There was something festive about the shimmering collection of dresses that came down the runway during the Lanvin spring/ summer 2014 show in Paris on Thursday night. Dresses glittered in glowing hues of brown, greens, deep golds, purples, or silvery white-pinks, looking like garments made from shiny wrapping paper.
Consider a yellow-gold dress which dropped off one shoulder and featured a sexy slit, raised to reveal a long thigh, which was held in place by a Lanvin bow. The dress glimmered like a rare Roman coin found buried in the dust.
Trousers cut in narrow silhouettes or baggy black sporty shapes nipped in at the ankles and were paired with light shirts with fly-away bows for these female dandies who looked luxurious, rich, and feminine.
There were more simple but sophisticated black knee-length pencil skirts with sexy slits, and a beautifully cut pantsuit. A standout was a seductive black trench with a cinched waist.
Then the materials became richer again, like handmade silk wrapping papers with traces of gold, turned into a long flowing floor-length skirt with a never ending slit which was paired with a boxy green jacket and layers of beautiful materials placed in-between.
There were a few mannish looks, like a buttoned-up shirt and a touch of utilitarian glamour in silver and brown-gold boiler suits with crinkled shimmering surfaces.