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January 28th, 2010
Givenchy Haute Couture SS10
Riccardo Tisci showcased the most spectacular and luxurious of Givenchy’s yearly offerings last night, with the Haute Couture Spring Summer 2010 show at the Salon Impérial of The Westin hotel in Paris’s 1st district. With a hushed crowd of press, guests, customers and family and friends of Riccardo, the production was a contemporary vision of the rich history of couture at the house of Givenchy, and a glimpse into the highest echelons of the international fashion market.
In a true whirlwind of vibrant colour and opulent textures, Riccardo sent out twenty three looks in a slow and steady procession, a single walk for each girl through the two chambers and a final group walk to thunderous applause. The collection took cues from the decadence of 1970s disco culture, while maintaining many of the baroque references that have become signature to his aesthetic. Luigi Murenu gave the girls straight and middle parted hair, and Pat McGrath created an intensely hued eyelid of navy glitter shadow with a vermillion lip.
A tightly sculpted trouser suit opened the show paired with frothy ostrich and vulture feathers beneath, and was followed by a procession of sheer layered looks in duchess satin, hand pleated organza, stiff silk gazar or soft lace. Progressing through an elegant palette of nude, black and navy, these first looks rung true to Riccardo’s pedigree – albeit breaking new ground for the lavish embellishment in jet, crystal, and feathers. It was however the final seven looks that stole the show.
As soon as Hanne Gaby Odiele strode out with hands in pockets of a flared jumpsuit entirely covered in blue and black geometric sequins, the following minutes flew past in a kaleidoscope of sapphire, emerald and amethyst shades. Closing the show in a degradé fuschia gown with beige crystal bustier was supermodel Natalia Vodianova, in absence of Riccardo’s muse and close friend Mariacarla Boscono [performing in Rome].
Although a pointed departure from the gothic, bedouin inspired collection of last season, Riccardo has maintained the key codes, techniques and metaphors of his aesthetic – reinterpreted with his emotions of the season, optimism for the times, and a mastery of colour, light, shade and grandeur.