The Renaissance keeps bubbling up on the Fall runways. Carven's Guillaume Henry used Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights as inspiration for a colorful print. Don't worry though, girls, Henry hasn't suddenly gotten religious or become a strict moralist. The full, rounded hips of his dresses and skirts may have suggested a newfound modesty, but they were subverted by other things. Hemlines, for one, which inched their way up to mid-thigh. Also: keyhole slits on dress bodices and peekaboo laser cutting on other frocks that evoked stained glass. Despite a print of rose windows, and bouncy wings on the shoulders of a cocktail dress—influenced, the designer said, by a portrait of the Madonna—this collection was every bit as young and fun as usual.
Carven is the kind of show where editors and retailers make personal shopping lists. IPhones were snapping pictures extra fast when a pair of ribbed sweaters that were split at the sides over pannier miniskirts came down the aisle. Same goes for a khaki mac with red satin lapels, and the other neat and trim outerwear. If there's one quibble, it's this: It'd be nice to see Henry apply his design savvy to pants next time.
