“Rendez-Vous” – the notion that anything can happen, that anything is possible; a sense of adventure – was the title of DVF’s fall collection which was all about seduction. The show notes of Diane and French creative director Yvan Misplaere tell us that “glamorous is at a moment’s notice… she is effortless & elaborate” and bearing “a heightened awareness to the promise of places she has not yet been“… so mysterious! – which is precisely the intended effect we received of the collection.
While we’re used to DVF’s signature prints and expert wrap-dresses, she pared things down this season, which ended up having dramatic and alluring effects, combined with the bold colour blocking. Despite this minimalistic colour trend (which wasn’t so minimalistic if you take into account the bold brights), whimsical prints were still present with jigsaw puzzles, little eyes, and chains, which symbolised the whole aura of fun, mystery and spontaneity so central to the message within the collection…
Silhouettes were sleek and languid yet had cover ups in combination, thereby presenting a “Ying & Yang“, which Diane described as “what makes a woman fun“. So she was the queen of juxtapositions: the matte & the shiny; the short & the long; the tight & the loose — each seen within the show and each invoking a sense of confidence, which every DVF girl possesses at its finest.
Finally, a review of this beautiful display cannot end without at least mentioning the delicious colours… deep magentas, peacock blues, rich maroons, mustard hues, gold, muted chartreuse… even daring to play these striking colours together in a mastery of colour blocking — “we do colour blocking with our eyes closed“… well if this is what happens when her eyes are closed, I can’t imagine what amazing things she’d come up with, with her eyes open!
Overall a very wearable collection with clean and simple elegance… smart blazers, loose trousers, a clear mix of separates, dresses, and jumpsuits (the pink jumpsuit paired with the aubergine coat is on my wish list!) — it was bold, daring, strong… evoking exactly the type of “elegant but glamorous & seductive” woman who is “ready for anything” that Miss Von Furstenburg so perfectly aimed to show us.
I don’t think the question is whether this woman is ready for anything, but rather: is the world ready for her? — I think i’d like to wear the clothes and test out the theory myself!
Are you ready for your rendez-vous?
FASHIONEEKA. 