Now here’s a peculiar thing: According to one of the arcane regulations of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the French governing body, in order to qualify as haute couture, a collection must contain 50 handmade outfits, for both day and night. Fifty! To ordinary eyes—which typically start to glaze over after about six looks, these days—the 12 womenswear silhouettes Riccardo Tisci slipped into the Givenchy menswear runway show were enough to transmit his “couture” statement. Or at least, they were, when he followed up with an evocative video, showing the clothes in movement, intercut with close-ups of the glittering lines of minute crystal on tulle, the pentagon-shaped patchworks of snakeskin and velvet, the marrying of lace and leather, the rivets and the rivulets of bugle beading.
Tisci’s couture was the first to introduce the sheer nude dress to fashion—an idea that, against all probabilities, proved prophetic as eventwear. There’s another black lace example as a reminder here. What looks newer, though, is the way he nailed the feeling for cloaks, matching them to the fabric of long dresses—not so much as a cover-up or coat substitute, but as a complete look. Let’s hope this one catches on, too.
