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Barrère
By Timothy Hagy
A Chinese Take Away
One wonders at time of the makeup of the fashion set, those lines of mature men who string along the catwalks. Are they all really fashion editors? Perhaps just connoisseurs of couture.
Either way, Hubert Barrère certainly sent out an eye-full at his couture collection for Spring / Summer 2004. Based on an Asian theme, in what program notes described as "silk and lace veiled and unveiling the body in a cross of wives and concubines", a corset fetish was not far beneath the surface. They came lacquered white, dyed skin-colored, stiffened from rice paper and held together with chopsticks.
The 24 pieces were divided by section: Imperial Mandarin Kimonos, Spring Rolls, Sweet and Sour, Obi or Not Obi, in a menu-like format that gave guests reason to salivate.
With see through chiffon the fabric of choice, and organza and sequins sprayed only sparingly, it was no wonder that the dash backstage afterwards nearly turned into a shoving match.
The clothes themselves had a certain exotic sex appeal, but wearing them out in broad daylight, at least the way they were presented on the runway, might lead to misunderstandings more sour than sweet.
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