In advance of the spring 2020 couture season, Vogue Runway is looking back at some memorable archival shows that celebrate the art and craft of the metier.
Christian Lacroix’s birthplace, Arles, has a long and layered history. The city was occupied by the Romans around 123 BCE, and his fall 1988 season, explained the designer in a recent email exchange, “was inspired by the antique and medieval [history] of the south of France and the characters in [Provençal and Neapolitan] Christmas crêches.” (Note Marie Seznec Martinez’s bridal gown in particular.)
With this show Lacroix moved a bit away from the airiness of his first two collections, in which pouf skirts figured large, and into a sort of golden—or gilded—age. There were many shimmering lamé fabrics, some Byzantine-inspired and armor-like corsets. A jacket made of diamond shaped pieces embroidered by Lesage had the touch of the harlequin, or “commedia dell’arte,” about it, as Lacroix says.
The designer’s research was always deep, and while he retained some literal reference, the magic came from confluences of inspirations. Take look 15 on Katoucha Ninane, which the designer singles out as a favorite. “The hood and peplum are from antiquity,” he explains, “but the color and silhouette are from 1940s American designs by the likes of Adrian as well as French wartime couture.”
Still, it was the classical influences in this show that marked an evolution beyond the pouf in the designer’s work. Lacroix, who had been looking at a lot of sculpture, dubs it “antique toga allure.” We call it glam.
