PARIS: According to the industry press, his job may be in danger, but Dior
Homme designer Hedi Slimane did not let it show as he helped Paris men's fashion
week end on a high note.
To the strains of thrashing guitars and under the watchful eye of
customers like Elton John, Slimane paraded a mix of new age mods and rockers in
trademark tight black trousers and leather jackets and sharp cut suits with thin
black ties.
But if you thought you were looking at bad boys, the faces of the youthful,
almost androgynous models told a different story.
Details like bracelets, silver coloured sandals and stunning short jackets,
finished with embroidered exploding crystals or large silk bows, added a
flamboyant fragrance to the mix.
Whether it was enough to secure a new, reported 2 million euro ($NZ4.25
million) a year salary remains to be seen.
Bernard Arnault, chairman of Christian Dior and its bigger subsidiary LVMH,
was not giving anything away as he sped backstage after the show to
congratulate, maybe, his designer.
Across town earlier it was Givenchy - another LVMH brand - and its designer
Ozwald Boateng who set out an anything goes vision for spring/summer 2007.
As the music switched from Louis Armstrong's Wonderful World to heavy club
beats and back again, the look went from silver trousers, jackets and shoes to
neatly cut suits and models in lycra-style swimming trunks with waistcoats.
Or if you really want to make a splash at the office, how about trying a
polka dot silk dressing gown over your trousers?
Avoiding the catwalks, which he said he gave up years ago, but showing his
latest ideas for both men and women nonetheless was the legendary Pierre Cardin,
who turns 84 this week.
Showing short-cut jackets for men in reds and yellows cut open at the back to
allow cool air to circulate, he promised next year to also produce clothes that
could get warm at the touch of a button.
"I continue to work and design every day, it's my pleasure," he told
reporters.
Didier Grumbach, head of the French fashion federation, said he was surprised
at the heavy press coverage of the five days of men's shows.
"It's very interesting. It shows it's selling newspapers and there's a change
in the way that men look at fashion," he said.
