Christophe Decarnin struck this season s come-hither/don t-mess-with-me tone smack on the head. The temptress part of his mixed message came courtesy of the thigh-grazing dresses that have become a house motif since its relaunch a year ago; these are now more fitted through the waist, with the help of eighties-Alaïa cinching girdles. The tough-chic element came via silver armor embroidery at the neckline of a sequined number, metal coils at the shoulder of a short white frock, and a swooping cape of feathers that attached around the neck with a rope of shining crystals. Metal studs on suede platform booties completed the picture.
Decarnin has made this collection a strictly after-dark affair, and his work has a decidedly more louche tone than the ultra-elegant one that was Pierre Balmain s signature. But he did chivalrously show some pants alongside all the minidresses and the strapless goddess styles with slits coursing up the thighs. His low-slung bumsters clung to every inch of the models legs from their backsides on down to the mid-calf, where they flared out in big swooshes of fabric to the soles of their platforms. You couldn t call them practical, but they were certainly bristling with swaggering attitude.
