Balmain
PARIS, October 1, 2009
By Sarah Mower
Christophe Decarnin is the man on whose glittery, highly padded shoulders rests the success of the whole of the mass market as it currently stands. It's a known phenomenon that the cost of a single one of his jackets ($9,000 or thereabouts) could pay for an entire wardrobe of Balmain knockoffs for ten teenage girls, but no matter: He is hot. His models are scorching. And if what he does is the opposite of intellectual, it's also so clever it's simultaneously fueling spending frenzies up-market and down-. In terms of the general sequins-for-day trend, Balmain's influence is visible almost every which way you care to look in a chain store.For Spring, Decarnin brought out another whammy of a no-brainer blockbuster: disco cavewoman goes to the front. His army of sizzling, sleek-limbed supergirls strode out with huge-shouldered, metal-epauletted military tailcoats. Their T-shirts were tattered; bullet belts were slung around artfully "destroyed," stained, and holed jeans or, yet more sensationally, minute, hypersexed, raggedy suede and leather loincloths (the term "skirt" hardly covers it). Patching together seventies M*A*S*H and early Versace chain-mailed goddess-dressing, the show moved from camouflage to sequined camouflage to patchworked gold-sequined camouflage without a flicker of irony or the slightest fear of treading on politically sensitive ground. Some schools of thought will condemn that outright. Others will argue, purely on taste grounds, that wearing a belt with bullets arranged in a flower pattern or a military shirt with shrapnel holes filled in with gold patches is a fashion misdemeanor worthy of ten days in the slammer. And yet, none of that is likely to have the slightest effect on the runaway success of this Balmain collection.
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Spring 2010 Ready-to-Wear
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3.1 Phillip Lim -
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D&G Danielle Scutt Daryl K Davidelfin Dennis Basso Derek Lam Devi Kroell Diane von Furstenberg DKNY Dolce & Gabbana Donna Karan Doo.Ri Douglas Hannant Dries Van Noten Dsquared² Duro Olowu -
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Elie Saab Elie Tahari Elise Øverland Emanuel Ungaro Emilio Pucci Emporio Armani Erdem Erin Fetherston Erin Wasson x RVCA Etro -
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Fashion East Fashion Fringe Fendi Francesco Scognamiglio -
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Gabriele Colangelo Gareth Pugh Gary Graham Giambattista Valli Gianfranco Ferré Giles Giorgio Armani Givenchy Graeme Black G-Star Gucci -
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Haider Ackermann Halston Helmut Lang Hermès Hervé Léger by Max Azria House of Holland Hussein Chalayan -
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Iceberg Isaac Mizrahi Isabel Marant Issa Issey Miyake -
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Karen Walker Karl Lagerfeld Kenzo Kinder Aggugini Koi Suwannagate Kris Van Assche -
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L.A.M.B. L'Wren Scott Lacoste Lanvin Lela Rose Limi Feu Loewe Louise Goldin Louise Gray Louis Vuitton LP.BG Luca Luca Luella Luisa Beccaria Lutz & Patmos Lyn Devon -
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Naeem Khan Nanette Lepore Narciso Rodriguez Nathan Jenden Neil Barrett Nicole Farhi Nicole Miller Nina Ricci -
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Ohne Titel Organic by John Patrick Oscar de la Renta Osman -
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Paul Smith Women Peter Jensen Peter Pilotto Peter Som Phi Philosophy Pollini Ports 1961 PPQ Prabal Gurung Prada Preen Pringle of Scotland Proenza Schouler -
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Sacai Salvatore Ferragamo Sharon Wauchob Shipley & Halmos Sonia Rykiel Sophia Kokosalaki Sophie Theallet Stella McCartney Stephen Burrows Sykes -
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Talbot Runhof Tao Temperley London Thakoon Threeasfour Tibi Tim Hamilton Todd Lynn Tommy Hilfiger Tory Burch Tracy Reese Trussardi 1911 Tuleh Twenty8Twelve -
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Undercover Unique United Bamboo -
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Valentino Vanessa Bruno Vena Cava Vera Wang Véronique Leroy Versace Versus Victoria Beckham Viktor & Rolf Vionnet Vivienne Tam Vivienne Westwood Vivienne Westwood Red Label VPL -
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Wayne William Rast Wunderkind -
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Y-3 Yigal Azrouël Yohji Yamamoto Yves Saint Laurent -
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Zac Posen Zero + Maria Cornejo
