Girbaud: Going Street Smart for Summer
By Timothy Hagy
Photos by Javier Mateo
PARIS, Oct 11, 2002/ FW/ --- Marithé and François Girbaud, the husband and wife design team,
sent out a youthful collection aimed at capturing a street-smart look.
A professional dance troop was positioned along the runway performing modern choreography,
and that forced models to circumvent them while attempted some motions of their own.
The professionals gave a first rate performance, the models did not save for a few.
Ohmyrha from the Dominican Republic took the beat to heart, and emoted like how a regular
teen-ager would.
Program notes explained that "teenagers slide over the road."
"They skip over curbs, leaping over obstacles, slipping through street after street like a wave."
The dancers, nonetheless, remained in slow motion, as did the show.
As for the collection, which featured pieces for both men and women: there were jeans, tank tops,
imaginative shirts dashed with pleats and red streamers.
There were baggy pants zippered at the ankle, dresses laced in the front and back, and hooded
sweatshirts with the Girbaud logo proudly affixed.
The use of distressed fabric created an interesting finish to both pants and vests, while sneakers
were the footwear of choice.
Charming though it all was, if the aim was a totally natural and authentic street look, why
wouldn't a teen just buy the same thing at Walmart and save some bucks?
The answer is teens cannot find these clothes at discount stores.
The looks maybe copied, but the use of techno-fabric and generous cuts cannot.
And this is the same reason why Sean John by P. Diddy, Phat Farm, Baby Phat and Lady Enyce
are multi-million dollar brands in the U.S.
If the Girbauds' aim is to provide these U.S. brands some competition, then they have
been very successful!
Look out P. Diddy!
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