In the lap of Luxury

Back with an exclusive collection by its creative director Bouchra Jarrar. French fashion house Lanvin had Bangkok’s fashionistas reaching for their credit cards at the recent showcase at Erawan Bangkok.
Jarrar’s first collection for the brand, which she joined in March 2016, is defined by the designer’s observations of life on the Paris boulevards. 
“This first season at Lanvin is an opening. I’ve been exploring the paths of sensuality and intimacy, building clothes around the body, unveiling and veiling the silhouette. I’m searching for essential and harmony. I love to dress women, to reveal them to themselves and to cross borders between femininity and masculinity.” 
The essential looks include Jarrar’s vision of Lanvin’s classic Lavalliere, Modesty and tied waist dresses. The lines are soft and fluid, often grazing the floor. There are bows on necks, fabric flowers and jewelled sandals. Striped chiffon shirts, trench coats, jacket and tuxedos are masculine in the tailoring but retain the wearer’s femininity through the use of silk chiffon, silk georgette, satin and mirror satin, crepe de chine, asymmetrical lace and organza.
Accessories include jewelled shoes and bags in water snake leather, dipped lambskin and lacquered fur. There’s plenty of crystal embroidery, silver gilt chains; chain mail and embroidered flowers.
The Lanvin style stands out through gold knots of chain mail and crystal in choker necklaces and long-neckline gold earrings that sparkle beneath evening jackets.
For menswear, the style director of Homme de Lanvin, Lucas Ossendrijver has drawn up the 2017 summer collection as a manifesto inspired by handmade craftsmanship. “I decided to go with room and creativity. This collection is not about a single concept but rather a collage made up of different possibilities. It's about freedom,” he says.
This desire to experiment, made possible by the skill of the ateliers, is reflected through classic and industrial textures that rub elbows with matte and glossy finishes.
The understatement of coated materials sets off the lustre of bright satin. Dimensions rise to fresh and often outsized proportions and shoulders are levelled. Industrial tones mingle with romantic pastels or a “Night Flowers” screen-print.
Freedom is the order of the day with expressions of style in layers, long-sleeved shirts, t-shirts and short jackets. Colours of every stripe, whether classic or enlarged, dance and weave in every direction in line with the cut.
There are jackets in a splendid patchwork of buckskin and knitwear. Bindings dyed by hand and put together in shaded colours make up a stunning sleeveless t-shirt. The fabric for the trouser knees and jacket elbows is skilfully sewn before being pressed and unstitched to form a novel and natural pleat. The same technique brings out new lines in a leather jacket and brings the interior detail of a parka to the surface.
Straps inspired by Lanvin handbags make well-timed appearances as they move with the body and transform into items of contemporary jewellery that speak of affection. Romantic symbols such as arrows, roses, tattooed babes or stars are in turn cross-stitched on a short-sleeved shirt or a pair of sneakers, applied onto patches such as military badges, or fashioned into jewels worn on the jacket wrist or collar like charms. A single word appears on the back of sneakers with contrasting sand-rubbed vulcanised soles: ‘Error’, which represents a decision to accept it and keep moving forward.
The fashion show ended with the free-spirited scent of Lanvin’s new perfume Modern Princess. Distinctive with the smell of fruity duo of pink apple and red currant on a sexy vanilla orchid signature, its top notes are fresh, invigorating and youthful. Middle notes are more feminine, with the dual character of jasmine, delicate and carnal at the same time, blending with freesia flower. Base notes represent assertive femininity with velvety white musk, luxurious blonde woods and sensual vanilla orchid. The glass bottle, designed by Carrre Basset, is decorated with a gold chain around its neck.