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Photography by Marie-Béatrice Seillant
Torrente by Julien Fourníe
By Christine Suppes
At last summer's Haute Couture presentation, Christophe Josse, the former close assistant to Rose Torrente-Mett, took over the reins of the dusty, old school couture house and breathed new life into it with urban sophistication and motorcycle dash. His tenure was short-lived, and he was replaced by Julien Fourníe, a 28 year old designer who banished Josse's urbanity and city chic with a haute couture collection he calls "Paris-Oz". Basically theatrical in nature, with an accent on snugly fitted hips, these are not ensembles for the timid. The first few pantsuits he sent out leaned heavily on ruffles and ruching, a theme carried out throughout the show. There were so many heavy ruffles that their eyes ached, and the so called "little black dress", "tattooed with crystal trimmings and embroidered with roses, decorated with a cascade of jet at the back" provided visual relief. Fourníe apprenticed at Nina Ricci, Dior, Givenchy and Celine before being hired by Jean Paul Gaultier. It was during the Gaultier period that the young designer got a crack at working on Madonna's stage costumes. His mind and heart are still at one with theater, though Torrente's true blue clientele might prefer something a little more couture in spirit.
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