Ann Demeulemeester Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear Collection on Style.com: Runway Review

Ann Demeulemeester

PARIS, March 3, 2011

By Tim Blanks

Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopédies, one of the most exquisite pieces of music ever composed, set the mood for a particularly poetic collection from Ann Demeulemeester. And it came from a place that, in its own peculiar way, was poetic too. Backstage, the designer was wearing some silver jewelry she'd cast from birds' feet from her own backyard. That had got her thinking about animals in mythology, in particular the faun, half man, half goat. On her catwalk several models were head to toe in goat fur. With some the fur was touched with red, as if by the glow of a sunrise at the dawn of the world. More poetry.

Demeulemeester's other models were hybrid creatures too, attenuated, black-clad, birdlike, their hair extended into feathery outcrops by Eugene Souleiman, their brows brushed to fierceness by Rudi Cremers. They brought to mind a lost tribe of Amazonian warrior women, bodies slung with belts and bandoliers that were loaded with feathers instead of bullets. It was a deliberately provocative metaphor, Demeulemeester's way of giving peace a chance—or so she claimed postshow—but these women nevertheless looked lean and mean enough to dip their quills in some exotic poison before sending them flying. Not for nothing the burst of Tchaikovsky and the echoes of Black Swan.

The collection was truly about those belts: loose, trompe l'oeil attachments, corset-laced and bunching in the back like a bustle, crushing ruffles, forcing fabric into folds. With leather leggings, wedge boots, and one of Demeulemeester's laced jackets or waistcoats, they made for a strong, dramatic silhouette. "My job is to give beauty," said the designer, in which case she can fairly claim a bonus.

See all from Ann Demeulemeester › Timeline

A.F. Vandevorst	Acne	ADAM
A Détacher	Akris	Alberta Ferretti
Albino	Alexander McQueen	Alexander Wang
Alexandre Herchcovitch	Alexis Mabille	Alice + Olivia
Altuzarra	Andrew Gn	Anna Sui
Ann Demeulemeester	Anne Valérie Hash	Ann-Sofie Back Atelje
Anthony Vaccarello	Antonio Berardi	Antonio Marras
Aquascutum	Aquilano.Rimondi	Araks
Azzaro

Badgley Mischka	Balenciaga	Bally
Balmain	Banana Republic	Band of Outsiders
Barbara Bui	Barbara Tfank	Basso & Brooke
BCBG Max Azria	Behnaz Sarafpour	Bensoni
Betsey Johnson	Betty Jackson	Bibhu Mohapatra
Bill Blass	Blumarine	Bodkin
Bottega Veneta	Brioni	Burberry Prorsum

Cacharel	Calvin Klein Collection	Carlos Miele
Carolina Herrera	Carven	Celine
Central Saint Martins	Chado Ralph Rucci	Chadwick Bell
Chalayan	Chanel	Charles Anastase
Charlotte Ronson	Chloé	Chris Benz
Christian Cota	Christian Dior	Christian Siriano
Christophe Lemaire	Christopher Kane	Christopher Raeburn
Clements Ribeiro	Collette Dinnigan	Comme des Garçons
Commuun	Costello Tagliapietra	Costume National
Creatures of the Wind	Cushnie et Ochs	Custo Barcelona
Cynthia Rowley	Cynthia Steffe

D&G	Damir Doma	Danielle Scutt
Daryl K	David Koma	Dax Gabler
Dennis Basso	Derek Lam	Diane von Furstenberg
Diesel Black Gold	DKNY	Dolce & Gabbana
Donna Karan	Doo.Ri	Douglas Hannant
Dries Van Noten	Dsquared²	Duro Olowu

Edun	Elie Saab	Elie Tahari
Elise Øverland	Emanuel Ungaro	Emilio de la Morena
Emilio Pucci	Emporio Armani	Erdem
Erin Fetherston	Etro