Andrew Gn Fhasion Show

FALL 2010
Ready to Wear

PARIS, March 7, 2010

The return of minimalism may be setting the agenda elsewhere, but you didn't expect Andrew Gn to abandon his signature embellishments, did you? Inspired by a Louis XV commode in his Paris apartment, part of his collection of antique furniture, and a Montesquieu book, Lettres Persanes, Gn's Fall collection had an eighteenth-century look, albeit with a twenty-first-century spin. He called it "modern rococo."

The rococo element came through in the form of narrow jackets with stand-up collars and double rows of silver buttons marching up the front. It was also present in a re-embroidered cut velvet coat with passementerie trimming at the cuffs and in a bustier gown made in a re-edition of a vibrant teal and violet floral velour de sable. Then there was all the embroidered leather scrollwork at the necklines of dresses and shoulders of coats, the oversize silver belt buckles, the densely beaded belts. As for the modern touches? Those included Gn's technical fabrics and innovative techniques—a microfiber satin that resists wrinkles for a ruffled lapel, and leather smocking trimming the edge of a cropped jacket. But the most obvious twenty-first-century element was the ultrashort length of the ruched jersey cocktail dresses. All that leg, not to mention the cutouts under the bust, would surely have made a lady of the court blush.

If those looked like tough sells with the designer's own ladylike clientele, there were plenty of other frills to seduce his customers in a collection that mostly stayed within their—and Gn's—comfort zone.

SPRING 2010
Ready to Wear

PARIS, October 4, 2009

"There's no big theme, nothing intellectual, but I am pronouncing the end of this bloody recession," Andrew Gn said backstage, pointing out that sell-throughs in the States have been up since Labor Day. Fortified by that little bit of good news, he sent out a Spring collection with as many lavish embellishments as ever. There was no scaling down here, or in the client-heavy crowd. The only thing that rivaled the colorful gems and metallic embroidery on the runway was the bling on Gn's socialite customers in the front row.

Jeweled embellishments accenting the waist or the shoulders were the through-line of a collection that embraced everything from white guipure lace and organza tops (youthful with a pair of silk faille shorts) to a sleek black moiré le smoking (less louche than the YSL original, but still sexy). Slender sheaths in "patio prints" based on upholstery fabric from the fifties and sixties should appeal to the designer's artier fans, while the gowns in notice-me shades of violet, teal, and jade were no doubt made with his party girls in mind. There was an almost random, something-for-everyone quality to this unrepentantly luxe show. These days, though, that's probably smart business for a small brand like Gn's.