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Girbaud Makes a Statement
By J. J. Martin
Photos by Gruber-FWD
MILAN, Jan 17, 2003 /FWD/ --- Some designers do fashion with a capital F, spinning out
trends and fads without a second thought.
Others use clothing as a launch pad for the dissection of social and political queries.
Francois Girbaud, whose slicked-back gray hair was freshly cut by the stylist backstage
last Tuesday in Milan, falls into the latter camp.
In addition to the convenience of getting a quick, great haircut, Girbaud enjoys the
fashion show season as a platform for expressing his passionate personal beliefs.
"I hate fashion," he stated decisively.
"I'm just interested in clothes and what's going on in the world."
As far as Girbaud is concerned, the world on the brink of war is no light subject.
His models, whose faces were tarnished with black smudges, reflect the world crisis,
which the creative director says is "clearly based on oil. Oil is the reason for war today."
The exploration of the subject continued with the face-stained models wandering slowly
like shell-shocked survivors between three giant white pyramid shaped cones on which
poignant images of fire, war, rain forests and the earth's cracked surface were projected.
For all their moody, slow-motion action, the models maintained an air of strong
individualism with clothes that were sporty, yet quietly chic.
Racing stripes traced the arms of sleek hooded sweatshirts, or the legs of active pants,
taking odd twists and turns like the models themselves on the runway.
The baggy pant, a reincarnation of the wide-leg jean Girbaud made famous in the '80s,
was bunched at the knee and had the pockets and padding that today's skate rats will eat up.
Everything was dark and layered and looked right for street military guys who keep their
heads tucked under wool caps and their ears locked to MP3 players.
Things got louder, however, at the end of the presentation when the cone images reflected
piles of clothing (no doubt "fashion") incinerating into huge bon-fires.
Encouraging the crowd to join in his crusade, the designer waved his arms and stomped
his foot while pointing passionately to the "Guerilla Marketing" stamp on the back of
one cargo jacket.
The collection shown tonight will be available for the first time next fall at the new
Marithe + Francois Girbaud flagship, which is set to open in New York on February 7.
A botanical wall crawling with over 250 tropical plants will allow shoppers to come face
to face with Girbaud's earth-first philosophy.
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