PARIS ...EMANUEL UNGARO, YVES ST LAURENT, STELLA McCARTNEY, GIAMBATTISTA VALLI

Emanuel Ungaro, Giles Deacon has relocated the DNA that was lost for so many seasons. Mr. Deacon’s freshman outing for the brand was certainly more than promising. The collection was strong with signatures such as draping, lace and sexy for after 5 but there needs to be that provocative and intrinsically sexy attitude that Mr. Ungaro was such a master at for the daytime segment. The prints which the brand was so famous for would have fit in so well with the current trend in Paris this season but instead there was an oversized graphic black and white print. Mr. Deacon will find his was as it is very apparent that he understands the vocabulary of the house.

Yves St Laurent, Stefano Pilati, strained to not reference the house’s DNA too literally when he actually had the license to do it and no one would have faulted him. There seems to be a sort of YSL fever that has been swept the runways in Paris and Milan and one would have hoped that the namesake brand would have partaken in the trend with greater gusto. Mr. Pilati politely nodded and alluded to the house signatures, under the stewardship of Mr. St Laurent, but he should have really dipped into the language that is St. Laurent. Mr. Pilati has taken the brand into the 21st century but there is a lack of the soigne and chic that seems to be lacking which St. Laurent did so well. The heightened state of expectation fell flat here this season when it should have been a no brainer for Mr. Pilati.

Stella McCartney continues on her pilgrimage for wearable, understandable and real clothes and she does so to great effect. The tailoring is present, albeit a bit more relaxed, an unfortunate segment of denim, and much more surprisingly, a wonderful element of a “citrus print” which suddenly delivered a sense of playfulness not seen very often in this collection.

Giambattista Valli delivered a confusing and possibly misguided foray into Spring 2011. The shapes were easy, the palette appealing, the leopard fun but the sheer looks and odd mash ups and the house’s signatures which were distorted this season made of ran awkward presentation. Somewhere in the midst of all this, Mr. Valli managed to send out some great daytime pieces as well as a few spectacular chiffons but the overall collection seemed to be severely lacking.