Torrente: Hollywood Glamour
By Mari Davis and Timothy Hagy
(Photos by Javier Mateo)
Paris, Oct 8, 2003/ FW/ --- Torrente threw out traditional invitations this season in favor of a more contemporary design, one featuring the House's new designer, Julien Fournié, hard at work.
As program notes stated, it's no easy task to renew a venerable Parisian fashion house, and that was made clear by the Ready-to-Wear show presented Wednesday morning.
Guests arrived to an elegant breakfast of chocolate croissants and skewers of strawberries, figs, pineapple and melon, and then proceeded upstairs in the company's Headquarters to a salon converted for the event.
Fournié, in his program notes, confessed a love of American films and musicals from the 50s, and that evidently inspired the retro-collection that was sent down the catwalk.
To an opening soundtrack from MGM, and an announcer speaking into an old fashioned microphone, pinstripe suits were jazzed up with rainbow colored belts, lime green ties and glazed leather cummerbunds.
As the music changed to an orchestral rendering of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", a set of magenta tutus sprouted over slack suits, and apricot bell-shaped dresses blossomed with a sprinkling of sequined roses.
The signature of the House's founder, Rose Torrente-Mett was also used to form glitzy brocade for evening.
As each model passed, the theme song of the Hollywood movie, which inspired the dress was played.
‘Working Girl,’ starring Melanie Griffith took center stage as 3 models wearing ‘executive power clothes’ softened with gloves and scarves entered the runway.
Hollywood femme fatales from the 1950s and 1960s were not left out. Most memorable was the ‘Seven Year Itch’ starring Marilyn Monroe where a black model wearing a platinum blonde wig represented the legendary siren.
It was a fun collection, and Torrente might have found a perfect match with Julien Fournié.
The young designer struck a chord with the well-heeled audience, which included Nadja Swarovski.
In this first half of the first decade of the 21st century where new retro-vintage is favored by the fashion flock, Julien Fournié might have expanded Torrente’s clientele with his debut collection.
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