Last night’s presentation of Givenchy menswear by Riccardo Tisci for Fall Winter 2010 was a succinctly edited production of strong, masculine looks with Riccardo finding that ‘twist’ that explores a mix of luxury and the street for Givenchy’s modern fashion customer. The show itself was a fortress – being held in the prestigious halls of the Parisian university, La Sorbonne, and the crowd a carefully selected handful of editors and buyers – all anxious to see the next step in Riccardo’s aggressive conquest of the high fashion mens market. Once seated, we were hushed by the heavy chords of Frédéric Sanchez’s choral and strings composition, further emphasizing the profound poetry of the surrounding architecture under the warm glow of chandeliers.

Riccardo presented only twenty seven looks this season, a wise decision that added impact to each garment and carried through his search for the ‘soft darkness’ in menswear. He chose a sombre colour palette of black, navy and white to execute every piece, with a single print teeshirt proclaiming “Jesus is Lord” the only burst of violent colour, and razor sharp crown-of-thorns necklaces were a glint of gold in the opening looks. “Is Riccardo trying to sell us Jesus Christ?!” exclaimed Suzy Menkes post show – no, he was simply expressing the passions of his personal journey, religion being one of the driving forces in his life ever since his childhood in Southern Italy.

Religion aside, the garments seemed a study of precious fabrics and striking sharp cuts, with an underlying link to sportswear that was most prevalent in the neoprene leggings with patent sandals that grounded many of the looks. Square cut shirting came emblazoned with eagle embroidery or layered with softly textured formal bibs, and blazers cut away at a strong diagonal, hanging off a strong shoulder in single or double breasted forms. Trousers were cut slim and clung to the leg in stretch wools, sometimes layered with shorts on the knee in rich velvet or covered across with a half-skirt. Outerwear carried a utilitarian flair informed by seasons past, with leather sleeves, hoods and zips that prove Riccardo’s Italian past never lies far from his heart.

Taking his quiet bow in a starry tee shirt from SS10, Riccardo proclaimed this collection as his strongest yet, for the distillation of codes that he has built at the house since beginning menswear in 2007.

Show Details:

DECOR & PRODUCTION: Shortcut Events

MUSIC: Frédéric Sanchez

HAIR: Luigi Murenu

GIVENCHY MAKEUP: Aaron de Mey