PARIS S/S 2010: JEAN-CHARLES DE CASTELBAJAC, ALENA AKHMADULLINA, JUNKO SHIMADA & VANESSA BRUNO

JEAN-CHARLES DE CASTELBAJAC

It was all Parrots and Pirates at Jean-Charles de Catelbajac’s wild S/S 2010 show. Flirty dresses, skirt ensembles, and oversized t-shirts bounced down the catwalk with flair. Opening with a Donald Duck printed t-shirt, the red and white striped shirt gave a nurse-like feel that was continued throughout many of the looks. The show quickly jumped to a pirate and parrot theme with chain embellishments, parrot prints, bright reds, leaf accents and eye patches. Overall many of the looks were reminiscent of the castaway characters from the 70’s TV show Gilligan’s Island.  The extremely enthusiastic live music complete with tribal dancers and pounding drums added an electric energy to the show.  As always when leaving one of Castelbajac’s shows you left feeling as upbeat as the performance.

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ALENA AKHMADULLINA

Inspired by Mother Russia as always, Alena Akhmadullina looked to Russian fairytales and traditional dance this season. Ruffled tops with A-line skirts, suit jackets paired with peasant frocks, python bolero capes, mini skirts that double as strapless tops and jumpsuits that mimicked pantsuits were all fused into this romantic line. Flowing lines, frilly voile dresses, and stylized animal imagery gave a very impressionistic interpretation of classic fairytale characters. The sparkling gold sequin dress with the flowing white cape was on of the ready-to-wear highlights.

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JUNKO SHIMADA

Sexy dominatrix of the desert inspired looks ruled the runway at the “Angels and Dust” Junko Shimada Spring 2010 show. Starting off with organic and geometric shapes, marcrame ponchos, tribal sand colored beaded suede dusters, riding jackets and abstract pints on oversized knits. Shimada kicked it up a knotch with glam rock elegance, black patent leather bustiers and form fitted dresses, technicolored printed silks were accessorized with gold coil and plexi cube necklaces.

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VANESSA BRUNO

From the lace imprint on the invites we were given a sneak peak to the summary of this collection. Delicate lace tops with padded shoulders, cotton voile dresses trimmed in lace, vintage lingerie styled tops and shorts were worn as outerwear were then teamed up with more modern tailored jackets, cut in the brightest shades of vermillon and fuschia. There were hints of metallics also mixed in with the earthy tones and the palette remained interesting. Vanessa Bruno showed a collection that was commercially viable, yet original and excitingly wearable.

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Reporting by Indira Cesarine and Wil Ariyamethe ; photography by Earnest Aregail Salgot and David Chen exclusively for XXXX MAGAZINE, 2009