| Style File
In Paris, Flower Children On Parade
24 Jun 2011, 5:41 pm
 Hothouse blooms and leafy plants are springing up everywhere at the Paris men’s shows (and not just because Louis Vuitton showed Kim Jones’ first collection in their usual sultry greenhouse space in the 15th). Bold print has been one of the hallmarks of the season since Prada, Versace, and D&G went maximal in Milan, but here in Paris, there’s a floral cast. For their second men’s collection for Valentino, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli reimagined camouflage as an army green palm tree print—a Hawaiian in disguise, literally. (It fit in nicely with the odd resurgence of tropical chic, from Opening Ceremony and Reyn Spooner’s new collab to Stella McCartney’s Resort womenswear to Jean Paul Gaultier’s floral bermuda shorts and full-on Hawaiian tux. Christophe Lemaire, too, screened oversize flowers, borrowed from a midcentury print, on blouson jackets and slouchy pajama-style pants. It remains to be seen whether the purple blossoms Riccardo Tisci grew for Givenchy’s Fall ‘11 womenswear collection will reappear tonight at his men’s show, or whether Lemaire’s new green thumb will carry over into his second Hermès collection.
—Matthew Schneier Photo: Courtesy of Valentino |
