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Show Report

DRAWING us into a gorgeous green house in the Serres d’Auteuil gardens was a good idea in principle, but doing it on one of the hottest days in the history of Paris and then making us wait for almost an hour wasn’t Alexis Mabille's most brilliant move.

Having graduated from the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture in 1997, Mabille joined Dior and worked with John Galliano before making his own debut onto the couture schedule in 2008. Since then he’s got himself a reputation for being a true dandy, something of a darling of the fashion scene – partly due to his almost insistent obsession with putting bows on anything he can find, and partly because the famous and fabulous don’t mind a bit of him – Dita Von Teese and her boyfriend Louis-Marie de Castelbajac were here today to make that point.

His is a relaxed, menswear-meets-womenswear aesthetic. “Nothing can stop a girl who’s in touch with her masculine side yet sticks to her womanly ways,” he told us. “Her style may be casual, but she has a secret fascination for banker stripes, and revels in wearing them impertinently.”

Not much about that fascination of hers was secret though – pyjama striped shirts were wrapped into bodices with bows at the front, fashioned into red and white striped skirts below and into green or pink and white shirt dresses – some scattered with broderie anglais flowers.

The models had mussed hair with petals scattered through it – they wore Capri pants with bows on the calf, long fringed belts on their high waisted shorts and long white shirts pulled in by cotton waistcoats. It was casual and summery when it wasn’t over designed, bow festooned over-the-topness – and the tricolour shoes of three elegant suede bands across the foot were worth the wait.

Stripes melded into florals interrupted by panels of paisley lace, then long curvy dresses of silver sequins, blue taffeta or more blue and white stripes had trains trailing behind them – some curled back to strapless bodices, others buttoned up to high collars. It’s obvious that Mabille loves his job and some of this looked fun to wear, but it would benefit from a stricter edit so that the best bits get a chance to shine.


SEE THE ALEXIS MABILLE SHOW ARCHIVE

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