Call it a palate cleanser: Richard René stuck to a black-and-white color scheme for his debut collection for Guy Laroche, presented at the brand’s store on Rue François 1er in Paris. Adding a slightly surreal twist to the affair, the models wore blonde bowl cut wigs in homage to French actress Mireille Darc. The sex symbol, who is believed to have inspired French First Lady Brigitte Macron’s look, regularly wore Laroche designs in her movies, including a scoop-backed gown that was featured in an exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs last year.
When his appointment was revealed earlier this month, René initially said he would not reference the infamous dress — indeed, why go for such an obvious allusion? Yet here it was, reinterpreted as a dangerously low-cut black swimsuit and a similarly ooh la la black jumpsuit.
It was a shame, because the pastiche looks distracted from the designer’s original idea — a play on the Bauhaus logo created in 1922 by Oskar Schlemmer, with asymmetry and opposites: in-and-out, shiny and matte, sheer and opaque.
That translated into minimalist tailoring, like a buttonless black leather jacket and skinny pants, and peekaboo dresses with cutouts and sheer chiffon panels. Next time, René should trust his instincts and ditch the gimmicks.