“There are two keywords this season: rural and royal,” said Julien David before his spring show, set in the historic arcades of Paris’ École des Beaux-Arts. The contrast could have easily caused a riot, but David kept it under control with a good deal of cool, taking workwear references and mixing them with noble silhouettes and textures.
Curved volumes — some less subtle than others — were key, as seen on his playful take on 18th-century nobility dresses. In David’s world they took a turn toward commoner as he reduced them to a series of sassy numbers, still stiffly corseted around the hips but irreverently split and girlishly pleated. When matched with cropped fleur-de-lis-printed white shirts or zipped retro rompers, they telegraphed street-smart chic with youthful audacity.
Elsewhere, a techy vinyl top assumed a regal touch as David embroidered it with cords and matched it with sumptuous peasant trousers, and several long coatdresses somewhat harked back to lab coats, but more gracefully cut from fine Japanese denim or printed high-density cotton.
