Frock Wars

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Haute couture is synonymous with indulgence. There are the dresses of course, impossibly expensive and taking hours upon hours of hand labor. There are the clients, pampered, primped and primed for their moment in the fashion spotlight. There is the schedule, with only about four must-see shows a day it’s virtually a vacation for the fashion editors who rank high enough to attend.

But this season there were also the tempers. LVMH threw down the gauntlet by canceling Alexander McQueen’s last haute couture show for Givenchy on the eve of fashion week. The official explanation—production problems caused by the 35-hour workweek—didn’t fool anyone. McQueen had recently sold 51% of his own company to Gucci Group. More likely is the theory that LVMH wasn’t out to promote the defector. Yves Saint Laurent, who also recently sold his ready-to-wear business to Gucci, had some petty fun at his own show, seating the Gucci-appointed president in the third row and advertising his own boutique which sells “distillations” of his timeless couture collections.

Over at Chanel, director of couture Joy Hendriks had her own problems. Recently chastised by her boss for allowing two customers to wear the same dress, seasons-old, to a party in Monaco, Hendriks was facing a packed appointment book. Like most couture directors, Hendriks is expected to keep track of every outfit she sells—not just to whom she sells it, but where and when they intend to wear it for the life of the garment. “At Chanel,” she sighs, “we sell more than two dresses a season. It’s not easy.”

But the selling should be. Karl Lagerfeld’s collection contained none of the key trends seen on the haute couture runways: no corsets, like at Versace, Gaultier and Christian Dior; no cut-outs, as seen at Gaultier and Versace; no buckles a la Valentino and Versace (shockingly, no reference to bondage at all!); but what was there was stunning. The suit Coco Chanel created so many years ago came out looking entirely new, with jackets tucked into skirts and belts slung low on the waist. Jean-Paul Gaultier also did a spectacular job of redoing what he does best. Tuxedoes, a trench coat, jeans, corsets were all back with a new twist—a panel removed here, delicate beading added there.

Elsewhere, designers aimed for something new and didn’t quite succeed. Christian Lacroix reached into his remnant bag and threw out a confounding array of colors, textures and patterns. Emanuel Ungaro reached into his and came out with the parade of the seven veils. The bare-midriff-and-veil-thing may not be for everyone, but hopefully for Ungaro’s bottom line, the perfume he advertised before the show is.