Today was Ivana Omazic's third go-round at rejuvenating the LVMH-owned house of Celine. That's no doubt a lot of pressure, especially for one so relatively young and inexperienced. It's almost no wonder that she latched on so tightly to a key spring theme, transparency. When she cited The Unbearable Lightness of Being in her program notes, though, she gave her critics some easy fodder. Because despite all of the parachute silk, iridescent faille, cloudlike taffeta, and translucent embroidery, this show felt oddly heavy.
Weighing down today's jackets were her experiments in double lapels, one—you guessed it—transparent, and the other opaque. Likewise, smartly cut coats ended up looking tricky due to their visible darts, seams, and hems. Omazic was at her best when she put aside her concept—it's a rather familiar one by this point in the season, anyway—and concentrated instead on the hallmarks of Parisian style. She had the trench in an icy gray cotton-silk gabardine, the skirt suit in chalky python, and the L.B.D. in black silk organza with feathers dotting the bustier neckline. These, unlike many of the other looks, conformed to a cardinal rule of French chic: unfussy simplicity.
