Antonio Berardi

PARIS, October 6, 2007
By Nicole Phelps
"It's much more minimal than last season," Berardi promised before his show. "But there's still lots of work." Inspired by a child's kimono, he said, he built the collection around squares and circular shapes. On the literal side, that made for silk kimono coats and jumpsuits. More abstractly, there were thirties-style bias dresses in blood-orange silk that came with round-peephole backs or trailed by long ovoid capes, and strictly cut jackets with geometric-paneled lapels and skirts with short, kicky hems.

The "work" he spoke of was evident in the bugle beading that made zigzag paths across dresses and tops—an artful play of matte and shine—and in the hammered chiffon that created subtle intarsias on the fronts and backs of tunics. The only missteps were a pair of sheer columns heavily embroidered with Swarovski crystals that dropped to the floor as the models tiptoed by, leaving a shimmering trail in their wake. (They tiptoed because of the unusual way Berardi's heel-less platform shoes were engineered.) But, fetish-y footwear aside, there were plenty of sexy-looking pieces here.