It is a dedication to Haute Couture and American heiress Mona Bismarck, fanatic collector of couture dresses and muse of famous designers and painters including Salvador Dalì, that the couturier Antonio Grimaldi for his Autumn/Winter 2017-18 collection shows amid the official calendar of Paris Fashion Week. In a historic moment in which high fashion deserves support for the intrinsic value of its sartorial work, at the Mona Bismarck American Center in Paris, Antonio Grimaldi brings to the catwalk the fascinatingly glamorous worldly parties at which the rich heiress never missed out on the opportunity to flaunt her original and unique creations.
On the catwalk are Nordic figures, dreamlike, beautiful warriors who in a present day fairy tale of dresses recall the mythological Valkyrie. Like those painted on canvas by the Norwegian artist Peter Nicolai Arbo, becoming contemporary female gods who love playing with couture. For autumn-winter; hoods, redingotes and coat dresses in wool combined with tailored pants that follow the silhouette, enhancing it. Embroidery, inlays and cuts, even asymmetrical, embellish each dress. The designer plays with materials and fabrics: from the presence of the leather on the basque bodices where fur edges stand out, while embroidered leather sequins melt on crêpe cady creating a contrast in materials. Stitch effect embroidery in metal, dresses in crêpe cady carve the body with experimental modelings, always a passion of the designer. Creations of embroidered glass effect seem reproductions of shattered mirrors. Tulle and thread embroidery generates a diamond shape mirror effect as if it was breaking against the body. Fringes held by leather bodices and organza inlays recall the diamond cut. Precious wool and flannel, careful research of cashmere and inlaid fabrics, embellished with crystals and laser-treated ostriche feather make way for voluminous sculptures. The color palette evokes Nordic and glacial colours: from light grey that evolves from ice, powder blue to hematite, passing to yellow ocher, dove grey, pale pink and shades with the use of georgette lamé. Dresses combined with leather gloves, low velvet sandals and jewels created specifically for the collection by designer Bernard Delettrez.
