When two worlds collide, naturally there is chaos. And where there is chaos, unexpected things happen. In his debut for Guy Laroche, Adam Andrascik allowed the latter to occur by fusing two aesthetics from opposite ends of the spectrum.
Laroche had its heyday in the Seventies and Eighties, its original house codes built on an astute sense of color and red carpet-savvy styling. The surprise here was how far this collection strayed from that. True, Andrascik incorporated the label’s open backs, high necks and sexy cutouts, but the lineup’s somber palette and conceptual approach to tailoring were inherently his handwriting. He relied on deconstructed silhouettes, some patched together from panels of different fabrics, including knits, leather, faux astrakhan and sequin embroideries. Attached randomly, mostly from the waist down, they did not flatter the body and looked somehow boyish. Also unfortunate: a riot of outdated and rather tacky calligraphy prints tattooed onto perfecto jackets, skirts and dresses. A series of tubular knit dresses with open backs, on the other hand, had a sexy vibe and tossed some shine into the mix via gold-and-silver foil effects.
One couldn’t shake the feeling that Andrascik hadn’t quite made up his mind about where to pledge his allegiance. But then, again, makeovers do not happen overnight.