This season designers are looking for the new and ‘the new’ in fashion means the Sixties. What other decade saw such a seismic shift in culture and style, the young taking over the old with ‘the new’ being sought after so badly? If we’re talking the Sixties inevitably, at some point, Andre Courreges will enter the conversation and it seems a lot of designers have been talking the talk this season. Martine Sitbon’s latest Rue du Mail collection last night was the transcript of their chat.
The palette was almost exclusively black and white. From the opening diaphanous-layered black dress with white patent stripes to the white silk georgette shift decorated with applique circles, this was an exploration of the circle and round and round it went. They appeared as cut-outs on a rounded white coat and dress or prints on parachute silk rain jackets. The eclipse-like prints got smudgy and turned into florals before colour was introduced and what a surprise that was; cherry pink, first in the form of a stripe mixed in with the rest, and then dresses. One, the season’s emerging prerequisite sheer layer on top, was as sweet as they come with its applique floral embellishment and felt like a jolt of energy in an accomplished (this is Martine Sitbon after all) but otherwise timid collection. Those parachute raincoats seemed intriguing but perhaps the downpour that preceded the show had more to do with their appeal. It wanted to go places but it didn’t exactly strut there.
