A quote from Marcel Proust—"It is only women who do not know how to dress that are afraid of colors"—preceded a brief statement from Alexis Mabille about "the science of color" and energy as therapy. His show certainly promoted a fearless approach to color blocking. Each outfit was monochrome, from brightest red to palest blue, and each model s face was painted the same shade as the enormous tissue flower mounted on her head.
But the real inspiration for the show was anything but pseudo-science. Mabille was inspired by a photograph of iconic model Lisa Fonssagrives on a beach, her face suffused with pink from the sunlight coming through her umbrella. A more recent picture of Christy Turlington by Patrick Demarchelier also provided a bit of background.
That s the kind of forensic stuff that establishes Mabille s love of fashion. But it also isolates the quality that makes his couture collections so much less than those of the grand masters, who feel the clothes in a much more instinctive way. "This is couture you can really wear," Mabille enthused after the show, but actually it was a boy s dream of Paris fashion, gorgeously complete in its solipsism. There was scarcely an outfit that wouldn t have worked a miracle in a Hollywood film from the thirties or forties or fifties that called for the heroine to wear "fashion." Take a look at the kimono jacket in pink-lined red satin over a red column dress, or the peignoir of palest blue tulle over a full-skirted gown. The painted faces only emphasized the artificiality of the clothes.
