Jul 30, 2013

Givenchy pre-fall 2013


Did we mention that we also visited Givenchy's showroom during our previous Parisian trip? But unfortunately the PR girl was quite strict about me photographing the men's collection, making sure that I was hush-hush about next season's pieces. I waited anxiously until she revealed the women's ready to wear collection for pre-fall. Finally I managed to muster the much needed confidence (well, after seeing people around me taking pictures with their smart phones, that is) and started snapping the photos of that beautiful collection. Turned out that photography was actually allowed, but I was firmly warned not to release the images prematurely. Now that summer is coming to an end, I think it is appropriate to publish the images. Plus other major websites have the images up and running, so I hope I did not commit any copyright infringement of some sort...


 I still cannot fathom how designers like Ricardo Tisci can churn out multiple collections a year and still get raving reviews (this includes the recent men's SS14 with it tribal print glory). Autumn/winter + spring/summer collections for both menswear and womenswear, women's haute couture, pre-fall and resort... I'm dizzy just by typing all this already.

For pre-fall Tisci has turned to the work of the Italian designer Walter Albini, and his countryman, the architect Gio Ponti for the inspiration behind this collection. It is all about sharp angles, a contrast to Spring's hyper-feminine collection. Even the color palette - white, black, brown, and tan - feel a bit butch. Flat men's shoes accessorized all the looks, further stamping a masculine feel, besides prominently featured geometric patch-working and color-blocking throughout the collection.

The designs of Gio Ponti

The works of Walter Albini

What I like the most is Tisci's way of creating his collections with a gusto. He still lingers around the Christianity theme and this time around he plays with the iconography card like Madonna (surely a hit among his cult followers, and inevitably will spawn countless fakes as well). The showroom in fact has a special rack where all the "commercial" pieces are, with star stud shirts and the Madonna-emblazoned piece play an important role further strengthening Tisci's Givenchy in contemporary luxury market.

But there is some serious, well-thought design process going on in the collection. Touches of lace lent a welcome softness. Button-downs were elaborately constructed with mosaic-like arrangement of lace, leather and cotton combo. To me it is the most interesting piece from the whole collection (feels like a beautiful schizophrenic fabric!). Tisci hasn't completely finished with ruffles, just like previous seasons either, and that's good. They added some sensuality to a collection, and again, softness to an otherwise mannish collection.

The accessories arena is filled with potential commercial hits as well - slim rectangular clutches with wooden-effect panels are among the ones that attracted my gaze, as well as Givenchy's already popular polygonal bags with tactile-worthy textures, that will surely sell well with the burgeoning middle class of Asia.



Words and showroom images by Hafidzudin Zainal
Furniture images via talk.arkpad.com.br
Walter Albini works via thefashionspot.com and www.imore.it
Lookbook images via style.com

2 comments:

thompsonboy said...

He found a formula and sticks to it. What I cannot stand are his fans - everyone trying to look different end up looking the same with the same Obsedia lanyard, same man-skirt and stud and stars. Someone commented that it was more a display of wealth than style which I thought was quite true. Thankfully I sold off all these generic items.

Emma Homestay Bandar Tasik Puteri said...

There is some truth to your comment and I can't agree more. I feel that Givenchy's image is tainted by the big shot celebrities who overexpose the 'hot' runway items. Tisci seems to condone this though. Just check his Instagram :) Although I must say it's a tried and true formula to get widespread publicity.


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