At Emanuel Ungaro - Sex in the City
By Timothy Hagy
Photos by Javier Mateo
PARIS, Oct 5, 2002/ FW/ --- One of the pleasures of Paris Fashion Week is security, which
has been ratcheted up to code red, presumably because of the large number of American
journalists present.
And so passing through the barrier to get into the suite of rooms in the Carousel du Louvre
is worse than trying to board an international flight.
The metals detectors through which each guest must proceed are set so sensitively, that a
silver brooch can prompt a full body search.
And anyone of the "ladies who lunch" who survived that experience en route to the Emanuel Ungaro show today,
then found a collection that featured very little to lunch in, but a lot that would be more
appropriately worn for a hot night on the town.
A barren tree, colored in sexy crimson, was placed in the middle of the stage against a
backdrop of an azure sky, feathered with cumulous clouds.
The décor, the music, and the casting were all stellar, and Giambattista Valli turned out
a winning collection for the House of Ungaro.
The show began with red chiffon blouses worn with mini skirts and red stilettos, followed
by light, airy polka dot dresses that floated down the runway.
The color spectrum this season was grounded in red, but also offered a series of white
slacks with black embroidery, before giving way to hot pink and flaming violet combinations.
The tour de force was a set of gorgeous crepe cocktail dresses with tails that looked almost
as if they had been shredded, or as if they invited further wrenching on an impassioned
summer's eve.
The finale consisted of a series of white, chestnut and burgundy crepe dresses,
some tie-dyed, others embroidered with flowers, and still others sprinkled with red and
pink polka dots.
Patricia Field who was sitting at the front row gave Valli a thunderous applause. And I can
understand why. It is easy to imagine "Carrie Bradshaw", "Samantha Jones", "Charlotte York" and
"Miranda Hobbs" in a lot of the outfits presented.
So don't be surprised if you see these clothes during the next season of Sex & The City.
Or better yet, during the next installments of Guiding Light where Patricia Field is a
consulting designer.
With the reach of both Sex & The City and Guiding Light, Giambattista Valli might find
himself the next darling of the TV networks and eventually Hollywood.
All in all, it was a fine collection, and while stylistically different from the kaleidoscope
of colors that Emanuel Ungaro personally created for the last Haute Couture show, was
nonetheless cohesive and entirely compatible with the image of the house.
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