|
Martine Sitbon: Simply Poetic
By: Karin Nelson
Photos by: Gruber-FWD
Click on image to see bigger photo.
Paris, Oct 7, 2001/ FWD/ --- Like love, fashion can sometimes be all about timing. Such was
the case with Martine Sitbon’s Spring 2002 collection, staged Sunday night, just as news of
America’s initial attacks on Afghanistan began to filter in.
Solemnly, a patient crowd awaited the show’s start - a sea of journalists dutifully doing
their job but wanting nothing more than to return to their hotel rooms and turn on CNN.
Needless to say, minds were on more serious matters of life and death, rather than ruffles and
flounces.
Which is why as the room darkened, monasterial music began, and girls, pale-faced and
ghost-like, ethereally drifted out in pale, old-world looks, it felt comfortable and welcoming
to an audience willing appropriately to escape reality for a moment.
Easy pieces – a delicate man’s shirt, wide trousers, a dirndl skirt, a shapeless, broken-in
suede jacket, pleated camisoles, long and loose dresses detailed with smocking or cinched
with a simple strip of leather – breezed by in nude colors; everything bathed in a timeless
look of antiquity.
Sometimes blurring masculine and feminine lines, Sitbon sent out soft pieces paired with men’s
suiting. A ribbed, light-weight sleeveless sweater was worn under a dark vest and pinstripe
trousers. A waiter’s jacket was thrown over a soft-spoken camisole
For evening, the palette changed to black, gold and coral, with beautiful, meticulous beading
lending a nonchalant air of elegance. At times, gold tinsel was added to the embellishments
in the prettiest, most charming of manners. Soft, silk dresses that had been a bit shapeless
for day gained structure with beaded, diamond-shaped belts with knotted ties in back.
Closing the show wistfully were a couple of dresses embroidered in front with a big butterfly.
The last look, a backless gown in pale rose, had the antennae of the butterfly gracefully
wrapping around the neck to create a halter.
It was a collection so simply poetic, so acutely appropriate that the crowd did something
they rarely ever do – stood up and applauded the designer, who appeared only momentarily
from behind the curtain.
Martine Sitbon Fashion
Martine Sitbon Fashion
|
