Sex appeal and spacemen

By Katie Wright

Sex appeal and spacemen

BALMAIN’s recent resurgence in popularity has been one of the big fashion stories of 2009 – you can’t open a glossy magazine at the moment without seeing one of those ubiquitous pointy-shouldered dresses. That reign looks set to continue come spring. The shoulders-as-erogenous-zone focus remains, but with more epaulettes and fringe detail rather than just sharp angles. The sex appeal of the dresses is ramped up (if that were possible) with slits and slashes all over the place, while the bodycon tightness is enhanced with goddess draping in dark golden metallics.

Never undeserving of the praise heaped on him, Nicolas Ghesquiere put out a triumvirate of very strong looks at BALENCIAGA. First, skintight black leather silhouettes topped and tailed with astronaut influences – spacesuit-thick hoods on jackets and peep-toe moonboots. Next, a bunch of pale sixties shifts with graphics in bright accent colours. And finally, modern art references; patches of leather pieced together on a minidress and, more literally, angular brush stroke prints that I think the Cubists would approve of.

Unusually, Karl Lagerfeld’s eponymous line was a more sober affair than his Chanel collection, all sleek lines and cinched waists in mostly black and white. It was far from humourless though – does look 23 (below) remind you of anyone?