Alessandra Rich held her show today in a lush, only-in-Paris apartment whose beauty more than compensated for its fifth-floor elevation. You could easily imagine this season’s ’80s-flavored crepuscular customer heading out into the night from this address.
Sometimes more than a mite Saint Laurent or Chanel in its inspiration—and in the case of a riotously sequined black ruffled bodysuit, un peu I, Tonya—this collection meandered high and low. A series of bouclé bombers and jacket dresses, sometimes studded in rhinestone, came interspersed with micro-leopard-print loose three-pleat pants, while track jackets and track pants teamed with mohair knits in micro-leopard. There was a very fine full-sleeved blouse in irregular horizontal lines strafed with horizontal gold lines over more mini-animalia pants (a fabric later returned to in a dress). A monochrome wrap dress in velvet—très bon—came in the pattern, too. At first, it roared, but after all these repetitions, it began to bore.
Rich switched tracks—a bit—presenting a button-at-the-back bouclé minidress and several slit-and-ruffle gowns decorated with arcs of crystal in green, then cream, then fuchsia. A bold-shouldered red dress returned to tooth and claw. A long section of black eveningwear featured a deep-V tulip-skirted minidress, a strong one-shoulder ruffle-hung black sheath dress, and a cool lace-front tailored jumpsuit. This was pretty Rich.
