Changes hit Paris on day of designer debuts

PARIS (AP) ― The winds of change blew through Paris on Sunday, day six of the spring-summer 2012 ready-to-wear collections here, as newly appointed young designers replaced the old guard at several top brands and a just-launched label challenged the way the luxury business operates.

The brainchild of a South African lawyer was once the executive secretary of his country’s post-apartheid truth and reconciliation commission, Maiyet draws on the skills of artisans in five developing countries to create chic urban gear with a twist.

New designers at Kenzo and Issey Miyake remade both houses in their much younger image, while John Galliano’s replacement at the disgraced British designer’s signature label served up what could only be described as Galliano Lite, with less fancy and fewer excesses.

Across town at Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci made his case for why he should replace Galliano at the jewel in the crown of Paris labels, Christian Dior. The brilliant Italian designer fielded a stellar collection of suits in soft sandy colors and powder pink, embellished with fancy peplums, panels and tails.

Celine and Hermes continued to appeal to rich people with as much taste as money, with sober, understated collections whose very simplicity belied their sure-to-be astronomical price tags.

Monday is another big day in Paris fashion week, with shows by Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Giambattista Valli, Chloe ― where a new designer is making her debut ― and Emanuel Ungaro, whose designer deserted just weeks before the show.

John Galliano

The first John Galliano ready-to-wear collection under the label’s new creative director had all the trappings of a classic Galliano display, but none of the outrageous excess that was the heart and soul of the brand.

Galliano was ousted from his signature label ― and from Dior, where he’d spent 15 years as designer ― in the wake of a March scandal over anti-Semitic and racist ravings during a series of drunken spats. His longtime right-hand-man, fellow Briton Bill Gaytten, was named to succeed him as creative director of the house of Galliano and is also filling in at Dior pending the appointment of a new designer there.

For his first ready-to-wear collection at the helm of Galliano, Gaytten sent out the sort of flippy skirt suits and feather-light bias cut silk dresses and gowns that have long been the house’s staples.

But the styling at the spring-summer show was toned-down: Flat-topped straw hats were a poor substitute for the kinds of outsized headdresses Galliano models used to sport. And instead of the traditional thick layer of graphic war paint, the models wore only the lightest touches of tasteful neutral makeup.

While it would be difficult to fault Gaytten for Sunday’s more-than-respectable showing, it was hard to get too excited about it either.

Givenchy

After Galliano got sacked, the fashion world was abuzz with rumors about who might replace him at Dior. One of the names that surfaced with most insistence was Givenchy’s Tisci, whose dark, dangerous aesthetic had won him considerable critical praise and a devoted fan base.

Watching Tisci’s tour-de-force spring-summer collection, you were reminded of the enormity of his gift and all the reasons why he’d be a leading contender for the coveted Dior post.

A (figuratively) heavyweight cast of top models, including Gisele Bundchen ― who rarely graces runways with her presence ― streaked down the catwalk in elaborate pant- and skirt-suits elevated from business staples into the realm of the extraordinary by tails, flouncy peplums and sculptural panels that cascaded down from the neckline.

There was a suit for every taste and body shape, with long jackets or shrunken jackets, second-skin pants, high-rise shorts or multilayered skirts with see-through paneling in tan, powder pink, khaki with leopard print detailing or in shimmering silver and gold sequins.

Skirt-suits are Dior’s bread and butter, and though the technical virtuosity on display Sunday at Givenchy far outstripped what’s required to make one of Dior’s staple nip-waisted Bar jackets, the collection somehow felt like a kind of billboard for Tisci’s skills.

While his S&M-infused aesthetic doesn’t at first glance seem like an obvious fit with Dior’s “jolie madame” style, Tisci’s talent is so prodigious you can’t help but feeling like he could do anything and everything.

Celine

Phoebe Philo, the woman who transformed Celine from a musty, dusty old Paris house into a fashion powerhouse, stuck to the chic minimalist pieces that have reversed the label’s fortunes.

Shorn of fussy fixtures, Philo’s sober minimalism seems so in tune with contemporary working women’s needs and desires that over the past two years of her tenure at Celine, it has almost come to define the fashion zeitgeist.

With Sunday’s collection, she served up the label’s now-signature staples ― square-shaped leather T-shirts and dresses derived from men’s white button-down shirts, as well as variations that pushed the look forward.

The peplums, stiff lamp-shade-shaped panels that attached to the leather shirts and jackets above the midriff, added a pared-down but regal touch.

Issey Miyake

A new era kicked off Sunday at Miyake ― and it was wearing novelty tights.

Once at the vanguard of cutting-edge Japanese fashion, the brand has struggled in recent years to remain relevant, and in a bid to rejuvenate, a 35-year-old was promoted from within to replace the longtime designer.

For his debut collection, Yoshiyuki Miyamae shed the bulky silhouettes that had long been the Miyake signature, sending out a light, airy collection of funky neon leggings and tights.

Covered in sharp opaque triangles and with transparent panels and lozenge-shaped cutouts that left the front and backs of the models’ calves exposed, the legwear felt like what Super Woman would have worn to Jazzercise class in 1984.

It remains to be seen how consumers will react to the Miyamae’s revamped Miyake, but if the audience’s warm applause was any indication, the commercial response is likely to be positive.