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Girbaud's Tech Chic
By: Godfrey Deeny
Photo by Gruber-FWD
Mar 16, 2002/ FWD/ --- Let's hear it for Francois Girbaud, the grand old man of French
downtown sportswear and the creator of a technologically inventive and decidedly contemporary
collection shown in Paris Wednesday night.
The show, staged in the soon-to-be-renovated basement of the Petit Palais, opened with a
regiment of guys in urban battlefield dress with multi-pocket tops sprouting fabric flowers.
There were also a plethora of pleats, cleverly cut workerist denims and crumpled leathers.
They looked good and were clearly comfortable.
His women models opened with a series of nautical looks with a military twist, as navy blue
dresses were covered with captain's insignia.
Francois also played with proportions artfully -- khaki culottes became low-cut overalls with
grandpa's suspenders, while reefer coats came with collars that doubled as warm mufflers.
All told, the clothes were hip, practical and bound to work with Girbaud's techno-party
urban fans.
Girbaud remains a wide-ranging designer keen to test his skills on different media.
His latest project is to design the paint job for three Nissan 4 x 4's for the Aicha des
Gazelles, the annual 1,600-mile women-drivers-only rally through the Moroccan desert.
The end goal is to sell one of the 4x4's bearing the Girbaud logo for charity.
Already a hit in the metropolis, now it's the brand's time in the Atlas Mountains.
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