Yves Saint Laurent
PARIS, October 5, 2006
By Sarah Mower
Stefano Pilati said he had been inspired by "violets, which to the Greeks symbolized modesty, humility, and virginity—and the feeling of transition from spring into summer." To that end, he laid out one of the prettiest—yet most hazardous—runways ever trodden by models in spike-heel platforms: a deep, earthen lawn planted with hundreds of living purple violas. In theory, it was poetic, but the girls¿ tentative, anxiety-raising progress created an unfortunate distraction that disrupted the viewing of Pilati¿s most beautiful pieces.The best of them came toward the end—a section of gowns in purple or violet-printed chiffon with billowy, flyaway skirts, and the white flower-garlanded halter-necked finale dress, cut to fall erotically away from the back. Pilati¿s conceptual journey to this point was, however, trickier to follow. It started promisingly with black-and-white picnic check, well cut into a tightly belted, slope-shouldered Parisian-chic coat with a high-necked ruffle blouse. The recurring spring-flower theme built into clusters of fragile, white cutout organdy violets in a tuxedo shirt, petal-smothered skirts, and 3-D leather decorations trailing from bags. Other standouts were a black swing-back shirtdress with a white cotton bib; a short nude organza cocktail dress, piped in black; and the odd toughening elements, like belted leather shell tops. The difficulty? In the pants. Like several designers in Paris, Pilati is applying himself to thinking a way out of skinnies. It¿s a project that eventually will reach some attractive conclusion—but his baglike lowering of crotch to ankle is, to put it kindly, not quite there yet.
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Spring 2007 Ready-to-Wear
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3.1 Phillip Lim 6267 -
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A.F. Vandevorst ADAM Akris Alberta Ferretti Alessandro Dell'Acqua Alexander McQueen Alexandre Herchcovitch Alice Roi Andrew Gn Anna Molinari Anna Sui Ann Demeulemeester Antonio Berardi Aquascutum -
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Badgley Mischka Balenciaga Balmain Basso & Brooke Behnaz Sarafpour Belstaff Biba Bill Blass Blumarine Bottega Veneta Burberry Prorsum -
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Calvin Klein Carlos Miele Carolina Herrera Celine Chado Ralph Rucci Chaiken Chanel Chloé Christian Dior Christian Lacroix Christopher Kane Comme des Garçons Costello Tagliapietra Costume National -
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Danielle Scutt Derek Lam Diane von Furstenberg DKNY Donna Karan Doo.Ri Dries Van Noten Dsquared² -
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Elie Saab Emanuel Ungaro Emilio Pucci Emporio Armani Erdem Erin Fetherston Etro -
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Fendi -
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Gareth Pugh Giambattista Valli Gianfranco Ferré Giles Giorgio Armani Givenchy Gucci -
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Hamish Morrow Hermès Hussein Chalayan -
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J. Mendel Jasmine Di Milo Jason Wu Jean Paul Gaultier Jenni Kayne Jeremy Laing Jill Stuart Jil Sander John Galliano Jonathan Saunders Josh Goot Jovovich-Hawk Junya Watanabe -
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L.A.M.B. Lanvin La Perla Lela Rose Loewe Louis Vuitton Luca Luca Luella Luisa Beccaria -
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Oscar de la Renta -
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Paul Smith Women Peter Jensen Peter Som Phi Pollini Prada Preen Pringle of Scotland Proenza Schouler -
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Rag & Bone Ralph Lauren Richard Chai Richard Nicoll Rick Owens Roberto Cavalli Rodarte Roksanda Ilincic Ruffian -
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Tao Temperley London Thakoon Threeasfour Todd Lynn Toni Maticevski Tory Burch Trovata TSE Tuleh -
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Valentino Vena Cava Vera Wang Veronique Branquinho Versace Viktor & Rolf Vivienne Westwood VPL -
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Wunderkind -
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Y & Kei Y-3 Yigal Azrouël Yohji Yamamoto Yves Saint Laurent -
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Zac Posen Zero + Maria Cornejo
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