COMPLETE COLLECTION

PARIS, July 10, 2001

By Armand Limnander

Since its heyday in the 1960s—when couturier Louis Féraud could count Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and Brigitte Bardot among his ardent admirers—the house of Féraud has enjoyed nothing so much as a steady decline. Until now, that is. Hard on the heels of Burberry and Bally, Féraud is seeking to reinvent itself for a new generation of style-setters under the direction of recently appointed creative director Yvan Mispelaere.

During the latest couture collections, it took Mispelaere a mere 14 looks to demonstrate his considerable cutting skills. Referencing the creative process of the fashion atelier, Mispelaere based every outfit on a humble tulle bodysuit, piling on spiral skirts, hooded capes, inside-out jackets and riding coats—many with visible outlined stitching, as if they had been pulled prematurely from the hands of their doting seamstresses. The final dress was a long, black, monastic sheath, with one detail that earned it the name "Uninhibited": A single, strategic cutout daintily exposed one of model Stella Tennant's breasts.

Artful experiments notwithstanding, Mispelaere generally puts the emphasis on hip separates that can be worn with jeans or T-shirts, creating a new, more youthful brand of couture. If the 33-year-old designer can translate his abundance of ideas into accessible clothing for his ready-to-wear line, the house of Féraud could indeed be on its way to reclaiming its former glory.