Claudine Ivari – Fall wear sublime AW1213
I was thrilled to be invited to Claudine Ivari’s Fall/Winter prête-à-porter collection. The invitation itself was telling of the playful creativity of this designer. It was made like a plane ticket with the destination as “Paris Fashion Week”. LOVE it!
I went with my friend, model Kelsey Close, who admitted to me that it was her first time seeing a show from this perspective and not as a model walking in it! What a perfect show for her first one. Not overwhelming but opulent just the same. Claudine’s shows are held in the giant and luxurious space where she also has her show room and holds her private sales. It’s a classified building, and so quintessentialy Parisian!
And now onto the collection : It was perfect. I don’t know a better way to describe her designs. They are exquisitly feminine with gentle flowing lines and attention to the curves of the body while also integrating a savoir-faire for cut, design, minute handiwork and knowledge of fabric, materials and texture and how they relate to the body, the cut and the design of the piece.
I would wear every single item that came out onto that catwalk.
I was especially delighted to see her using leather in this collection, and working it in the pieces juxtaposed with the knits or fabrics. This is not an easy combination to do because certain attention has to be paid to how the piece will wrap onto the curves of the body since leather and knitwear or fabric have different qualities to how they interact with movement. Additionally, the inclusion of leather adds an element of “danger” and seduction that I had yet to see in her work. Claudine has pulled it off like a pro!
I was also glad to see some of that gorgeous embroidery work spilling over from her Spring 2012 collection. This is where she has shown her couture capabilities, and I hope to see this in every collection she makes, even if it is only one piece. It’s artistic as well as being the kind of embellishment that makes her designs not just clothing, but luxury.
Then of course there was her stunning gowns, and her talented way of using silk to turn a woman into a goddess. Her color palette is sultry and modern and the Ivari woman is strong and beautiful and self assured, just like Claudine. Bravo for another stunning collection!
