PFW Show Report: Lanvin's gentle genius

‘That was the best show I’ve EVER seen.’ Those were the last words we heard as we exited the Lanvin show. And for many folk in the audience, never a true word was spoken. Lanvin is a generic taste. That’s not a bad thing, but it means that everyone loves Lanvin – regardless of your other style preferences. But tonight, Alber Elbaz pushed it further than his safety net, or our own. He could have stayed with beautiful, but safe silk, draped dresses – as he did at the beginning of the show - and we’d all have been delighted, but instead he hit the Carnival. As the beats culminated, so did the collection. Silk bias-cut dresses made way for heavily beaded and embellished batwing jumpsuits, dresses and jackets, in emerald, Prussian blue and gold sequin. The look was so unusual for Lanvin, we were expecting the models to dance - this was a carnival afterall! They didn’t, but we did, or nodded our heads to the beats at least. It was the perfect climax to day three of Paris Fashion Week, and definitely the hardest act to follow.

- Kay Barron