La Parisienne

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February 28, 2013 PARIS By Maya Singer There were quite a lot of ideas knocking around the Rue du Mail runway tonight. A few too many ideas, as it happened, for this collection to communicate a clear, coherent message, though each one in turn was individually compelling. Designer Martine Sitbon had strong themes going, for instance, in her play with florals: There were floral-printed dévorés, and coarse floral embroideries, and funny floral appliqués that seemed suspended off garments. And more. You could intuit Sitbon's mind working, as she experimented with ways of integrating the same motif into very dissimilar looks. Some of these efforts fared better than others—black and white bouclé gilets and coats with single flower embroidery had an almost mournful elegance, while the coarser embroidery on a couple of subdued shift dresses had an interesting, vaguely feral quality. Elsewhere, Sitbon turned out a variety of winning looks in a magnified herringbone, in particular the robelike coat that opened the show. That graphic element found a nice echo in the collection's wave-patterned embroideries and chunky knits. Then, all of a sudden, Sitbon hit her stride. In a passage of blue-tinged furs and glittery skirts, culottes, and dresses, this collection found its glamorously louche heart. The Rue du Mail girl was off to the disco, apparently, and the directness of these looks, and their relative exuberance, made for a nice change of pace. There was also a plainer directive here, in terms of silhouette, than anywhere else in the collection. Outside of that disco group, though, this show was just a bit too digressive.

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March 1, 2013 PARIS By Tim Blanks Trust the laser intellect of Hussein Chalayan to give the concept of the "pre-collection" a literal spin. The proposals he offered in January arrived fully formed on his catwalk today in a collection called Rise, with a transcendent sense of movement up, up, and away from a past that dogs him as fashion's arch-conceptualist. There may have been a nod to that today with a dress that transformed, with a model's violent wrench at her neckline, from a relatively prim cocktail number to a full-length gown. (Feel the transformation! Look 34 to 35!). But mostly there was a sense of Chalayan turning his intellectual and design capabilities to the creation of a distinctly urban wardrobe. Jeans, a sweatshirt, and a biker jacket: Who would ever have imagined that Hussein Chalayan would go there? Of course, he did it in his own way, twisting or exaggerating the familiar. One of the most striking textural effects conveyed peeling billboards on the bad side of town. The iridescent print that duplicated thermal imaging of electricity was equally effective. But the impression that lingered longest was Chalayan's mastery of shape: His mix of hourglass silhouette and subtle asymmetry flattered the female form with consummate modernity.

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