If you encountered the first girl out at Julien Macdonald in a dark alley, you'd instinctively turn tail and run. Her slicked hair, blacked-out Porsche glasses, and buttery leather biker tunic looked built to kick ass, as if she were RoboModel.
Macdonald's inspiration was actually something far more luxurious than futuristic crime-fighting (or crime-committing): the techno-pristine fiberglass, leather, and chrome of yachts in Monte Carlo. But, crossing that with a yen for Japan in sharp origami tailoring and dragon tattoo prints, Macdonald ended up on the harder side of things. That's not a bad place to be, considering that last Spring's collection was so boudoir-rific as to seem like a lingerie show. And today's look worked surprisingly well in his hands. Macdonald may love sex and romance, but the best idea here—great graphic-looking knits made with bright plastic thread—had nothing to do with either.
Macdonald referred to this collection as "modernist glamour," and by the end of the show, the glamour quotient had been ratcheted way up. The sheer-skirted gown is an idea that's spread like a video of a sneezing baby panda since Riccardo Tisci first showed it in his Fall 2010 Givenchy Couture collection, and a couple of Macdonald's dresses hewed uncomfortably close to a look that Tisci basically owns. Better was the last outfit, which seemed to synthesize the collection's various elements in one exquisitely embroidered, neat package. Nothing to run from, except maybe a deservedly lofty price tag.
