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Lacroix: Jackson Pollock Meets the Flinstones
By Dana Thomas
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Click on image to see bigger photo.
Paris, Mar 11, 2001/ FWD/ --- No matter what the trends of the moment may be, Christian
Lacroix always goes his own way. And while that is a sign of great integrity, it doesn't
always make for great business.
Which is why Lacroix has had his ups and downs, and why he is considered a gifted designer
yet struggles to make money more than a decade after his debut.
His clothes may be beautiful,
but they are not easy to wear - anywhere.
Fall/Winter 2001-2002 is no different.
The collection, presented at the Louvre this afternoon was a carnival of textures, shapes and colors.
Hemlines were slashed this way and that, sometimes
fringed with multicolored mink tails or shredded leather.
Fabrics were wrapped around the body
upside down and backward, literally - with the front of kimono jackets crisscrossing the spine -
and piled on each other in a patchwork madness.
Colors were vibrant at first: fire engine red, taxi cab yellow, aqua, and chartreuse, splashed
about like a Jackson Pollock painting.
But then they toned down to misty pastels, often in a
geometric pattern on satin that was very pretty and defiantly modern.
The way each ensemble was put together was startling busy, too, like hooker-tight thigh-high boots
under long jackets, micro skirts or cherry red tights shooting out of lemon yellow spike pumps.
Lacroix fiddled with fur in a goofy way, dying mauve and musty rose and cutting into shapes out
of the Flintstones.
And for night, Lacroix went haute glitz, splashing shifts, asymmetrical miniskirts and flapper
dresses with gobs of multicolored crystals, sequins and beads creating a kaleidoscope effect
that would fit in perfectly at New York's spangled Russian Tea Room, or perhaps in a Vegas revue.
Where else is hard to say.
While there were thousands of curious ideas on the runway, there was precious little that a woman
anything less than dazzling could - or would - wear.
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