paris fashion week: cacharel
(images via ny mag)
now, opt hasn’t been covering the still-in-recovery french house of cacharel very long (see resort 2011, s/s 2011, a/w 2012), mostly, i suppose, because like so many of these-on-the-mend brands that think with the right designer, they’ll suddenly be in for a quick fix, yet remain oblivious to the fact that they’re not exactly inspiring consumer confidence what with all the rapid changeovers in creative direction. ahem. however, with their recent fall collection, i at least, fell completely in lock-step with what the current designers, ling liu and dawei sun, are up to.
but that may be just me, and anyway, one really never knows. after all, the version…i don’t know…12.0 of emanuel ungaro (as under the creative direction of the young jeanne labib-lamour for the s/s 2012 season) was looking pretty good for such an embattled label, but then again, they had, ahem, this (oh, seriously, there’s so much sartorial goodness, i may just have to do a retroactive review on that mess) in their archives during the s/s 2010 reign of the apocalypse lindsay lohan, but all the same, the last i’d heard, they were shopping (or had just named) another new designer, yet again. in other words, the cacharel designers should watch out a little, because sometimes swapping them out becomes just, like, a thing of fun (or something?) for the house executives.
but i digress, and anyway, it’s time to be getting on with our discussion on cacharel’s sunny and charming s/s 2013 collection at paris fashion week. in yet another discourse on watery goodness, the ap reported that the atelier’s designers “brought aquatic life to the catwalk. Free hanging A-line slip dress and gently flaring peplums and skirts…floated alongside prints of goldfish skin, anemones and underwater tea flower bloom. This…collection was also a celebration of the natural world in its careful palette the Cerulean blue of sky, orange of sea coral and tea green.”
carrying on, they added that “designers Ling Liu and Dawei Sun keep these codes, therefore, adding this season a touch of contemporary graphic prints. In the program notes, they liken their collection to a small girl, whose vivid imagination plays games of hide and seek. It’s a nice way of explaining the plays of transparency with the sheer fabrics in chiffon. The gentle blurring made this collection a visual treat.”
meanwhile, according to fashionologie, the designers “showed an exuberant collection of florals for Spring 2013. The sweet print made its way onto everything from minidresses to Bermuda shorts to swing coats to sheer shirtdresses. Continuing the ultrafeminine theme were dresses with poufy skirts and ruffle details. The color scheme was mostly white, blue, and orange with a couple soft-pink pieces. A few printed pants and oversize blouses made more boyish cameos on the Cacharel catwalk.”
“The dreaminess and lovely hues of the aquatic world guided Ling Liu and Dawei Sun, whose spring Cacharel collection had charm and insouciance,” reflected wwd. “Working in a palette of blues, greens and orange, the designers offered many silhouettes that floated by in pretty floral and watercolor prints. They also played with transparency on flouncy dresses, some featuring sweet ruffles that underscored the lineup’s youthful feel.”
and style informed us that “(t)he show didn’t lack for charming pieces: It started strong with a lyrical botanical print on a popover top and Bermuda shorts set, and it ended well, too, with a strapless long dress covered in a colorful abstract goldfish motif. In between, though, it was difficult to fathom why the designers insisted on the cool blues and hot oranges that were used almost exclusively. Certainly there are other, prettier colors. The graphic knits could’ve used more finessing too. But what was most perplexing were those sheer organza smocked dresses and ruffled skirts. They were prissy when they should’ve been sassy.”
and finally, uk vogue was back to a more enthusiastic outlook (on a similar wavelength to opt, in that manner), writing that (t)”he duo had taken inspiration from movement and afternoon tea time - a time at which, for them, they see their girl to be dreaming away. ‘She has two sides - one is a princess and one is more rock ‘n’ roll, a girl who listens to Blondie,’ the pair explained of their muse. This materialised, however, into transparent wispy dresses and skirts, bunched at the waist; airy plaid shirts in mint shades; swingy trapeze dresses pleated with aquatic prints; frothy frills around the waist; graphic prints on top to softer - more of the aquatic- ones below; and everything matching to a degree.”
“‘It’s very important for us to take the Cacharel DNA and try to put it with our own inspiration and our own personalities,’ explained Liu and Sun. And does it get easier with each new collection? ‘It’s very interesting,’ they diplomatically replied. It certainly seemed to be easier for them this season - this collection was back on the right tracks for Cacharel,” was how they summed things up. indeed. sweet, and wearable, and if not always impressing all the fashion editors out there, then i think we’ve just talked about all of that.
(watch the complete show video here)
