PARIS – Jean-Charles de Castelbajac can normally be counted on to latch onto a juicy theme – the Muppets, say, or Africa – and beat it to a bloody pulp.
But the theme escaped unscathed Tuesday as France’s reigning king of kitsch delivered an uncharacteristically subdued spring-summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection of ladylike daywear.
Called “Rustica Gallactica,” the collection was supposed to be a sort of hybrid of a pastoral style and slick futuristic looks, or as the collection notes would have it, a “temporal space trip, (to where) the past sophistication and the future rusticity live together.”
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It was a hard concept to get your head around – a fact that made for an obtuse collection, lacking in the kind of over-the-top, tongue-and-cheek extravagance the house has elevated to an art. Heavy oatmeal-colour tweed suits had silver lame touches, and silk cocktail dresses burst with oversized star panelling at the bustier.
Still, though it was dominated by proper bourgeois-looking pieces, there were still sudden bursts of Castelbajac’s trademark irony, like the Mickey Mouse ears that peeked over the bustline of a bustier dress, and the measuring tape as a waistband on a serious suit – a touch guaranteed to keep the wearer counting calories.
As a kicker, the floor-length silver sequin gown that closed the show was paired with a pearl-covered choker made out of what appeared to be a neck brace – the accessory of choice for those women for whom whiplash is no excuse for not looking chic.
The collection marked the start of a new era for the house of Castelbajac, which was recently bought by a South Korean sportswear company after it initiated bankruptcy proceedings.
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