July 3rd - July 10th - Paris

Christian Dior

There were some beautiful clothes in Christian Dior's haute couture show in Paris, plenty of witty, commercial ideas from couturier John Galliano. In recent collections Galliano has borrowed from bag ladies to trailer trash gals for inspiration, and those ideas have been picked up and copied elsewhere. But as fashion moments go, it was all a bit of a confusing maelstrom.

Practically every outfit in the over-the-top collection had some beautiful element,

a superbly cut sequined tunic with ravishing embroidery,
a devilishly cut brown leather jacket worn with embossed green silk trousers
fantastic, padded puff coats on which embroidery and logos fought for supremacy
layering ensembles.
a transparent lace dress worn over pinstripe knickerbockers with a Eisenhower woolen jacket, topped by Moorish silk scarf wrapped around the model's head.
bright hand-painted, multi-pleat silk chiffon dresses
eight padded coats in an amazing kaleidoscope of Asian prints worn with everything from an asymmetric kimono or embroidered fur pants to patchwork pants and tie-dye jackets.
Sari's worn with pin-striped wool jackets
Sheepskin trench coats hung over embroidered denim flares
Harem pants floated underneath heavy brown skirts
the CD logo with a smile underneath, which is sure to be a hit when
it appear on tops and accessories,
a wonderful bondage style top, with four straps meeting in the back in a leather CD.
J'adore Dior T-shirts, sticking this on immense, padded frock coats.
Huge puffa coats stitched together from strips of plastic, snakeskin, gingham and kimono silks.

Versace

Though this is the autumn-winter haute couture season, the slick collection Donatella Versace showed in Paris Saturday exuded warmth, sun and flowers, blended with plenty of her signature sexiness. This season, Donatella largely stayed faithful to her recent silhouette of curvy hips and power shoulders, but broke new ground with inventively cut suits.

Punk princess in vinyl bustier dresses and showgirls in diamante-studded gowns
Delicate floral motifs with animal patterns
Daytime outfits borrowed from the 1980's, with full knee-length skirts paired with cropped pants and towering heels
A jacket with a cinched, ruched waist and broad shoulders worn over palazzo pants
A white mink mini coat-dress worn with knee length boots in sparkling pink leopard motif
An amazing mini dress of patent leather petals,
Hair stylist Orlando Pita gave the supes weird Bride of Frankenstein crimped standup wigs that added real pizzazz.

Givenchy

Sunday saw the debut of Givenchy's new designer Julien Macdonald, whose unexpected recent appointment had stunned the fashion world. But, after a collection of 41 largely black outfits from Macdonald, the mystery of his selection as new heir to the legendary Hubert de Givenchy, has only deepened. While technically accomplished and not without some fine points, Macdonald's Givenchy broke no real

new fashion ground. Nor did it show the sexiness expected from the man known as the Welsh Versace. Staged in a grandiose private apartment on Avenue Foch before a select audience of about 400, the show opened with the theme music from Jean Luc Godard's classic "Contempt" followed by a sudden sampling of hip hop. The soundtrack served to underline Macdonald's stated goal of "putting some

youth back into elegance," as he told Paris daily Le Figaro.

eighties silhouettes mixed with 19th century trains,
bows and mini bustles.
legendary Bettina blouse with ballooned sleeves
a flurry of faille and organza dresses
a sleek black python skin trench coat with silver fox fur sleeves
great sheer tops with beads and jade,

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Paris July 9, 2001- It's a mark of how much couture has changed, when the enfant terrible of French fashion Jean Paul Gaultier now looks very much a pillar of the French establishment. Judged by the setting, clientele and fashion ideas, the brilliant collection Gaultier showed Sunday underlined that the one-time bad boy of the Paris catwalks is now the guardian of couture classicism.

Jean Paul staged his fall/winter 2001 collection in the beautiful 16th arrondissement mansion where the art patron Marie Laure de Noailles held her famed soirees for Picasso and Cocteau. Fortunately, Gaultier remains a great iconoclast. He looked east this season in a collection inspired by The Lady from Shanghai and The Countess from Hong Kong, but in a suitably fresh manner. All told, a pretty breathtaking performance by Gaultier, composed of clothes plenty of women would just die to wear.

a three-piece suit, jacket, kilt and pants with wonderful transparent panels;
a brilliant black chiffon vest that morphed into a jacket.
a sleeveless dress composed of silk mousseline and tiny strands of mink
a remarkable reversible giant trench coat - gingery rubberized cotton on one side, chrysanthemum flower embroidery on the other.

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