In the battle of the deluxe handbags a new young upstart is muscling into the fray: a large plastic "boombox" cloned from those over-sized ghetto blasters street rappers hoick around on their shoulders. It is not the sort of bag you would have expected Christian Dior to be investing its millions in, but designer John Galliano is a big tease with a sixth sense for what will sell.
The silver boom-box served as a motif for a wildly young and whacky collection. Galliano was in an exuberant mood, dressing models in huge fluoro-splattered rapper pants, cartoon print nylon pac-a-macs, pink rabbit hats or knitted hoods. It was colourful, upbeat and fab for teenagers. Galliano is doing a great job at distancing Dior from its couture house roots, re-inventing the luxury label as something so young and hip that everyone wants to join the club. The Avenue Montaigne smart-set will buy the fur and ecru handknit coats; the teenagers will party in the baggy pants.
Pin-stripe suits and check waistcoats were heavily disguised with T-shirts, rap pants, satin boxing shorts and WBO champion belts, but the Irish jig music said it. Galliano, who took his catwalk bow showing a glistening six-pack stomach, boxing shorts and cape, also tapped into the muscle boy look of the Irish boxing ring as defined by Guy Ritchie's film Snatch. Galliano's shows plunder many themes and at times seemed positively schizophrenic, but judging by figures published this week of fashion and accessories sales up 35 per cent, such wildness is good for business.
While business is riding high over at Dior, another in LVMH's stable of couture labels, Givenchy, has just cancelled its show scheduled for Friday. The troubled house is looking for a designer to replace Alexander McQueen and one of the hot contenders is the precociously talented Belgian designer, Olivier Theyskins. At the tender age of 24 he has notched seven seasons in Paris and includes Madonna, Chloe Sevigny and the Smashing Pumpkins amongst his clients. Word is Theyskins has already been offered the Givenchy job, but if he hasn't yet then his latest collection has "yes, please" written all over it.
Theyskins has a reputation for producing Gothic fantasies on the catwalk but this season his inspiration was couture. The look was more opulent and more glamorous. There was a little bit of Chanel tailoring, the carefully constructed strapless puffball dresses that evoked early Dior, the ethereal wispiness of Vionnet, Poiret opera coats and some very glamorous white satin lingerie.
The collection demonstrated an ease and dexterity with his craft, which would make him a good choice for Givenchy, but he also has a reputation for catwalk fireworks, and I'm not sure there is room at LVMH for two such theatrical personalities.