PARIS, Feb 27, 2006/ FW/ --- For an off calendar show, the fashion flock came in force today at the Bruno Pieters show at the Musée de L’Homme. All seats were taken, the standing room full and there was no inch to spare at the photographer’s pit.

Showing his 11th collection this season, the twenty-eight year old Belgian designer stayed true to his vision of ‘reinventing classics through a lens of modernity,’ this time tackling the historical Jewish costumes of the 18th century turning them into contemporary silhouettes with an understated elegance and formality.

Opting for a very neutral color palette of black, white, midnight blue and beige and beige, with just a few splashes of olive green, the message is clear – architecturally structured silhouettes of pleasing proportions.

The opening garment said it all, an all black ensemble of a knee-length pleated skirt paired with a tailored jacket with standing collar, the long sleeves slightly puffed, and an embedded belt loosely defining the waist keeping the silhouette slender.

It’s graceful; it’s reserved but thoroughly chic and fresh. And that description can be applied to all the pieces in the collection, from the double-breasted coat constructed from washed wool jacquards and brocades to the midnight blue egg-shaped dressed sheered right at the thighs extended with a tube adorned with tiny ruffles so that the hemline reached a few inches above the knee.

The half jackets and half capes will become definite must-haves for fall, while the white high-collared tuxedo shirt constructed with mini-box pleats will find its way in the wardrobes of a lot of women.

For evening, Bruno Pieters did not change his tempo, creating rabbinical-like floor length skirts that were paired with extra-long knit sweaters or day jacket.

Bruno Pieters

Bruno Pieters

Bruno Pieters