His day and night spring and summer
school
An imaginary mixed school like the
one which the designer would have dreamed of, with
only art, music, couture and needlework courses, and
endless parties without waiting for graduation day.
It is this fun loving, unconventional gang of students,
teachers and parents, that Alexis Mabille chooses
to dress this season. His two main sources of inspiration,
that he began to explore last season, are:
- college or military uniforms and sports attire,
like braids trimmed cardigan jackets and skirts, trench
coats and large metallic buttons and belts, pleated
tennis dresses, hoddies and polo shirts…
- formal evening wear, tuxedos and tuxedos stripe
details, long and short party dresses, and their relevant
accessories. Alexis’ true obsession with bowties
and every possible form of bow is found on knotted
dress straps, pocket flaps, cuffs and collars. It
reaches its apex on a long dress featuring a back
seam with a spine like row of multiple bowties. The
seasons bag is the bowtie clutch, and a new peacock
feathers bowtie pin is introduced. In this smart alternative
school, the designer shakes the established dress
codes, with lightness and humour. Day wear mixes with
evening wear, sports with formals, and the sexes are
transgressed. Alexis satisfies our desire to invert
roles. The women seize tuxedos, suits and tailored
fabrics, Prince of Wales plaids, pinstripes, ties
and bowties. While men dare wearing flowered pajamas,
lemon yellow, aqua and baby pink fabrics. This collection
is designed either to seduce or to empower, depending
on timing and occasions. To seduce at a party or to
succeed in business.
The collection’s two main and
contrasted themes answer to this human desire. First
of all, the graphic line, impartially black and white,
and a few midnight blues, is strongly tuxedo style
with vertical satin tuxedo stripes everywhere. The
cuts are very sharp for the long mermaid line dresses
with vertical side wide bands, stretched line suits,
starched cotton piqué impeccable shirts, glazed
summer wools, shiny duchess silk satin and crisp straw
fabric. This geometrical spirit is also found in the
uniform inspired styles when colors shaded or metallic
silver braids structured jackets, coats, skirts, and
pants cuts. Tailored collars can just be braids outlined
in trompe l’oeil.This sophisticated fashion
allows good students to assert themselves. But in
the collection, it mixes in contrast with seductive
dreamers who affectionate a naïve and radiant
style. All in innocent touches, fine wools and crepes,
Swiss dots and chiffon, clouds of silk veiling, hand-painted
nets, shades of petal pink, lemon yellow, celestial
or aqua blue. Alexis Mabille keeps on with his insolent
spirit with shaded lamé handkerchief mini-dresses,
baby pink cotton piqué pajamas with mini-skirt
for women, and for men, with
transparent flowers embroidered. The collection’s
masculine-feminine silhouette is narrow, tight and
elongated. Jackets, coats, and sleeves are too short
and too high-fitting. Straight skirts are too high
slit. Dresses are too short. Pant legs are too wide
or too tight like insect limbs; buttons and bowties
come in rows. But always light touches interfered,
shear fabrics and soft flounces, naïve flowery
patterns. Alexis Mabille’s style is refined
and sophisticated. For example, the new smart women
shoes. A trompe l’oeil high heel Spectators
pumps in cream, chocolate, mouse grey suede or black
flat snake skin straps, cut out the naked skin. An
evening sandal pastel pink, yellow, almond with a
spine of bowties along the high heel. If impertinent,
Alexis Mabille’s fashion proposes a response
to a contemporary unisex wardrobe. The snappy designer
bypasses a certain bourgeois fashion elements with
a humoristic spirit. Alexis Mabille fashion school
is definitively playful!