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Nicolas Ghesquière has been Creative Director of power house and hot ticket Balenciaga for 15 years, despite scarcely looking much older himself. This season he did things slightly differently and experimented, because of course, he can. That hot ticket got you in to La Tour Cristal, one of 20 skyscrapers built in 1990. One foot through the door and the show had started, you were immersed in his world. Models dressed identically pointed you to your designated lift to take you up 27 floors and you better have left your vertigo at the door. A beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower provided the backdrop. Shame it was covered in fog, although Ghesquière told i-D online he liked it better that way. The building itself was located in the business district and the clothes were site specific. Guesquière created an office microcosm complete with stationary accessories and sartorial pecking-order. The show opened with power dressing seen in oversized dove grey and camel coats, buttonless and detail-less except for their bright white deal-breaking collars. Underneath were dresses in blue, red and pink hues with A-line bottoms, sheer panels and chunky metallic hems, which sometimes imitated metallic Madonna breasted cut out jackets. Sometimes not. The metal ran through in leopard print jackets and stiff architectural jumpers, made softer by above the knee flirty white skirts. Office clerk hair dos, Big Business earrings, the top-heavy silhouette and the odd polo neck added an 80s feel to the collection. Another season, another success. Do we ever expect less?
Text: Sarah Raphael
Film: TJ
Photography: Mitchell Sams
Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.
