Alexis Mabille haute couture spring 2019

Here’s the thing… I am always looking at his collection and I first fell in love with what he does when he was the “bow king” and they were perfection whether in cotton or in taffeta. For me he is rarely consistent enough in ready to wear but I always look because I wait to see if he can strike that moment when he first caught my eye… And yeah the bow is back in force!!

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click image to enlarge

There is something retro about his work yet there is a freshness and an originality that draws me in. to me he is both a young couture client as well as a jolie madame and that’s a good thing. I like that maybe pieces have pockets and I tend to think that’s a throwback to my mother who just loved when he gowns had pockets… in a way it gives the clothes a casual easy to wear aura. There’s something very YSL. Balenciaga and something very Christian Dior here as well as Mabille’s individual definition of haute couture and to be honest it’s very refreshing… even if there ae some major clunkers but they are everywhere in every collection and some where they make up the majority of the collection!

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click image to enlarge

Yes, some of it is a tad over the top and sort of silly but for the most part you have a beautiful collection in beautiful colors with enough silhouettes to satisfy a wide span of ages and preferences; yes there are some high drama moments but then again that’s part of what couture is all about in its truest sense not circus get ups!

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click image to enlarge

Haute Couture fall 2014/5 Bouillabaisse

Haute Couture fall 2014/5 Bouillabaisse

No matter the season, no matter the city, no matter worth mentioning or not, there are always designers who consistently show and are never recognized. Yes, some are, well… one might say less worthy of any recognition and then there are those who are just as valid and worthy as the marquee names we grow so weary of seeing and reading about in their fawningly paid for reviews. When I say paid for … it is in advertising dollars! Or being favorably looked upon by the Tsarine of fashion!

Many, if not all of the so called “unmentionables” are not backed by mega corporations and may not have A list celebrity clients but they show every season without fail and fill the season with diversity that it so sorely lacks. So today, I won’t ignore them and I will try to at least give a few words as tribute to their efforts. If you are thinking this will be a form of pity, think not!! This is just throwing some light on who is out there and who may be in the white hot spotlight sometime soon.

In my mind these are all designers who make huge efforts to be noticed and taken note of so allow me to NOTICE! Some of the names you will recognize and some will require a little homework but if you know me, you know I am a proponent of fashion education so start researching and learning.

So here are the “ingredients” to my bouillabaisse:

Franck Sorbier- a long standing stalwart designer of the Haute Couture who was once compared to Hubert de Givenchy... my my how times have changed! Thee are signs of what was but he has surely evolved snce then.

Ralph & Russo- the British invasion of the haute couture and ones to keep your eyes on .. the range is from matronly to fabulous..perhaps even a bit of Galliano

Alexis Mabille- talents misdirected... What happened to beautiful clothes? What was once exquisite and chic is a bit gimmicky and cheap looking

Vionnet-Goga is gaga to think this flies! A very bad joke

Yulia Yanina- Time to leave mother Russia as an inspiration

Viktor& Rolfe-save the political statements for your treatise... red carpet?? Get it?? why bother with these so called political statements

On Aura Tout-there is something lurking the and needs to be watched! This is a pot that needs to be watch until it boils.. if you catch my drift

Rami Al Ali- loves the fronds ...love the mindset... love the workmanship and details... watch him!! incredible details some knock out pieces

Georges Hobeika-clothes for the ladies and now even the little girls... not everyone wants only 20 something’s! He has something for everyone

Rad Hourani-all tied up in day wear and on the heavy side...lots of Japanese influence but very modern 

Eymeric Francois-when you find a designer who says his influences are YSL, Mackie and Galanos, you are bound to see the flashier side of haute couture.. This is what makes couture so fabulous, taking the time treasured elements and translating them to current times

Julien Fournié- he gives you from the simplest to the most elaborate.. it is a touch of theater int eh world of haute couture, but it's all glamour

 So start searching and identifying …  let’s hear if you have any designers that I have left out so I can get to them next time around … BIENTOT to all

Alexis Mabille Haute Couture Spring 2014

Alexis Mabille and the Spring 2014 Haute couture collection exhibit a calm and chic that betray his years. There is a great restraint in palette and embellishment where most designers would pile it on in any season when the collection is haute couture. This restraint and the exquisite simplicity of the clothes set the designer apart from the flock.

The usual scenario for couture is heavy embroideries and literally bells and whistles galore but not at the house of Mabille. The clothes are a study of serene beauty and discretion. The result proves to be refreshing in a world of feathers and flou.

The choice of embellishment is simple in comparison but intricate and in some ways has a very Elizabethan feeling while the laces are of magical delicacy. The slim crepe columns are of particular beauty and the wildly extravagant pleated satin coat was a sharp contrast given its excess. Less effective were the body cut outs and some of the satin pieces which appeared a bit heavy but that’s my eye comparing to the almost goddess quality of the more minimal shapes. What is interesting is that one sensed there would be more coming and yet this was more of a capsule collection that makes its statement quickly and simply.

Of note was the superb bow lace and embroidered ensemble as it was such a signature style and yet so almost totally disguised in its monotone whiteness. Indeed simplicity was the rule of the thumb here and it would have served the designer even more had he subtracted the butterflies from the show and allowed the clothes and their environment to do all the talking.

Meet ....Alexis Mabille

With literally hours to go before the Haute Couture begins its moment in the fashion spotlight, the last in my week’s pre couture series is Alexis Mabille. In case you are not aware of this young virtuoso, then these next few minutes will prove very enlightening.

portrait by Marc-Antoine Coulon

 

Monsieur Mabille surpasses the moniker of triple threat as he is a designer of Haute Couture, of womenswear, of menswear and also is a retailer. He is also one of youngest of the designers to inhabit the world of Haute Couture. From the very first time, I saw his collections; I was immediately fascinated and swept into his body of work. In case you can’t figure it out, Mabille has a preoccupation with a “bow!” I am a sucker for a great bow ever since I can recall them at Yves St Laurent and Valentino or any collection where they play a prominent facet of a collection.

                                                         art by Gladys Perint Palmer

Monsieur Mabille displays a mixture of old world refinement, raffine, soigne and present day ideas of how one dresses with every collection.  For me it is his influences that attract me and the staggering results that they yield. Make no mistake that each segment of his work has a clear outlook and vision; it is no mistake that the haute Couture skews a bit more mature and with much grander gestures while the ready to wear collections for both men and women are younger and more adventurous in spirit. Very few designers have the means, the talents and opportunity to expose so many facets of fashion talent within their body of work.

 

Before I get carried away with personal praise and observation... Please meet Alexis Mabille… (Please note that very little has been corrected to conform to perfect English with the intention of retaining all the charm and integrity of his replies)

 

1-What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

My 18th century fabric fur coat hoodie

2-What is your most sterling trait and what trait do you treasure most in your friendships?

My sterling trait is my loyalty and it is the same thing I treasure in my friendship

3-What is your bliss?

My cat Papillon

4-What is your guilty secret?

Nothing

5-Where is your ideal home?

In Paris

6-If you could not be a designer/retailer/etc.: what would you be

I would be an event planner

7-What is on your bedside table right now?

A crystal glass of water

8-What do you wear to bed?

nothing

9-What if any, book are you reading now or last read?

Leslie Caron Memories

10-What’s your advice to the “newcomer?”

Just do it!

11-Who or what is your inspiration/style icon?

Katherine Hepburn

12-What is the best advice you ever received?

To follow my ideas

13-In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.

Fantasy

Craziness

Excitation

14-If you were a retailer, would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store?

Yes I do it everyday

 or where would you shop?

I shop in all Paris, in cute multibrand shops or more famous ones but I am open to all what I see

15-If you won a $200,000,000 power ball (lottery), what is the first thing you would buy or do?

I d buy a hotel particulier in Paris

16-If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?

Dita von Teese, Cleopatre, James Dean and Jesus Christ

17-What is your favorite movie /or movie star?

Gone in the wind

18-What is the one thing you would change about yourself?

My size

19-Whose opinion do you value most and why?

My mother one she is the most honest person

20-What store or which designer do you most like to shop in or wear?

I love to shop at astier de villate for tableware

I love to shop in the porte de vanves flea market

And actually for men I love a new label “cuisse de grenouille”

21-What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?

I love paper magazines, I love the materiality of it... same for books that I keep forever... with the net I am more in the fast information

22-Do you have a dream collaborator?

Yes to have a second me to sometime do little breaks

23-What is your crowning achievement thus far in your career?

To actually have my own company and to see peoples wearing my clothes in the street

24-What’s your music library like?

Like an iPod, full of show compilations so every eclectic done by mr X my sound designer

25-What and where is your favorite meal?

Actually some kamcha crab at Kaspia