It was a homecoming for Gilles Mendel today. The Frenchman left Paris for New York in the 1980s and he’s built his business there, but it’s been a long-held dream of his to come back to do a show. He was visibly thrilled backstage, explaining that his first ever couture collection was a bridge of sorts between the two places. Keith Haring was an artist famous in New York’s ’80s downtown scene, and riffs on his signature energetic squiggles formed the basis for graphic beaded patterns on evening columns. Paris was represented by its familiar geometric maps: broad boulevards meeting up with circular roundabouts, narrow streets intersecting with geometric park spaces. Both references were subtle enough to not be too obvious. As a rule the collection was better when Mendel used a lighter touch. Hand-stitched labels featuring the Empire State Building or Paris in block letters were a nice detail.
Mendel is a furrier, like his father was. This being a Fall show, there was naturally quite a bit of the stuff here. The first dress was made from small and smaller squares of shaved mink embroidered into Haring-style swirls and stitched together into a grid. Mendel used the same grid technique for the floor-scraping black coat and the white jacket that followed. They were exquisite and extravagant. They won’t necessarily keep you warm: In Mendel’s universe, that’s not really the point. Stitching fur to tulle, he created peekaboo evening coats through which the sequins and beads of his party dresses shone. Other furs were bisected with long rows of functioning brass buttons. Sleeves peeled off shoulders in a timely, if somewhat ungainly style. Still more furs were misted with liquid gold, so they looked burnished. Mendel’s enthusiasm may have gotten the best of him in some cases. The standout of the bunch was among the most understated, a short jacket in Russian broadtail with gold bead embroidery.
