Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Best of Paris Fashion Week

YSL FW11

by Grace Gordon

In the hands of Stefano Pilato, Prince of Wales checked suits looked rigorous and refined at Yves Saint Laurent’s FW11 show. In fact, the entire first quarter of his show was an exercise in restraint and self-control which was followed by a big bang of fur, cocoon shaped outerwear, and plunging necklines. Yet, an overriding sense of restrained sexiness radiated beneath the surface of each outfit, no matter how pent up or let loose it was.

Ultimately, this collection is a journey, if you’re able to picture the outfits on just one woman. She starts off starched and innocent in checked suits, and starts to unravel in a purple suitdress with a slashed fringe hem. She spends some wild years wearing slick, glamorous fur, and settles down in warm cocoon sweaters and matronly shaped tweed separates. Midlife crisis hits and she’s costumed in a skimpy navy pantsuit, cloaked in a Vampirella cape with one shoulder proudly bare. She returns to her senses in angelic white outfits, but finishes in a sensational, huge, fur marabou coat paired with a sensually subversive sheer top and wide-leg trousers in a blazing shade of white. Pilati takes us expertly through female experience, and winds up with a striking, heartfelt collection that invites and beckons us to take part in the tale told.