Paris, Jul 10, 2002/ FW/ --- A dialogue of saints and sinners was the theme of Hubert Barrère's couture show today, and in very explicit fashion, he illustrated the phenomena of dual personality.

That Clintonesque psyche is one of a Saturday night person dressed in a Sunday morning suit.

The program notes suggested a dichotomy between luxurious opulence and Puritanical austerity, but had Salem's founding fathers glimpsed some of Mr. Barrère's evocative drawn corsets, they would have doubtlessly cried out in disbelief.

The winding portico of the Musée Galiéra in the 16th Arrondissement was the setting for the sexy show, and the heat was turned up on the catwalk at precisely the same moment that a cool breeze announced an approaching cold front.

The first model down the runway wore a felt corset on a crêpe skirt, a sable of Red wolf tossed around her shoulders.

The crimson effect conjured up a vision less like Little Red Riding Hood, than the beast.

There followed such other creations as the Penitent, wearing a white veil atop a boudoir corset, and the Good Fairy glued into a black corset with plumes of organza and sequins strewn as diamonds.

Then Mary Magdalene, the pardoned sinner, advanced in a gown of purple satin and mousseline, her left breast exposed.

Next was a Geisha Girl, whose falling satin kimono, embroidered with metallic whalebone, hardly cried chastity.

The grand finale, which well may have crossed the boundary of good taste even in this city of sin, was called Exultation.

A redheaded model wore a white tunic topped with a Marian blue veil, and her comportment scarcely inclined anyone to meditate on the Rosary.

When it was all said and done, the show gave off more heat than piety, and it would appear that the Saturday night demon won out in the end.

Hubert Barrère

Hubert Barrère

Hubert Barrère

Hubert Barrère

Hubert Barrère

Hubert Barrère

Hubert Barrère