A Beautiful Nightmare

We need to remember this collection...

Riccardo Tisci Wows with Givenchy’s Fall Couture Collection

As the resident dark horse of the fashion world, Riccardo Tisci lured viewers into an altered state of consciousness for Givenchy’s fall 2010 couture collection. His continuous ability to romanticize death shown through in each of the the luxe confections, sequentially working to guide audiences deeper and deeper into a tangible fragment of Tisci’s own world.

Opting to show the collection in presentation form rather than on a runway evoked an intimate, elegant setting from one of couture’s modern masters of the mid-twentieth century. By allowing guests to interact with the gowns and mingle with the silhouettes, they were given a better view of every deserving detail in order to maximize the overall effect of Tisci’s meticulous handiwork. In a typical runway setting, sublime details such as the zippers made of bones, tulle underlay, and pearl encrusted bodices would have been lost to the eye of the viewer.

The first piece, as shown on Natasha Poly, was a stunning technical achievement from one of the French Federation of Fashion and of Ready-to-Wear of Couturiers and Fashion Designer’s youngest members. Seamlessly transitioning from the flat, skeletal pattern of the bodice into the gushing feathered skirt reminded Givenchy devotees why his collections are continuously one of the most anticipated each season. She wore a dress so incomprehensibly intricate and mentally devastating that it was easy to imagine Tim Burton casting it on a new take of Walt Disney’s Snow White. The sheer paneling and elaborate embroidery worked together to form a suggestively contemporary gown that could just as easily be sent to the Oscars, or to the set of a Twilight film. 

As the designer attests, this collection is somewhat of an ode to the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, the surrealist painter who was best known for her self-portraits and dark obsession with morality. Tisci interpreted her lifelong obsession with death through his melange of signatures: lace, fringe and degrade, which were scrupulously applied to resemble the decaying human form. 

A man known for his gothic aesthetic, Tisci proved that he could work even the nearly all-white palette into his grotesque vision for the collection. The gowns that made up the ten-piece collection were the sort of thing one imagines only the truly ingenious could conjure up. The story of his mental and physical pain was lined up before our eyes as he executed his vision through well cut fabric and hand curled feathers. The mind-numbing intensity highlighted Tisci’s penchant for ornate extravagance. 

In the end, this collection perfectly captured Tisci’s capacity to demonstrate his mastery of modern design, coupled with his ability to make the Cimmerian shade of death look appealing.