For his latest haute couture collection, Alexis Mabille imagined how the scent of a woman would look. The multisensory idea gave him wide interpretative inspiration; for just as some people smell something and immediately envision a color (one aspect of the phenomenon known as synesthesia), he will tell you that this lineup of 20 soirée dresses grouped by color tones represent a wardrobe based on his interest in fragrance notes.
Consider his creative pièce de résistance, a blouson blanketed in sculpted gold lamé flowers, studded with tiny jewels at their centers; this was his translation of bergamot, tonka, and opoponax—which as a perfume, would itself translate to something bright and citrusy yet also enveloping. The floral scents of geraniums and peonies informed the red creations, which included a decidedly dramatic velvet dress with voluminous sleeves lined in layers of pleated organza fading from red to pink. It gave off quite the bouquet. Whatever you make of the metallic grouping materializing from notes of ginger and verbena, the flounced and tiered lamé bustier dress and brocade coatdress both qualified as effervescent.
By now, it’s worth asking: If you had neither background in fragrance composition, nor knowledge of Mabille’s subjective accords, could you still appreciate this collection? Most likely his faithful muses will be drawn to the pink dress with a crisscrossed neckline not because it is visually redolent of peonies, but because the silhouette strikes as flattering and original. Which leads to a follow-up question: Did the concept complicate the design? In a way, it kept Mabille more focused, even while he remained in his fantasy register of princess tulle and ever-present bows.
It’s not a stretch to wonder whether this was a tease for an eau d’Alexis. Nothing imminent, he said. Incidentally, the presentation space was unscented, which was probably for the best. But while investigating his embroideries up close, one almost hoped to detect a faint sillage.
