Bella Hadid will walk several marquee shows during a fashion season, yet, to a large extent, she has become Alexandre Vauthier’s leading lady. Not only does he make sure she stands out on his haute couture runway, he managed to woo her for these ready-to-wear images. In her, he has found the ideal embodiment of youthful, high-octane glamour—the type of muse who can wear a sparkly purple draped minidress as naturally as a T-shirt.
As always, this lineup echoed Vauthier’s couture offering from January. From a distance, you would barely be able to detect a difference in these iterations of lustrous tartan, or the ceremonial jacket that memorably nodded to Manet’s Young Flautist. But to expand the offering, more pertinently, Vauthier used couture’s key color statements—ruby red, violet, and English green—as a springboard for velvet down-filled jackets, crystal-buttoned blazers, denim, animal-stripe sequined numbers, and metallic stiletto boots. Depending on how heavily each retailer buys into the collection and then merchandises the selection, these fleshed-out tonal groupings offered a nicely conceptual twist to his usual approach. His crystal-studded jeans were back, probably by popular demand, and with the finely constructed Spencer jacket or big-sleeved blouse in black, you could easily achieve Vauthier’s signature chic without looking so bombshell.
The designer showed off the latest issue of W, which includes the campaign of back-to-the-future eyewear—a collaboration with Alain Mikli. Here, you find Kate Moss all cheekbones and ’80s allure. Regardless of whether his look speaks to you (or whether it needs to speak of our time), his poster gals continue to speak to his desirability.
