Some designers chase after cool; others are content to let the ladies come to them. And come they do to the Paris house of Andrew Gn. Inspired, he said, by the complete volumes of Buffon s Histoire Naturelle, he looked to flora and fauna to provide the luxe decorative motifs for his lunch suits, short cocktail numbers, and hostess gowns. White patent-leather butterfly appliqués appeared on a black linen dress with kimono sleeves, and embroidered black roses decorated a white linen coat with a Watteau back. The lilacs on an A-line coat-dress were so densely embroidered, they were a better-than-fair representation of the real three-dimensional thing. Such couture-grade handwork obviously doesn t come cheap, but then, his clients have deep pockets—and no inclination to hide the fact.
But it wasn t all embellishment all the time. Gn showed a new restraint in colorful silk dresses with little to distract from the flirtatious cut except frills of pleats around the armholes or lining the deep V-necks. Even more elegantly streamlined were the flowing one-shouldered silk dresses (one to the knee, the other floor length, both with floating back panels) that each came with a single black bow at the clavicle. The finale gown, white silk with long puffy sleeves and a black rose corsage at the cleavage, would make a lovely wedding dress. Looks like a new generation might come knocking.
