Alexandre Vauthier Fall/Winter 2015/16
There were high expectations for the Alexandre Vauthier show at Paris fashion week. The French designer, who became an official member of the Haute Couture calendar in December 2014, presented his first collection this Tuesday in front of an eager crowd. The show’s ambitious staging was magnificent, framing an immediately appealing collection for Spring/Summer 2015 that will certainly please a younger clientele, while respecting the codes and traditions of haute couture. Even though many of the looks were stylistically closer to luxury ready-to-wear, the inclusion of embroidery on trousers, the geometric cuts of certain gowns, and the assured manipulation of exotic skins, testified to the designer’s mastery of craft. The massive slits in some of the dresses reminded us that Vauthier had previously worked for Thierry Mugler, but this collection was strong enough on its own to do without pastiche. Particularly impressive were the oversize tuxedo jackets and dresses. Vauthier’s is a very sexy take on couture, with some touches of rock thrown in, but without the all too predictable homage to Californian youth culture to be found elsewhere in contemporary fashion. Silvano Mendes
Alexandre Vauthier – Haute Couture – Spring/Summer 2015