The Regeneration Game

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/fashion/03iht-fchanel03.html

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PARIS — Three great couture houses showed their 21st-century visions in the closing days of the Paris summer 2013 collections. Yet it was not the much-anticipated Saint Laurent show that won the regeneration game, nor even the recurrent inventions at Chanel.

Valentino, in a graceful, calm and beautifully crafted show on Tuesday, hit the sweet spot between heritage and contemporary.

So much was expected of Hedi Slimane’s debut at Saint Laurent Paris — as he has rechristened the legendary house. And for the front row guests — cool or classic — this was a moment for cheers and maybe tears.

“All of it! It’s everything that I like — but I might need to take off a few kilos to get into it,’ said Valérie Trierweiler, who as partner to President François Hollande is France’s de facto first lady. She was dressed in the jet black of Parisian elegance.

Kate Moss, a wisp of black lace at her chest, was even more ecstatic. “You know me,” she said. “All that’s right up my strada.”

For Pierre Bergé, the late Yves Saint Laurent’s partner and a champion of Mr. Slimane, this was an emotional moment.

“Enfin! At last!” he repeated four times, praising the way that his former protégé had captured a dark, romantic, floor-sweeping masculine/feminine glamour — before breaking out at the show’s end into a symphony of colors on the floor-length dresses.

From the moment that guests arrived at the Grand Palais to see the famous YSL logo illuminated on its facade, there was a feeling of tension in the air surrounding the return to fashion of Mr. Slimane.

As hydraulic cables opened the ceiling flaps, one at a time, to let light flood into the dark room, it seemed like a reprise of the modern production skills that Mr. Slimane had displayed at Dior Homme. He left in 2005 to work on his photography.

The first notes sounded of a mashed-up Mississippi blues tune and a black hat appeared, above a thin silhouette of jacket and skinny pants, but softened with a big, marshmallow-soft bow.

Mr. Slimane’s own heritage appeared in the ultra-skinny pants worn with spencer, or cropped, jackets. Floor-sweeping dresses seemed less certain. They gave a hippie de luxe (but not quite luxurious enough) effect to the collection, except for one perfect evening gown with cascading frills.

Alternatives to pants were awkward: a coat dress undulating across the thighs at the front and sweeping the floor at the back.

The designer seemed to have taken as his touchstone the YSL “Porgy and Bess” collection of 1975, but transformed “Summertime” into something darker — even Gothic in that West Coast underground way.

As though this were a 21st-century road trip down the YSL memory lane, the models wore a sand suede cowboy-fringed jacket. Or there was a laced-up front, as a reprise of the famous Veruschka-on-safari image.

Based on the big floppy bow, Mr. Slimane created upper-body wear that expressed a dark romance. The once-infamous see-through blouse spawned other versions in black lace or with cascade of frills at the shoulder.

Color? We know that French chic is predicated on 50 shades of black. But this was supposed to be a summer collection. A tufted, zigzag-patterned fur over a red blouse gave a jolt of brightness. Then the ceiling flaps went down — and up again — to reveal colorful long dresses. But even they were not enough to give the show a triumphant ending.

Perhaps Mr. Slimane can use the YSL codes next season to move forward from homage to something more dynamic.

Karl Lagerfeld had a poetic phrase to sum up his Chanel collection on Tuesday.

“‘The wind had told me a story’ — it’s an old song from the 1920s,” he said. “Wind is about lightness and the feeling that something is in the air.”

How good that sounded! Coupled with 13 wind turbines turning their giant wings over the catwalk, everything seemed to be in place to celebrate the opening of Coco Chanel’s first store, in Deauville, France, 100 years ago and the enduring freedom the designer gave to fashion.

Mr. Lagerfeld seemed on target with his sporty vibe — mesh dresses; tiny, bust-high cropped jackets and a feeling of the salt and sea on France’s blustery west coast — not to mention a double “C” swimsuit accompanied by a giant circular bag.

Then there were the pearls. The designer used them with emotional effect for summer 2012 but this time they were gleaming, globular decoration to fit the circular transparent plastic hats carried in the models’ hands.

The show settled into its hyper-long catwalk, past a lineup that include Jennifer Lopez in white Chanel lace and her daughter Emme, pretty in pink. And suddenly the clothes looked like little chess pieces too small for the board.

Maybe it was the short square shapes, often worn with girly, taut-waisted dresses, that blew the stylish side away. A rare pair of narrow pants or a taut stretch dress looked good under the cropped jackets.

The use of techno fabrics made the show seem dynamic. But the vast runway muted the superb handwork that is the pride of Chanel.

There was also a wavering of the show’s logic. The black and white clothes that dominated the catwalk had a functional geometry. But suddenly a spate of color gave this show a something-for-everyone feel. Any emotion, fashion drive or energy was just gone with the wind.

At Valentino , there has been a quiet evolution. But looking back at the new image created by the designers Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri, it seems that their tenure has been surprisingly influential.

The decent, high-neck, long-sleeved and long-line dresses they created are popping up on other runways. And this feminine gentility is looking like a fresh take on millennial style.

Roman glamour has also become fashionable, with Gucci picking up this season that Dolce Vita period of aristocratic elegance and decadence. The Valentino duo cited the actress Anna Magnani and the elegant Marella Agnelli as their touchstones, as well as a prewar Rome.

But as well as mood, the couple focused on the technique of Valentino’s famous studios.

“Texture is so important to us,” Ms. Chiuri said, referring to clothes where lightness was also crucial, from open-work stitching creating windows on the body to “glass slipper” transparent shoes.

The way that the designers handle sexuality is the key to their look, short or long. There was never a hint of vulgarity, even if there were shadows of lingerie under fragile chiffon dresses or when slivers of skin appeared through lace fabric or as cut-away backs to the long gowns.

Even flowers were used delicately as an embroidery of puffy heads and long stems.

The result was a beautiful collection, perfectly realized, showcasing the essence of Valentino. And you could not ask for more as a modernized vision of a heritage brand.