PFW: John Galliano’s rock concert -- er, runway show
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PARIS -- John Galliano’s fashion shows are more like rock concerts than industry events. And this season, the frenzy began at the door, where security guards got into a horrifying scrum with photographers who had been waiting in line for hours to get in, with one poor fellow getting grabbed by the neck by one of the goons.
‘What do they think this is, 1985?’ said a friend, referring to an era when fashion was thought to be so important, getting into a show was a matter of life or death for some. ‘It’s just a fashion show.’
Maybe so, but inside the warehouse space, after Rachel Zoe, Harvey Weinstein and about 500 others were seated, the drama heightened. A flurry of fake snow began to fall and a laser light beamed onto the runway, making Galliano’s models look like they were walking out of a giant magical snow globe.
The clothes were a Russian peasant fantasy of voluminous, embroidered dirndl skirts and coats jingling silver coins, pompom-trimmed sandals that laced up the leg, and Galliano’s always beautiful, bias-cut gowns done in silver thread.
The ethnic travelogue was something to look at all right, but it had nothing to do with anything else we’ve seen this season. And by the fifth look, when the soapy faux snow had become a steady flurry, many guests had started coughing and rubbing their stinging eyes.
Along the front row, several editors had pulled scarves up over their noses and mouths, a ‘Zoolander’ moment for sure.
-- Booth Moore
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Photo credits from top: Thibault Camus / Associated Press; Michel Euler / Associated Press
