Givenchy !Top choice on TI's SS09 shopping list!

Leather leggings and leather shorts with a sober tuxedo jacket and white shirt. Where was that outfit when I went dancing at Mr Black's last Saturday ? Maybe if I had a better imagination when it came to clothes I would have thought up that one. But I don't (have an audacious imagination when it comes to clothes). Which is what makes designers, strong designers with a resolved point of view necessary.

The Givenchy cabine gets ready for showtime. Exclusive backstage image courtesy of frillr.com

From Look 1 it was obvious that Riccardo Tisci's debut menswear collection for Givenchy had worked out its point-of-view in a thorough and unapologetic way. This was not a nervous collection. The imagery was not ambiguous and the consistency of line presented look after look, created the illusion that Tisci had been spinning away with a coterie of gothed up bespoke tailors for many a season now. And just about Look 10, when you started to fear that it was all styling tricks, came the strange introduction of a bit of lace, in shades of tan... and in fuscia on artfully tattooed young gentlemen. It was beautiful to watch the way Tisci tweaked his idee fixe from womenswear and weaved them for men without making a conceptual joke of traditional masculinity. We should burn candles in the hopes that this collection is not a fluke. Menswear has been feeling a vacum ever since Hedi Slimane exited stage left from Dior Homme, but the spooky elegance invoked at Givenchy inspired hope that an exacting customer can hope to find a brave vision in menswear. TI votes for this one as directional men's collection of the season.