Carven goes back to the 60’s for this year’s pre-fall look

Three years into his tenure at Carven, the sixties have become Henry’s decade, so the A-line silhouettes and short hemlines here looked familiar. With other designers revisiting the mod look, his creations also felt timely. –style.com + photos

Carven

Pre-Fall 2012 RTW Collection

A current exhibition in Paris of American photographer Diane Arbus’s timeless 1960s portraits was the starting point for Guillaume Henry’s inaugural pre-fall collection for Carven. “It was pre-ready to wear; women had to wear the same clothes for a long time, so they’d really take care of them,” he explained. Already, with only five previously publicized seasons for the house, Henry has established out a classicism of his own. That charming collegiate vision — voluminous above-the-knee dresses, fitted shirts with Peter Pan collars and shrunken jackets with high-set pockets — was out in force, only this time delivered in an unexpected mix of autumnal tones (forest greens, mustard, violet, turquoise, and icy blues), which were inspired, in the designer’s words, “by a frozen landscape.”

It was a strong, clear collection that proved Henry knows exactly who Carven and its rapidly growing band of devotees are. But, among the gamine faux-fur lined satin coats also intended as dresses, and double-crepe A-line frocks covered in chilling quartz or graphic aerial landscape prints, there were looser elements at play. Henry introduced two-tone cableknit sweaters, mohair turtlenecks that looked “picked from a boyfriend’s wardrobe,” and a cocoon-shaped hunting coat with a detachable collar, that would no doubt open things up to a wider audience. Then there was the eclectic mix of accessories: the type of cylindrical handbags a girl might once have taken to secretary school, umbrellas held closed with hair scrunchies and synthetic tortoise shell creepers. “It was my dream to do a plastic shoe,” Henry said with a smile, “because it was a way to break up the ladylike style.” –vogue.com