Show Report
The one unexpected trend Mouret tapped into was that of live streaming: his show was recorded by no less than 28 cameras.
It is interesting to see how Roland Mouret is developing his RM line - a focus on sales over sensation and wearability over arch catwalk theatrics has always been his way, and refreshing it remains. Jumping back onto the seasonal carousel, he is evidently using his shows as a way of refining and consolidating the ideas he proposes each season, introducing new concepts slowly each time to add to his customers no-doubt bulging RM wardrobes. Last season the big idea was his top-tunic-dress, and for S/S 2010 once again he went multi-functional with the 'carré', a piece of fabric that simply tied around the body to become either top or panier skirt. Yes, panier, as in hip-jutting, Louis Quatorze, 'Qu'ils mangent de la brioche' historicism. Wipe all those thoughts from your mind - Mouret's panier is an unstructured little fillip of a thing, gathered slightly on the hip in double-georgette, crepe or jacquard. It looked great knotted over an oversized man's shirt or hitched up into a drapey little top over grey trousers. As with last season, this show had simple, easy breeziness reminiscent of the start of Mouret's career, but with a new currency. If it all sounds a long way away from the suctioned curves of his former cleaved tailoring, that was precisely the point. However, this show did go some way to ally these contradictory aspects of his aesthetic - namely when the phrase 'underpinnings' popped up in his notes, for the first time since about 1954. What this equated to was nude powermesh crafted into girdle-like tops and dresses to wear under those floaty pieces, kind of like full-length Spanx. Sometimes they worked - there was an unexpected sexual charge in the game of peekaboo when a nude top and easy dove-blue silk-georgette dungarees were juxtaposed, for example. Other times, they didn't - noticeably the finale where that heavily engineered underwear appeared as (yawn) outerwear, with scraps of black fabric tossed over the top. By and large, this show can be judged a success. Mouret's collection touched on a number of trends - easy softness, delicate neutrals, a hint of Africa in raffia accessories and great hairy-backed coats - but it never felt as if it was by rote. The one unexpected trend Mouret tapped into was that of live streaming: his show was recorded by no less than 28 cameras. In typically pragmatic Mouret fashion, however, this wasn't about relaying a spectacle - instead, they were positioned to allow an unlimited, multi-angle view of every potential purchase to his ever-adoring, and ever-buying, public.
