In yesterday's post we looked at a fashion show during Paris Fashion Week that hinted at the sorrows of the world through somber yet imaginative constructions. Elsewhere on the Parisian runways, there was instead flamboyant grandeur and the joy of a fairytale.
Thom Browne's S/S 23 collection marked his return to Paris and brought back to the French capital his imaginative narratives. For the occasion, he suggested a reinterpretation of Cinderella (complete with a giant shoe at the back of the runway), filtered through American proms and combined with opera (the runway took place in the foyer of the Opéra Garnier).
The Cinderella inspiration actually came to Browne as "Cendrillon" was being performed when he explored the possibilities of hosting his next show at the Opéra Garnier.
The bonus of the show were actresses Gwendoline Christie and Golden Globe-winning "Pose" star MJ Rodriguez (hands up who thought about the fairytale ball flashback in the series's Season 3, even though Rodriguez played Snow White there), in the parts of Charming and Cindy.
Like in an opera there were acts that defined separate sections characterised by different looks. The show opened with Christie in a grand robe with golden embroideries on the back and sleeves, and golden sandals with a three-dimensional rendition of Hector, Browne's dachshund, at the front of each foot.
Then models appeared in twenty billowing taffeta opera coats with varsity jackets numbers on their backs.
The coats, in pastel shades and ruby, red and diamond tones (did Browne borrow them from Balanchine's "Jewels"?) incorporated maximalist bows and ruffles or giant swirls and roses reminiscent of the fabric roses that broke through the designs in Comme des Garçons' A/W 13 collection.
The coats were matched with heeled versions of the iconic saddle shoes from the '50s and most models donned a wrist corsage that evoked romantic prom nights.
Models then came back minus the opera coats, revealing a series of giant polka dot patterned tailored designs (some of them incoporating a time-consuming technique to create intarsia-ed polka dots) in a childlike pastel palette.
After the polka dot army, there was a "Grease" moment with reinterpretations of classic '50s petticoat skirts with the poodle that was obviously turned for the occasion into a dachshund. The inverted cupcake skirts were matched with corsets and a cropped jackets with a three-dimentional ruched fabric.
Then punks arrived wrapped in polka-dot fabrics, and evoking in their attire and sculpted heeled/platform shoes Vivienne Westwood's moods.
The tale closed with Christie and Rodriguez in Charming/Cindy outfits, that is opulent coats covered in gold embroideries, and there was an added bonus, a final moment with Rodriguez "wearing" a life-size pink tulle Cadillac. The final message of the show was an includive one – the shoe doesn't fit only Cinderella, but everyone fits in the shoe.
So far so good, but some of the references in this tale of Cinderella seemed borrowed not by any ballet or opera dedicated to the famous character, but by a specific one, Jules Massenet's 1899 opera "Cendrillon" with costumes and sets by André Barbe and Renaud Doucet.
In their version Cinderella is named Lucette and lives the American dream. The opera is set in the '50s with Lucette working away in an outsized kitchen in pastel tones complete with shiny appliances and there is also a Cadillac in a drive-in scene.
In Barbe & Doucet's version, the costumes were fabulous exaggerations with plenty of pinks, purples and greens and '50s shapes. Besides, the prince donned a varsity cardigan, there were also secondary characters in classic 1950s petticoat skirts (decorated with shoes rather than poodles) and polka dot prints for Cinderella/Lucette's stepsisters.
Apart from aesthetic similarities, the final message of this show echoes the notes of Barbe and Doucet's "Cendrillon" in which they explained: "Escaping is […] a matter of being recognized for who one is within oneself. To be discovered because one exists, to be loved because one exists, to be celebrated because one exists […] Everyone can be the chosen one since everyone is unique. Everyone has a talent waiting to be discovered, is a true love waiting to be found. One absolute condition: one must know who one is in order to know what one wants."
Browne has so far designed costumes for the New York City Ballet, but never tried creating costumes for an opera. Who knows, maybe one day he will try his hand at opera as well, but before then he may have to watch more performances, discover further costume designers and maybe attempt a proper and official collaboration with Barbe & Doucet.
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