't it the mark of a born entrepreneur to address his own needs first?

domingo, 12 de julio de 2009

Alexis Mabille Fall 2009 Couture.

Hanna Rundlof (MARILYN)

Alexis Mabille is the young contender at Paris couture—a new talent with a romantic touch, a French sensibility, plenty of skill at his fingertips, and a refreshing way of thinking about merging old ways with new.

Bojana Reljic (IMG)

For Fall, he said he started by imagining a girl waking from a languorous night of dreams tangled in her bedclothes.

Kelli Lumi (MAJOR)

Well, she comes from a very nice home, this one.

Skye Stracke (VIVA)

Apparently, she sleeps on exquisite white Swiss lace-edged linen pillowcases, shell-pink silken sheets, and luxuriously hand-worked cotton coverlets, which were variously cut into everything from fragile dresses to scallop-edged peacoats to drapey tuxedos to simple togas with a beautiful flow about them.

Alina Ilie (IMG)

If that sounds like high-flown concept, Mabille's knack is that he's able to take the precious materials of couture fabrics—weightless organdy, guipure, and elaborate broderie anglaise—and treat them with a degree of reality that defuses theoretical grandeur.

Jourdana Phillips (SLIDES)

"I wanted it to look loose and casual-fitting, so she can wear things with the attitude of pulling on a T-shirt," he said. "I tried to play with simple graphic shapes, so everything floats. She's not such a girly-girl."

Jules Mordovets (IMG)

The collection also demonstrates an ambitious range—Mabille can turn out structured cocktail bustier dresses for ingenues as well as smart tailoring and chic evening suits for sophisticates.

Siri Crafoord (VIVA)

The show could've benefited from a tighter edit, but that's forgivable from a designer who's still stretching his wings. Credit to him for developing a signature, and for the pragmatic focus that underpins his enterprise.

Samantha Rayner (NATHALIE)

"It's not just a question of having fun. I have couture customers, but I'm also offering ready-to-wear options alongside these things," he said. "I want to build a business."

Daria Strokous (IMG)

He's certainly come a long way from being pigeonholed as the guy who does cute things with bows and bow ties. Now the bows are the basis of a large collection of bags, jewelry, and accessories—and are still evident in the satin sashes and shoe decorations sprinkled through the runway collection. But to judge from the growing accomplishment of this show, Mabille's set to go a lot further still.