Mabille will always be a designer’s designer, but thanks to a run that he continues to sustain, he can take or leave current illusions of easy breezy glamour, this season he’s taken it, and by Jove, I think he’s got it. One of the earlier presentations on the PFW schedule this season, Wednesday’s hanging gardens spectacular, aptly named Coup de Vent, actually translated by the designer himself as “breezy”, was a very personal, utterly divine incarnation of brazen, high-scale fashion in 2014.
Whether it really hit the spot is beside the point, ultimately, Mabille’s effort to transfuse AW14 with puritanical casuals shows a strength of character. Silken satin ensembles interjected by slouchy sweatshirts, jewelled ornamentally with Swarovski crystals, no less, do prove a point, Mabille is willing to have some fun with current trends, and heaven knows they will wet some appetites. Pairing such sporty affectations with opulent foxy scarfs, voluminous taffeta skirts create a distinctive imbalance, and equipping models with a bevy of sharp, wide-brimmed fedoras amp up the eclecticism of the season.
Moving on from the flouncy whims, we are supplied with some trademark wiles, just in the nick of time, with simply stunning draped cuts, oozing grandiosity, with billowing sleeves, wafting down the regal violet catwalk in covetable jewel tones. In addition, some bouts with bows work a charm as well, positioned on the body in some instances, just like the wraparound sweaters, in order to carve a marvellous hourglass silhouette. Boudoir-ish lace, filtered throughout the collection, finalised with a few wafting, sweet-nothings nearer the end, evidence pristine workmanship, though its ethereal whimsy gets slightly lost in the all-embracing AW14 agenda.
Here’s to Mabille, and the hope that he will make some progress with the elements that he explored this season in the future, and neglect some of the others quite mercilessly, because whatever he may be tapping into, it’s certainly in its embryonic stages.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com