my first couture moment with christian lacroix

It was reading a Vogue in 2006, young and naive about fashion and seeing the ethereal lily cole from within the swathes of a tulle white confection. I was besotted with it, the dress, her face, the idea that the catwalk was selling to me. I cut it out and it went on my wall where it resides now, prime position on my mural wall. It was The Spring Couture collections in paris and the designer was Christian Lacroix. Later that year i would buy a pair of Christian Lacroix sunglasses and my love affair with this brand would begin.

Christian Lacroix is a designer well ahead of his time. In the 80s he was showing the kind of decadent elegance that now adorns the couture runways of Galliano and Gaultier, although, and it is true, it was done with a lot less finesse than he does it now. The poufs of sleeves, scalloped hems, lacy undershirts and gauzy overtops were all a little stiff. But now, and with this Spring collection, Christian Lacroix and the trends of fashion coincided and suddenly everything he was showing was bang on the money.

He was also a little older and wiser too. His brand had just been sold to the LVMH group and he had learnt a thing or two about the fickle business of 'la mode'. it can all be seen in this collection, things that i never noticed as a 15 year old ingenue just interested in the beauty of tulle. You can see it in the way he pairs his colours haphazardly together, or in the way the clothes are a little more clever, like they're winking at the audience saying, buy me, i cost hundreds of thousands of dollars... Unashamedly expensive, maybe, is the way to say it. Lacroix no longer had to deal with profits, that was the job of LVMH now. All he had to think about was the clothes.

Decorative, wild, extravagant, a feast for the eyes, this collection ties in with the rest of the past couture seasons for Lacroix. BUt it is also a standout for me, not just because it contains THE dress that first made me love couture. The collection, to me, also symbolised french history, and not in a crazy galliano way but in a really wearable way. It was beautiful, really really beautiful, and just clicking through style.com to find the pictures of the show has brought a smile to my face as i remember exactly why, in 2006, i fell in love with couture. AS i'm sure you will too.

And here it is. Beautifully finished, extraordinarily executed, lovely to see and (undoubtedly) to wear. *sigh*. don't you just love fashion?

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