"
I am a trained technician, an architect, driven by his time, fully engaged in the here and now, deeply in love with our time and eager to express it through my work and what I create",
said
Paco Rabanne
in the program "Panorama" in 1968. His machine-gun flow, his outspokenness, his warm timbre resound, this Wednesday, in one of the rooms of the Museum of Modern Arts of the city of Paris, once carpeted no custom carpeting and brown faux fur.
While only a few weeks ago, the "fashion metallurgist" left us at the age of 88, Julien Dossena, the brand's artistic director, pays him a vibrant tribute.
"I have never met him
, he says at the end of this winter 2023-2024 parade.
He had not been involved with the house since retiring from the podiums twenty-five years ago.
But he let me know several times that he was happy with our work, with what we were doing with his
legacy
.”
The emotion is palpable as five dresses pass, five haute couture coats of mail, unearthed from the archives, which the models wear with little mouse ballerinas.
Some dating from the 1960s and 1970s are so contemporary.
A few passages earlier, Dossena sends on the catwalk
“totemic”
dresses , as he says, printed with paintings by Salvador Dali.
Behind the scenes, he remembers this crazy anecdote between the artist of surrealism, Amanda Lear (present in the front row that day) and the couturier of Spanish origin.
“They were very good friends.
There is this video in which we see the three of them during one of their artistic performances.
They are in the middle of sewing machines and start swinging them, screaming that fashion is over.
I love this madness of the time, of the avant-garde.”
Paco Rabanne.
YANNIS_VLAMOS
The collection plays on eclecticism through
“comfortable, benevolent even”
ensembles in monochrome hairy wool and harem dresses in mesh layered with rhinestone-embroidered tulle.
Crystal tassel knit skirts pair with metal flower bustiers worthy of Princess Leia or more contemporary mohair sweaters.
“I made anti-fashion clothes, very special clothes with particular shapes and colors to observe the reaction of women, to experiment with them,
continues in soundtrack Paco Rabanne
.
And it worked.
You can't imagine how certain shapes, certain colors, can trigger a person's acceptance or rejection.
This is precisely the role of clothing: to charm, to arouse love in people.
Love is the motor of all activity.”
All is said.
GV
Balmain.
Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com
Two hundred guests at the
Balmain
fashion show !
The figure is not insignificant when you know that the label is used to filling stadiums with its shows.
But now, after the festival at the Jean Bouin stadium and its audience of 20,000 people six months ago, Olivier Rousteing wanted to reconnect with the cozy atmosphere of the haute couture salons of his master, Pierre Balmain.
Explanations.
“I want people, connoisseurs to be able to appreciate, well, I hope, the work that we put in with the team, to see the result of the hours we spend creating these garments up close.
And remember that I'm not just an Instagram personality
.
»
It's said: the most followed designer on social networks wants to show another facet of himself, his immoderate love for the house he has "lived in" for twelve years now.
A few minutes before the show, backstage, he delivers a passionate and fascinating fashion history lesson.
That of Pierre Balmain who, in 1945, founded his fashion house in a painful period.
“This man has shown incredible strength and courage
,” continues Rousteing.
This collection is a testimony of my loyalty and my respect for what he called the New French Style, a French style turned towards the world and in particular the United States.
Mr. Balmain has traveled extensively and speaks extremely good English.
Today, I witness a present and a pop culture, but I am also obsessed with his work.
From this 1957 hat, for example, with its modern shapes that Stephen Jones reinterpreted for me.
There is also the bow, the polka dots, this tiny PB monogram that dates from the 1970s, this briefcase, but also his tuxedos, whose lapels or white collar shirts I kept
.
“
Very long collars that recall those of another Rousteing idol: “
Mr. Lagerfeld
".
The German who also learned from Pierre Balmain in 1962.
Balmain.
Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com / Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com / Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com / Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com
On the podium, the tribute is as poignant as it is virtuoso.
It's a reinterpretation of haute couture from the 1950s, but reappropriated by a 30-something with both feet in his time.
The corolla skirts open onto the tulle, the polka dots are represented by pearls (the designer's personal obsession), a petrol blue shimmering jacket succeeds a bustier with sharp lines, ketchup red Capri pants awaken the blacks and navy colors of this locker room very evening.
Even the denim ensemble reactivates a certain idea of French style, like those shopping boxes carried by the models at the end of a cord,
"a nod to the grandeur of the beautiful Parisian arteries of fashion, Saint-Honoré, François-Ier, avenue Montaigne»
.
Crystal caged dresses and camel hair capes define the look.
Sinatra's voice singing
My Way
gives chills.
That of Pierre Balmain telling how Cecil Beaton propelled his name in the world, too.
Outside, we say to ourselves that the hundreds of young people who come to shout the names of the celebrities who are usually at these parades in droves risk being disappointed.
But no, on leaving, we hear them chanting
“Olivier, Olivier”
.
Bravo.HG
