PARIS, Oct 8, 2001/ --- He may not have been chosen to replace McQueen at Givenchy, but it’s certainly no reflection on his strength as a designer.

Undeniably one of the sharpest talents coming out of Paris, Belgian-born Olivier Theyskens showed a masterfully crafted Spring 2002 collection Monday night.

Incorporating a day at the races sort of a feel, Theyskens sent out a sleek set of thoroughbred models with short, spit-polished hair who strode out onto a stretch of saw-dust while wearing fitted, broad-shouldered jackets and narrow, leg-cupping trousers.

Slim knee-length skirts followed, paired with slightly conical bra tops. Everything in black or white, everyone in cigarette-crushing stilettos.

Sprinkled in were some simpler, less imposing, but no less stylized pieces – a tailored housedress in pale yellow, a super-slim green silk skirt, a white drop-waist dress trimmed in black.

But it is the well-sculpted theatrical pieces that stand out most.

Theyskens’s talents undoubtedly lie in his creative eye and tailoring abilities.

In adding elaborate arcs onto the collar of a jacket, or bustles to the back of a fitted frock coat and a tomato-red 1950s cocktail dress, he skillfully incorporated couture cuts into ready-to-wear clothing.

And characteristic as well is his treatment of fabric.

Satins were coated and waxed until they assumed an antique feel, then shaped into pieces like heavily layered dirndl skirts, and the effect was as though they had been pulled from grandmother’s dusty trunk.

Finishing with a beige and chartreuse (odd, yes, but strikingly beautiful) satin bustle dress constructed out of a jockey’s jacket, Theyskens proved his ingenious talent – as recognized by the audience, who exploded into applause.

Olivier Theyskens

Olivier Theyskens

Olivier Theyskens

Olivier Theyskens