The Bride Wore Black. It's a long way from the sunny optimism of Marc Jacobs' Spring show for Louis Vuitton to François Truffaut's famous movie. Vuitton's women's studio director, Julie de Libran, found inspiration in the 1968 film, and it gave the label's pre-fall collection a decidedly darker mood.
Vampy was the word de Libran used, which makes sense. The only thing that was in more abundance than the color black was lace. Not just lace the fabric, which she used for a comparatively simple shift dress with patch pockets in suede and mink, but also lace prints and lace jacquards and lace debossing (embossing, but in reverse) techniques on silk twill. She packed a lot of textures into each outfit, and she had a lot to say in terms of silhouette, as well.
Lifting jackets from the Spring collection, she exaggerated their proportions, extending the shoulder seams and puffing up the sleeves. The squared-off, slightly two-dimensional results had an oversize, masculine feel, on the one hand, and on the other, suggested flat doll's clothes. Slightly challenging, in other words. It probably came off best with the swingy red "circle" coat that fell in an A-line trapeze from the shoulders.
She took a more classic approach to the Icons portion of the collection. Tops here were a pair of reversible shearling jackets.
