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By Alexander Patino
POSTED March 4, 2011
Balmain Ditches the Military Trend &
Looks Fresh Again For Fall 2011
Looks Fresh Again For Fall 2011
First, there was the mighty fall from grace of one of fashion's giants, John Galliano, just days before Paris Fashion Week was set to kick-off - and now, in the very belly of it all - Christophe
Decarnin was a no-show at his own Fall 2011 Balmain runway show. Speculations abound, the most resounding being that the said designer was currently residing in a mental institution
following a terrible bout with depression. Paris - not so Gay this week, it seems.
Absent creative director or not, there was an obvious change in the (what was starting to look like unwavering) fabric of the house. The signature mini-dresses actually had sway. Not that
the very structure has been completely inverted. The minis still have that body-clad adherence, but just a minute degree of sashay that, ironically enough, makes this house staple a little bit
sexier still. And that Rock & Roll sex appeal was still first fiddle, in the sharp blazers, the suits, the manically embellished tops and minis, particularly in those asymmetrically cut tops on
Carmen Kass and Britt Maren, which exposed an explicit triangle of bare stomach. And we can't help but breathe a breath of relief in that, for at least one season, the house gave that tired
military trend the break it needed.
The minis in particular had a fun evolution. Not skin-tight? That's fine - then it loses an entire sleeve. It's a dress playing tit-for-tat with itself. But the best thing to happen at Balmain was one
singular gilded stunner as seen on the Brazilian beauty, Aline Weber: A silver jump-suited skirt over an open-collared sleeveless white tuxedo shirt. Two simple separates that, together,
were as gob-smackingly sexy as they were beautiful.
Decarnin was a no-show at his own Fall 2011 Balmain runway show. Speculations abound, the most resounding being that the said designer was currently residing in a mental institution
following a terrible bout with depression. Paris - not so Gay this week, it seems.
Absent creative director or not, there was an obvious change in the (what was starting to look like unwavering) fabric of the house. The signature mini-dresses actually had sway. Not that
the very structure has been completely inverted. The minis still have that body-clad adherence, but just a minute degree of sashay that, ironically enough, makes this house staple a little bit
sexier still. And that Rock & Roll sex appeal was still first fiddle, in the sharp blazers, the suits, the manically embellished tops and minis, particularly in those asymmetrically cut tops on
Carmen Kass and Britt Maren, which exposed an explicit triangle of bare stomach. And we can't help but breathe a breath of relief in that, for at least one season, the house gave that tired
military trend the break it needed.
The minis in particular had a fun evolution. Not skin-tight? That's fine - then it loses an entire sleeve. It's a dress playing tit-for-tat with itself. But the best thing to happen at Balmain was one
singular gilded stunner as seen on the Brazilian beauty, Aline Weber: A silver jump-suited skirt over an open-collared sleeveless white tuxedo shirt. Two simple separates that, together,
were as gob-smackingly sexy as they were beautiful.
