Who doesn’t love a good whodunnit?
Charles de Vilmorin’s fall haute couture collection took the form of a murder mystery yarn. “I conceived this collection in a very cinematic way, a bit like a movie, and the atmosphere, the inspiration, was really an Agatha Christie film,” the designer said backstage.
But instead of Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick, his suspects looked like they were pulled from the pages of a Gothic fairy tale. Witches, wicked stepsisters, a dashing prince and a Little Red Riding Hood were among the fantasy characters that populated his runway (one model even sported a wolf costume).
De Vilmorin has always had an overactive imagination, and this season found him in great form, stretching out into new techniques like metalwork, for a curly wire frame structure that looked like one of his drawings rendered in 3D, and millinery, with a giant floppy hat dripping with horsehair fringe.
Instead of his customary prints or hand-painted fabrics, he translated his swirly sketches into colorful jacquards, which he shaped into bulbous silhouettes. None of it was too practical: his corset-laced tops trapped the arms down to the waist, while his feathered headpieces and crinkled taffeta gowns could barely fit through a doorframe.
The models vamped it up to the max. Noémie Lenoir skulked behind the fringed sleeves of a shredded mohair sheath, while a model in a white tent dress barreled down the runway before collapsing dramatically in front of photographers, in what may or may not have been part of the script.
For the finale, prima ballerina Marie-Agnès Gillot emerged shrouded in glossy red fabric and performed an interpretive dance to Françoise Hardy’s “Mon Amie la Rose.” De Vilmorin, a former ballet kid, said it was one of his favorite songs, and he wanted to pay tribute to the French singer, who died this month at the age of 80.
It’s a busy time for the young designer, who recently unveiled his design for Champagne maker Moët & Chandon’s pop-up restaurant with chef Yanick Alléno, and has further exciting projects in the pipeline.
After hitting a creative trough following the end of his two-year stint as creative director of Rochas, de Vilmorin is feeling like himself again. “I went through a period of being full of doubt,” he said. “Now, all I want to do is have some fun.” The feeling was pretty contagious.
For more couture fall 2024 reviews, click here.