EDWARD ACHOUR PARIS F/W 2016/17

This Autumn 2016, Edward's woman wears lips of sin and smoky eyes, her timeless elegance assuming a sophisticated ‘80s glamour that sees the classic forms counterbalanced by high - waisted mega - flairs, voluminous neck - scarves, slouchy sheer evening numbers and even blue denim. Modern and mysterious, an urban siren stepped straight from a Gruau sketch her colours saturate to clash and her edges blur, while jewellery hangs low in seductively lazy loops about delicately positioned gardenias.

Edward’s Winter 16 tweeds are by turns riotous and refined. An exclusively reedited ‘60s couture fabric forms the centrepiece with its stately caramel and silver chevrons. A versatile black natté is alternately given quilted linings for a sports feel, or glistening white mohair trim for subtle glamour. On the wilder side, weave patterns are modernised, indeed magnified out of all proportion, to wrap the shoulders in layers of pixelate jostling colours. Night cityscapes, the twinkling of traffic or the haze of electric dance floors are evoked by an oversize shepherd’s check coat of muted ochres and fuchsia, or the vibrant primaries of a mammoth houndstooth jacket. For the gentler sensibilities, a giant gingham in icy mottled greys and whites provides a fresh gust of wintry cool.

The neck is the subject of delicate constrictions this season: multi - string pearl chokers, turtle necks, chunky bows and assorted chains all provide sensuous grip. But voluminous splashes of red and fuschia steal the show, spilling down as maxi scarves built into silk shirts like decadent collars, contrasting perfectly with the simplified optical glare of an oversize monochrome houndstooth coat, for example. And below the neck?

The trusty LBD of course maintains a strong position with several permutations on surface play. Slinky and sheer black silk cascades in flowing sheets or layered pleats, threaded with ribbons, interposed with panels  of floral lace or hemmed in cock tail fringing.

The tight knits and clean lines are counterbalanced by a frivolity of ruffles that blur the edges of decorum. Tiered sleeves bring chic harlequin humour to the sleek minimalism of a little black jacket, a long black coat, and fluid ribbed - knit sweaters in shades of pale slate and sunshine. A crisp red wool curved - hem dress takes on tulip like proportions with a wide frill appended to its every edge, and an ethereally abstract gardenia grows enormous upon the chest of a simple white poplin shirt. But the most curious of edges is to be found on a black jersey coat whose hems and lapels are hung with pearls mounted on slender golden rods that dangle, twitching hypnotically, as Edward's woman walks into the night. 

Edward Achour Paris F/W 2015

The Edward Achour woman enters a soft world of fantasies for Fall - Winter 2015. The obsessional eye of the designer takes up the magnifying glass of the doll’s house maker to explore the elegant woman’s closet, in all its improbable details. Overstitching, trim, hemweights and linings are all emphasised and reinvented with fetishist enthusiasm for a modern vocabulary of form and ornament that pays homage to the grand couturiers of the 1950s and ‘60s.

If a clinical Belle –de - Jour elegance may emanate from the composed monochrome palette of blacks on whites on beige, the occasional flash of hot red or animal print, as the glint of delicate interior detailing amidst hazy layers of tulle, remind us that still waters run deep.

Through the looking lens, the delicacy of lace takes on unexpected proportions as neoprene and leather are woven into dentelles that envelop the body in seductive chinoiseries. And drape - assuring chain - weights, freed from the hems, drip in giant links like molten metal down lapels as fantastical trimmings.

The maison’s signature classic and bouclé tweeds are joined this season by an exclusive natté finish. This tighter, slicker weave comes in pompom - fringed midwinter white, or a black strew in pearls or white gardenias. Other innovations see the cool swish of taffeta updated in the sleek black of a parachute - grade technical weave, fit for the sky - falls of modern society.

And the boxy silhouette of a long jacket softens beneath rustling layers of pale muslin fringing. Sweet yet complex eccentricities undercut any suspicion of daytime - demure. A black chiffon tunic dress blends nonchalantly into the lining of a coat, as if it was never there, while a white pleated silk shirt breaks into a surreal smile with collar - points in the form of two red – nailed manicured hands, daintily fastening the final button (or perhaps undoing the first?). The Fall - Winter 2015 collection marries the decorum of continental couture to a ready – to – wear lightness of heart. The classic tailoring is accompanied by the lucky charms of girly femininity: a trompe l’oeil lipstick pendant, smatterings of pearls in strings or scattered across black silk; satin ribbon - bows, blooming silk gardenias and custom buttons, in gold braided, bejewelled, or tweed, all providing pretty punctuation at key moments, and continuity for matching.