Riccardo Tisci wove a complex dichotomy of sportswear and luxury together for his Fall Winter 2010 collection for the house of Givenchy, exploring the realms of water and snow sports alongside minimalist tailoring and crystal embellishment. Underlying the collection was an intangibly precious and reverent feeling, with the North African influences of the season before surely surpassed by a return to Riccardo’s European roots.

Despite the splashes of colour and glint of diamonds, M/M Paris’s graphic sticker invitation for the show (below) gave little away of what we would witness from A#8′s curator this season.

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Held in the Lycée Carnot in the 17th arrondisement, the show was lit by circles of red heat lamps, with dark benches zig-zagging across the floor of the draughty stadium. Guests included many of Riccardo’s muses and friends – including Amanda Lear, Beth Ditto, Anna Piaggi and the odd addition of Little Britain’s David Walliams, engaged to model Lara Stone (who walked in the show).

Following some of the key elements that were interspersed through the SS10 haute couture collection, Riccardo worked his signature aggression coupled with a bold romance – sculpting a modern wardrobe that explored the house codes of Givenchy. A grosgrain ribbon tied at the neck of many outfits was a delicate reminder of the ultra-feminine. Givenchy makeup artist Pat McGrath created a ruby red glittering lip as a stunning and harmonious accompaniment to Riccardo’s garments, and a pale pink stain around the eyes gave the girls a vampiric intensity.

Each look walked a fine line between tethered restraint and a fluid freedom, however disparate the fabrics and colours may have been in the distinct sections of the show. This included the transformation of high-necklines with mesh and lace panelling, and the bound miniskirts and cropped trousers in neoprene unzipped at the waist like a deconstructed cummerbund. Tailoring was offered double breasted with a long, lean silhouette, a subtle A-line and tuxedo detailing.

Intricate ruffles, lace and pleating were reworked in vermillion red, sheer black and nude – contrasted with shiny leather outerwear that lent a new hardness directly from the menswear collection (with five mens looks shown for the first times with the womenswear).

Sleek body-hugging knitwear was rendered in navy, grass green and red jacquards, focused on circular motifs reminiscent of baroque architecture, layered with straps and gilets – updating the use of similar prints for SS10.

Eveningwear showed a redux of themes seen in the haute couture collections, albeit simplified for ready-to-wear. Breastplates were the focus for intricate detailing of lace and ruching, with a bolero shape encircling the bust. Dresses and drainpipe trousers were encrusted with crystal, as were exquisitely bejeweled gloves and clutches – pieces that seemed morphed into a single sparkling object, contrasting the sober tailoring and simplicity of little black dresses. Those same dresses continued the folded detailing of the skirts and trousers, with leather, velvet or satin triangular panels falling from the bust. The final looks revisited marabou and ostrich feathers, in sheer voile tops exploding with feathered fronts and trailing gossamer wings behind.

Leaving much to sink in, Fall Winter 2010 proposed many new ideas which will continue to inform Riccardo’s aesthetic – furthering his baroque and gothic leanings with a dose of well-timed Givenchy minimalism.

Show Details:

DECOR & PRODUCTION: La Mode en Images

MUSIC: Frédéric Sanchez

HAIR: Luigi Murenu

GIVENCHY MAKEUP: Pat McGrath

Above: Vogue Italy’s Anna Piaggi backstage after the show.

Above: The Gossip’s Beth Ditto congratulates Riccardo Tisci backstage after the show.

Riccardo Tisci showcased the most spectacular and luxurious of Givenchy‘s yearly offerings last night, with the Haute Couture Spring Summer 2010 show at the Salon Impérial of The Westin hotel in Paris’s 1st district. With a hushed crowd of press, guests, customers and family and friends of Riccardo, the production was a contemporary vision of the rich history of couture at the house of Givenchy, and a glimpse into the highest echelons of the international fashion market.

The commercial and historical importance of such an event was highlighted from the beginning, with each outfit carefully described in minute detail in an immaculate folio on each seat, a perfect guide for prospective clients to order their bespoke garments, or for elite editors to call in to shoot. The sound of jangling tubular bells bounced around the high ceilings of the decadent ballroom, as lighting rigs suspended technicians with spotlights high above us, ready to train their lights on each model as she walked by.

Seated directly opposite the A team was Riccardo’s stalwart sisters and mother, regulars at his shows and always flowing with emotion as they watch their brother and son’s talent and commitment come to life in front of their eyes. They were some of the first seated, with popstar Ciara making a rushed last minute entrance before the lights dimmed and the soundscape rose up with Pro Forma and The Knife’s heavy chanting tunes mixed by Frédéric Sanchez.

In a true whirlwind of vibrant colour and opulent textures, Riccardo sent out twenty three looks in a slow and steady procession, a single walk for each girl through the two chambers and a final group walk to thunderous applause. The collection took cues from the decadence of 1970s disco culture, while maintaining many of the baroque references that have become signature to his aesthetic. Luigi Murenu gave the girls straight and middle parted hair, and Pat McGrath created an intensely hued eyelid of navy glitter shadow with a vermillion lip.

A tightly sculpted trouser suit opened the show paired with frothy ostrich and vulture feathers beneath, and was followed by a procession of sheer layered looks in duchess satin, hand pleated organza, stiff silk gazar or soft lace. Progressing through an elegant palette of nude, black and navy, these first looks rung true to Riccardo’s pedigree – albeit breaking new ground for the lavish embellishment in jet, crystal, and feathers. It was however the final seven looks that stole the show.

As soon as Hanne Gaby Odiele strode out with hands in pockets of a flared jumpsuit entirely covered in blue and black geometric sequins, the following minutes flew past in a kaleidoscope of sapphire, emerald and amethyst shades. Closing the show in a degradé fuschia gown with beige crystal bustier was supermodel Natalia Vodianova, in absence of Riccardo’s muse and close friend Mariacarla Boscono [performing in Rome].

Although a pointed departure from the gothic, bedouin inspired collection of last season, Riccardo has maintained the key codes, techniques and metaphors of his aesthetic – reinterpreted with his emotions of the season, optimism for the times, and a mastery of colour, light, shade and grandeur.

Show details:

DECOR & PRODUCTION: La Mode en Images

MUSIC: Frédéric Sanchez

HAIR: Luigi Murenu

GIVENCHY MAKEUP: Pat McGrath

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