Christophe Decarnin struck this season's come-hither/don't-mess-with-me tone smack on the head. The temptress part of his mixed message came courtesy of the thigh-grazing dresses that have become a house motif since its relaunch a year ago; these are now more fitted through the waist, with the help of eighties-Alaïa cinching girdles. The tough-chic element came via silver armor embroidery at the neckline of a sequined number, metal coils at the shoulder of a short white frock, and a swooping cape of feathers that attached around the neck with a rope of shining crystals. Metal studs on suede platform booties completed the picture.
Decarnin has made this collection a strictly after-dark affair, and his work has a decidedly more louche tone than the ultra-elegant one that was Pierre Balmain's signature. But he did chivalrously show some pants alongside all the minidresses and the strapless goddess styles with slits coursing up the thighs. His low-slung bumsters clung to every inch of the models' legs from their backsides on down to the mid-calf, where they flared out in big swooshes of fabric to the soles of their platforms. You couldn't call them practical, but they were certainly bristling with swaggering attitude.
