PARIS FASHION WEEK WINTER 2012

IT had been a new start at the house of Gianfranco Ferré last year - its previous creative directors Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi were reportedly asked to leave when the brand got itself a new owner in the Dubai-based Paris group. And so in stepped Stefan Citron and Federico Piaggi to begin afresh - and that is what they did, taking what you thought was a dress with two sleeves and doing something to it that suddenly meant two sleeves became one or even none, but you get the gist.

The issue in the past had been money - and while we all would love to play dressing up in a very expensive dressing up box, there does have to be some pragmatism in place. So how did the duo play that today? With a bit of help from Helmut Newton and his iconic portraits to create a combination of graphic but feminine designs.

“It  was really beautiful and so polished, pared-down,” said Vogue’s Lucinda Chambers after the show, highlighting the strength of the neutral colour palette – grey and oyster, blue and metal – to show off the fresh cuts. “It was effortless but beautifully put together,” she said.

Where last time it had perhaps gone too far in its play with cuts, this time the label struck the right balance of oversized lapels and collars and innovative use of zips and stylised aesthetics. Each look came complete with a pair of gloves that were held in place by zips and metal cuffs to ruche them up the arm – a shape and volume that was echoed elsewhere with sleeves and collars that were layered up to striking effect.

Waists were magnified by belted coats and the continuation of volume throughout the collection – a high collar on a poncho-cape veering off and down the side and unravelling into the rest of the garment.

Zipped-up panel minidresses had something sci-fi about them and came in silver and gold, while simpler-looking – but won’t have been to craft – evening, essentially, cocktail dresses boasted durable zips down their sides.

The show notes told us that Piaggi and Citron “follow their vision of the garment as a structure in movement, forging an androgyny that, freed from all rigidity, is totally sensual”. Their mission seemed to be accomplished.