Yacine Aouadi’s couture installation today was just across the street from Chanel’s Grand Palais spectacle. It was an easy trip for time-strapped showgoers, but you could say there was a more pointed reason for the proximity. The 35-year-old couture upstart admitted that he would one day like to hold the keys to the Chanel maison. Well, him and just about every other designer in town. And since Karl Lagerfeld seems in no rush to leave, it’s wise to focus not on Aouadi’s ambitions here but rather on his talent, which is promising. Cate Blanchett and her stylist, Elizabeth Stewart, spotted it last season after his debut, and Aouadi custom-designed one of his tattoo-sleeved dresses for the actress. “Nobody knows this,” he said, “but her children’s initials were embroidered on the sleeves.”
There was no shortage of impressive handwork in his new 13-piece collection. Snakes, flamingos, and storks performed courtship dances in feather embroidery by Lemarié. The bib of a sleeveless suede dress was densely encrusted with beads and crystals, its skirts bisected with thick chevrons of bugle beads. Another dress was trimmed with 700 buttons, each and every one of them functional. On still other pieces, lace was embellished with silicone for a modern look. Modernity is a key to Aouadi’s potential. His slim, relatively straightforward silhouettes have none of the fustiness of those of some couturiers. In this regard, he takes after Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci. In fact, Aouadi name-checked Tisci fan Rooney Mara as the muse behind a look that featured lace board shorts. That ensemble was a bit on the trifling side. Still, it won’t be long before Mara or a different hot young thing lays claim to other pieces in Aouadi’s lineup.
