Aside from the phenomenon of Karlie Kloss' walk, there was no grand finale at Paco Rabanne.
An omission by design. After a high-drama debut last season, creative
director Manish Arora wanted the big surprise to be the lack of a big
surprise. He set wearability as his goal and looked for cues in
heyday-era fans like Françoise Hardy and Brigitte Bardot. In fact, some
of the freshest dresses were re-creations of Bardot's iconic stripey
metal shift, a testament to the power of Rabanne's codes. Arora's
versions are lightened up with discs in silicon and even royal blue
ponyskin, a testament to his skill in updating them.
Enjoy Paco Rabanne Fall 2012/13 Fashion Show at the end of this post!
LoL, Andrea
But his role as the new creative blood in a storied French house is
probably one of the hardest of its kind. That's partly because of the
specificity of what Rabanne did. You can easily shoot too far out of the
Rhodoid park or stay stiflingly close to it. Arora seems to have a
sense of balance, and a bottomless bag of new ideas. Some work, like the
discs woven into highly wearable cardigans and pullover knits, and some
don't, like the paneling of fluttery silk over metal disc dresses.
But it seemed like what sometimes weighed down this collection was
Arora's attempt at a streamlined space-age sensibility, particularly in
tailoring. It came across as less youthful than the Rabanne spirit
should be. And a move into seventies disco decadence eventually turned a
bit retro and convoluted.
Though for a good night out, Arora's Le 69 bags, now in gold and
iridescent clutches, seem like just the thing. Sure enough, last season
the bag business far outpaced the ready-to-wear at an enviable slate of
stores. Arora will surely change some of those ratios with this
collection, but the shift remains a work in progress.
The famous brand of the 60s Paco Rabanne, pioneering techniques for
creating returns as a partnership with Comme des Garcons. Together, they
reissued the famous metal chain bag, same design, but new colors and
materials, recreated on calfskin bag base, disks with a dégradé of SWAROVSKI crystals and metal rings fully hand assembled. Paco Rabanne’s iconic Le 69 was the first ‘It’ bag and a symbol of the
swinging 60s, created 1969 to match his metallic mini dresses. A futuristic mixture of
kinetic art and metalwork, it was carried by stars such as Brigitte
Bardot and Françoise Hardy.
le69 paco rabanne available at LuisaViaRoma (€1.100,00 to €7.560,00)
About Manish Arora
With his first collection in New Delhi in 1997, Manish Arora
was annointed the rising star of Indian fashion by the national press. Three years later Manish Arora represented India at Hong Kong
Fashion Week and participated in the first ever India Fashion Week held
in
New Delhi, eventually leading him to the Best Women’s Prêt
Designer Prize at the Indian Fashion Awards 2004.
Making his debut at London Fashion Week in September 2005, his
work was overwhelming received by retailers and press alike. Rave
reviews
from influential fashion journalists such as Suzy Menkes,
Hilary Alexander and Lisat Armstrong were instrumental in contributing
to
Manish Arora’s critical success. His collections are stocked
in 75 major stores worldwide.
Invited by Didier Grumbach, president of the Chambre
Syndicale, Manish Arora showed for the first time during Paris Fashion
Week in October 2007. In 2011, he joined Paco Rabanne in the role of Creative
Director of Women's Wear. His first collection for the house -
Spring/Summer 2012 –
was presented on the official Paris show calendar in October
2011.
