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Macdonald Yet to Find His Way at Givenchy
By: Godfrey Deeny
Photo by Gruber-FWD
Mar 11, 2002/ FWD/ --- The show opened with Roxy Music’s "Remake Remodel," which seemed an
apt metaphor for Julien Macdonald’s plans for the house of Givenchy.
For his second ready-to-wear collection for Givenchy, the Welsh designer aimed to fuse "chic
with unique eccentricity."
But instead his first few passages were a post-Apocalyptic vision with hints of ‘60s futurism.
The opening outfit was a patchwork leather wrap with an enormous hood and matching gunmetal
leather pants; the next was a ribbed and stitched bomber jacket.
They tended to be weird rather than wonderful.
The cut was based on Elizabethan proportions, where culottes were a mix of cargo shorts and
courtier’s pants, while jackets were a mix of biker and doublet.
There have been lots of big bags around this season, but nobody’s is as large as Macdonald’s,
which came in coppery leather or plaid, carpetbagger-style.
A group of biker jackets had a tough-chic quality that was attractive, but they were followed
by a particularly odd series of mesh wool tops and lumpy sweaters, for war survivors in a bar
in “Waterworld.”
In short, Macdonald has yet to click at Givenchy, a tricky house to remake or remodel given
its strong aesthetic links to an earlier, less demanding era.
Remember, the opening line of Roxy’s classic cut is, "I tried but I could not find a way."
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