From IHTefiant Galliano Conjures Exotic Fantasy
By Suzy Menkes (International Herald Tribune)
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
PARIS: In a dramatic and defiant gesture, as bold as the half-naked samurais banging the drums to start the Dior show Monday, John Galliano took on his critics and even challenged the fashion territory sacred to Yves Saint Laurent: the fantastic, exotic world of Leon Bakst and the Ballets Russes.
As a show it was an extraordinary spectacle, rich in color, festive in spirit and a workout nonpareil for the Dior ateliers. Forget the dancer in black leather and fishnet snaking her body into a knot. Far more exceptional was the stretch that seamstresses gave to their talents in appliquéing golden sunflowers on swooshing, huge-sleeved coats or make patchworks of leather into a ballooning jacket.
From the tops of their fluorescent-colored Cossack hats to the soles of their soft suede yeti boots, this was a Galliano tour de force.
But for clothes to suit the spring-summer 2002 season, this heroic clash of ethnic cultures and haute couture on the roof of the world was strictly for Slavs to fashion.
Such a fabulous show, in the literal sense of the word, raises once again the meaning and purpose of couture. Galliano's imagination is amazing. A human dragon dance filled the shiny runway, followed by costumes more elaborate than anything in the Russian state circus, as ballerinas in vivid tutus twirled ribbons on the runway and Dior's fashion army walked out waving multicolored flags.
Even the showbiz line-up, including Gwen Stefani of the group No Doubt in a cute leather Dior hat, plus Gwynneth Paltrow and Ridley Scott, looked blown away, rather than blasé. The audience in the giant tent at the Auteuil racecourse rose to its feet, as Galliano walked the runway with gleaming bare torso and embroidered pants - dressed for the trapeze in something he might have picked up on his recent inspirational trip to the Russian steppes.
Folkloric fashion is nothing new for designer labels - even if it has never been so superbly done. In the 1970s, the hippie trail led Kenzo to explore similar territory and Saint Laurent famously invented the hautest of hippies.
But how different the world was then! The innocent pleasure in discovering far-flung places preceded virtual reality and the all-too-present horrors of ethnic and tribal warfare brought to television screens. Those designers also predicated their inventions on creating a wardrobe of clothes. Of course, Dior executives will claim that clients can excavate the layers of costume to find a cherub-printed chiffon dress, a slender knitted tunic or a coat with folkloric embroidery from a Mongolian treasure trove. The elongated sleeves on a toy-town denim soldier jacket will also be shortened. And the burst of joyous color should inspire a shaken post-Sept. 11 world.
This exoticism to the extreme, although glorious to watch, makes couture a homage to art and craft - but not to the women couture is supposed to serve.
Perhaps the only client likely to order an outfit as shown is Mouna Ayoub, dressed in Afghan embroidered vest, leather Stetson and matching pants and two vast jonquil and pale pink diamond rings.
