Daily Front Row

2012 March 5

Paris Fall 2012: Kenzo, Alexis Mabille, Costume National

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Kenzo Fall 2012
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(PARIS) Kenzo
Humberto Leon and Carol Lim's sophomore effort at Kenzo yesterday proved to be a quirky, imminently wearable, unabashed smash. Scads of spirited skirt suits kicked things off in nubby iterations of moss green, cigar, and charcoal. Texture was just as lush in the shrunken sweaters sporting kitschy logos;  ditto for a grape-strewn cream print. Topping the most memorable (and covetable) list: billowing high-waisted pants in pea green, noir and navy, shimmery haltered frocks in russet or colorblocked cool tones, and lots of stellar outerwear. Also of note? Tiered metallic peplums and a fresh fascination with the jumpsuit. Mod's pieds sported equally as covetable creations: laceless B&W brogues, as well as platform booties in slick patent or said earth tones, sometimes tucked under monochrome trou to exceptionally elongating effect. The presentation was perhaps as exciting as the togs: Looks were trotted out on three floors of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, with an escalator jaunt punctuating each successive strut. Dynamic on all fronts! 

Alexis Mabille 
Mabille's latest slew of dark, plush collection brimmed with velvet and fur, pulled together with a bounty of bows (from cinched obi-style belting on coats and skirts to the perilously-positioned topknotted coifs). Pretty but decidedly unfussy blouses, many coated in moody geometric splays of hexagons and rhombuses, topped pencils or flouncy, flared skirt with gradated horizontal stripes and wrap detailing. Smoking jackets made a well-executed appearance, looking rich while mingling with dark velvets (avec peekaboo necklines, body-con frock silhouettes, and wide-legged pants), touches of tulle, and a healthy showering of feathers. A hint of lipstick red earlier on manifested in a finale series of red dresses, sealed with bisoux of generously-strewn bows. 

Costume National  
Off-kilter in its silhouettes, grounded in an almost-all-black palette, and charged with a sense of mystery: welcome to Ennio Capasa's Fall line-up for Costume National. Capasa bid adieu to shades of blush, opting for the dark side instead. Barely anything escaped a dose of asymmetry. Often, the experimentation with uneven lines was rather dramatic, taking shape as a huge tuft of shaggy fur free-floating on the bodice of a frock; a big, shiny square of chicified fanny pack; or a topper seemingly melded from a leather jacket and a blazer. A few white blouses, a series of cobalt separates, some slick skinnies in midnight blue, and slivers of midriff broke up the darkness ever so slightly. Even at its subtler moments, as was the case with frequent swoops of leather piping, the uneven lines lent a liveliness and a crisp yet creative take on dressing.