Gilles Mendel, the designer whose fresh take on luxe pelts has made him a favorite of the young and chic, wants to apply his talents to the wide world of ready-to-wear. But what s a furrier to do when the weather turns warm? Without his familiar territory to fall back on, Mendel s developing design skills moved front and center.
He started out strong, with a creamy tweed coat picked apart at the edges and put over a powder-pink chiffon coat. That shredded-edge motif showed up throughout, as a means of breaking up Mendel s rich, polished aesthetic. He understands his customer: The season s trends (face-powder colors, full skirts, fluttery soft fabrics) were all present and accounted for, and delightfully accented with charm bracelets from his sponsor, Piaget.
Mendel has a sense for the unexpected; a plunge-neck coral satin dress over a hand-painted petticoat added a delightful color burst. Mendel even managed to sneak in a bit of fur, in a sable collar on a tiny little jacket, or a goat-fur jacket made with his signature, elaborate piecing. But Mendel undercut his strengths by overloading the embellishment—when one outfit has sequins and pintucks and rose quartz trim, the eye doesn t know where to go first. If he could tone things down just a bit, we d all be the richer for it.
