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Givenchy by Julien Macdonald: Calling Versace
By: Karl Treacy
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Paris, Jul 12, 2002/ FWD/ --- Was that Donatella in the front row at the Givenchy show?
Why no, it was Ivana.
But it may as well have been Donatella, because the collection that Givenchy designer
Julien McDonald sent out today was a rather literate homage to the oeuvre of the Versace
siblings.
From behind a nighttime city skyline backdrop with "Hotel Givenchy" lit up in neon, out
stomped a punky-haired Jacquetta Wheeler in a tiny black military jacket over a multicolored,
knife-edged pleated bell skirt.
Then things started getting complicated. And short.
Short as in the proverbial question, "Is that a skirt or a belt?"
In this case the skirts were belts, and some of the dresses were too.
Even so, the front row didn't register much excitement at the parade of micro-micros.
And Donna Karan just looked embarrassed as she gawked at some of the clothes.
It's a pity Paris Hilton wasn't in attendance -- she would have loved the slashed and pieced
leather and satin dresses, and the very brief pink ruched numbers too.
But then again, Hilton may have seen plenty of the like at the Atelier Versace show Monday.
And had she been in Milan in the early '90s she would have seen most of the rest in Gianni's
infamous Bondage collection.
McDonald, consummate knitwear designer that he is, proposed a few ultra-revealing looks that
were recognizably his.
But even here he was referencing - himself ... and Alaia, Paco Rabanne and Mugler.
A couple of bars of the song "Hey Big Spender" were belted out, but it was dubious whether
there would be many following that lead.
But three beautiful ruched and ruffled ballgowns in bright pink, red or black will surely
find eager takers, as will a canary yellow dress covered in a haze of organza squares.
But four rather traditional dresses do not a cutting-edge couture wardrobe make.
The British press have dubbed McDonald the London Versace and one wag commented after the show
to FWD, "Oh my god! How much does Julien want to be Gianni?"
Well it may have made sense to reference someone else, because McDonald seems to have no
idea of the direction in which the house of Givenchy is going.
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