With Galliano himself back in action with his collection for Margiela, it is without doubt that Bill Gaytten will have to put up with certain comparisons between his work and that of the previous creative director. However, Gaytten provided us with a show that stood out and managed to tell a coherent story from beginning to end.
Gaytten said he: “approached the collection with an eye for graphic impact, sumptuous surface detail and a fresh focus on silhoutte” and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Opening the show with lamé laced brocades and metallics in gold and silver then closing the show in bright reds and aquatic printed dresses; the show was definitely a mixed bag of looks.
Shorts worn with bare legs were repeated throughout the opening few looks, with a plain black duster coat breaking up the jacquard prints of the shorts and jumpers, the same jacquard prints were repeated in coats, which were worn either alone or with matching shorts.
Metallic cigarette trousers were a statement piece throughout the collection, and were repeated in different colours and patterns, worn with a cropped jacket in a contrasting colour. The cropped jackets were styled with patent leather ankle boots, which fit well with the already masculine collection.
In between the manly shapes of the jackets and trousers, were strong wearable selections of floaty dresses, one particular halter neck wrap dress stood out, with one half black and the other a mix of the jacquard metallics previously seen in the collection.
Gayttens collection featured heavily on orchid purple pieces with bouclé mohair duster coats and long evening dresses with cut outs, which then filtered into poppy red duster coats, floaty evening dresses, t cropped jackets, trimmed with mink and fox fur, in either the same colour or a contrasting colour – these pieces were the highlight of the show and worked well with each outfit.
Despite a huge focus on prints, most of the collection managed to maintain a certain simplicity, making it a desirable and very wearable AW collection.
