Paris: Givenchy and Off-White – an LVMH double header

Two LVMH brands staged shows on a rainy Thursday in Paris – Off-White and Givenchy – where the art of editing, or not, a collection was at the heart of the matter in both shows.
 

Off-White: An American in Paris

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A packed Carrousel du Louvre, with thousands of fans braving the rain outside to catch a glimpse of stars from the black nomenklatura entering the latest Off-White show.
 
Serena Williams caused a paparazzi and influencer feeding frenzy, as she entered to join Rich the Kid and Tina Kunakey underneath the Louvre Museum. Like celebrities on display, they all sat on low circular disks built on the shows stage. Joining uber supes like Toni Garrn and Alessandra Ambrosio in front of two huge silver dice, the better to be admired by the front row of editors, critics and executives.

Designed by Ibrahim Kamara, this Off-White collection was a homage to black American influence on our global culture, and the result was a kicky display of Instagram friendly fashion.
 
Kamara could be perhaps faulted for lacking a self-editing button. He attached multiple pockets; mock cummerbunds; strings; holsters both for cowboys and carpenter; drawstrings and straps to many looks. Though, once again, the results had plenty of kick and punch.
 
Ibrahim also played around with the Off-White DNA, mostly with the quadruple arrow logo – seen on the back or heart of baseball jackets or embossed on some great saddle stitched totes. All good brand building.
 

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In a co-ed show, the Off-White guy turned out to be more a poet than a dude. Favoring pink cardigans, lilac denim pants and endless looks in lime. Though there were also quite a few rapper trappers with faux furry Klondike hats. While one chap, the size of a linebacker, wore star covered monogram gangster pants over a matching handbag, with a baseball jacket on whose back an evil goblin was putting a spell on two dice.
 
Ironically for a gent who rose to fame as a fashion stylish with Dazed magazine, Kamara might think of hiring a new one of his own. 
 
Before a driving finale with the entire cast surging around to Beyoncé song Bootylicious, winning Kamara an impressively loud cheer.
 
There is life it appears at Off-White after the passing of its noble founder Virgil Abloh.

Givenchy: Commercial committee collection

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Givenchy bade farewell to its most recent designer – American-born Matthew Williams a few months ago and since then its menswear show in January and its women’s collection this season have been designed by a studio team.
 
Well, this collection looked very Givenchy – from the opening soirée looks to the feathered bride in pearly gray at the finale.
 
The drawbacks and the virtues of a committee were evident in this show, especially the latter. Whoever led the design team has pretty good handle on what Givenchy stood for – a polished Parisian look with layers of sophistication.
 
Created almost entirely in black, gray and white, it featured metallic gray cocktails; smartly rouched jet black leather cocktails finished with bows; or posh dominatrix corsets. 
 

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Its tailoring was strong – from anthracite jacquard mannish redingotes with trains, worn with matching shorts, to crisp Harris tweed style board member suits.
 
Faintly gothic, and always quite tough chic, for a collection whose goal is to keep business ticking over in Givenchy boutiques until a new designer arrives, this was pretty darn good.
 
Staged inside the brands historic HQ on Avenue George V, the show also marked the first since the appointment of Michael Burke as President of the LVMH fashion group. In an active day, Burke could catch two of his brands – Off-White and Givenchy – both in reasonably good health.
 
His next big decision: cast a new creative director for Givenchy. Which is what made the choice of opening song on the soundtrack – the distorted anthem Bela Lugois’s Dead – so perfect. For the tune is about the greatest interpreter of Dracula retiring from the part, but ultimately being unable to ever give up the role. 
 
They say, Hubert de Givenchy never quite got over selling out early to LVMH and watching iconoclastic designers like John Galliano and Alexander McQueen wrought what he thought of as havoc on his brand. So, if he is looking down at this collection he will probably be reassured by its respectful homage. Besides, unlike Bela, Hubert was able to retire.