Nina Ricci Show Mixes Rave and Black-Tie

Images (showing 1 of 10 photos)

PARIS — Olivier Theysken sought to conjure images of young women walking home at dawn from a night of partying at Nina Ricci on Sunday, sending models down a sunlight-speckled catwalk with slim leather bomber jackets and strapless evening gowns.

Fashion designers wrapped up the spring-summer ready-to-wear collections under a clear blue sky in Paris. At Nina Ricci, models in drop-waisted silk dresses in crinkled light pink or gray silk emerged from a curved set that opened out onto the Tuileries Garden.

"Backstage, we were all in nature, which was very good with the theme," said Theyskens, the label's young new Belgian designer. "It's about leaves and colors, this very mixed look. I also liked all these slightly post-hippie, Woodstock-type images."

Their hair slicked down with pigment and dotted with feathers, models showed off masculine jackets that split open in the back like flower petals.

The bomber jackets and drop-crotch pants were followed by strapless evening gowns made from pleated fabric in gleaming silver or white. Theyskens said he was going for images of women returning from a rave or black-tie ball in the early morning hours.

"I wanted to end on a purely Ricci note," said Theyskens, noting the house was celebrating its 75th anniversary in fashion this year.

At 30 years old, Theyskens has made remarkably light work of rejuvenating the Ricci brand since his appointment last year. The label is thriving at retail, handbags are in the works and its flagship store on Avenue Montaigne is about to undergo a renovation.

"He's doing really a great job, down to designing the furniture in the shops and shooting our first ad campaign with Annie Leibovitz," said Mario Grauso, president of the fashion division of Puig Group, which owns the label.

The show came on the heels of a diverse week that highlighted a multitude of competing trends.

While some designers fell for bright prints and fit-and-flare dresses with full skirts, others drew from the masculine wardrobe with no-frills tailoring in somber shades.

"I thought that it was up and down, like the stock market," said Roberta Myers, editor-in-chief of the U.S. edition of ELLE.

She praised Stefano Pilati's collection for Yves Saint Laurent, saying it dovetailed with a minimalist trend also seen at Prada and Jil Sander in Milan and Calvin Klein in New York.

Hal Rubenstein, fashion director of InStyle magazine, said his favorites included the floral prints at Dries Van Noten, John Galliano's retro-style chiffon dresses and the sharp suits from Alexander McQueen.

"Spring was all over the place, which I think makes it hard for people to write about or to criticize or encapsulate in a magazine, but I think it makes it great for the consumer," Rubenstein said.

Back To Top

Nina Ricci Show Mixes Rave and Black-Tie

Associated Press

Sun Oct 7

0