Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011 Pt 8: Beautiful Simplicity - Roland Mouret, Sharon Wauchob, Giambattista Valli & Cerruti

Roland Mouret

Having bought back rights to his name, Roland Mouret's new versions of the body-hugging silhouette of the Galaxy dress that made him famous came with an asymmetrical one-shoulder neckline or with strappy backs or even with sporty pockets at the hips, which gave the silhouette legs for day.

Along with those ultra-fitted dresses, there were lots of others with a relaxed yet sensuous square-cut drape. Mouret played soft against structured, pairing a parachute silk top with wide-legged denim trousers or layering a denim kimono jacket over a color-blocked silk slipdress. The show had an undercurrent of Japanese motifs that extended to a beautiful mossy green print - definitely a novelty at chez Mouret.

Cerruti

Richard Nicoll has isolated the core of Cerruti as "structured clothes with femininity," and he cut the back out of jackets to make his point, deconstructing and literally opening up the company heritage. I loved the camel ensembles, the sheer and fluid pieces, and draped simple dresses:







Giambattista Valli

With glorious yellow, and a brilliant nude & orange combination, I loved the simple draped nude dresses the best, as well as the intertwined flowy yellow silk draped dress:









Sharon Wauchob

Beautiful and luxurious, splicing the ladylike accoutrements of pearls, pleats, and lace with her signature hard-edged minimalism. Wauchob stuck to a palette of black and white, interrupted only by a bronzey ocher. That allowed you to fully appreciate the textures of various jacquards and laces on breezily deconstructed dresses, which were cut away to expose slices of back and shoulder. But for all the effort that went into it, all that texture and intricate work took a humble step back to let the power of the great piece—whether a drop-waist frock, fantastic fluid trousers, or a beautiful sheer blouse—really stand out.

Of course, there are some displays of technique that can't be ignored. That honor goes to the black pleated silk dresses that at first glance seemed to have a striated white pattern, which turned out to be tiny pearls sewn in between the lines. "They have to pleat it first and then embroider the pearls". (style.com)









style.com