NEW YORK — France’s fashion ringmaster Didier Grumbach demonstrated the deftness that serves him well overseas by hosting the Fashion Group Foundation’s panel discussion here Tuesday.
Grumbach, who is president of the Fédération Française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode, didn’t shy away from asking participants to name their favorite collections and explain their personal expectations of Paris-based designers. But the seven panelists — In Style’s accessories director, Alice Kim; specialty store owner Linda Dresner; Saks Fifth Avenue’s vice president and women’s fashion director, Michael Fink; Bergdorf Goodman’s senior vice president and fashion director, Linda Fargo; The Washington Post’s Robin Givhan; Vogue’s fashion and features director, Sally Singer; and W’s beauty director, Jane Larkworthy, had plenty to tell him about the spring 2007 collections.
From Givhan’s likening Givenchy’s ongoing transformation to “watching sausage being made” to Fargo describing the ease of getting dressed in a dress that morning, the American speakers didn’t try to cloak their frankness. In fact, Fink was completely candid about his mood upon arriving in Paris for the shows. “By that point, we have already been traveling for four weeks so you’d better prove yourself. We already have a checklist — white shirt, long skirt. What Paris offers us beyond a Nutella crepe is designers who ask, ‘How do we fit newness into her wardrobe and into her real life?’ We get a real sense of workmanship…there is an individuality of the voice that comes out of Paris.”
In terms of favorite collections, Singer was hard-pressed to limit it to one, rattling off her top 10 list with Marc Jacobs leading the charge. Others, like Dresner, who singled out Stella McCartney and Martin Margiela, were more concise. Fink recalled “smiling all the way through Oscar de la Renta’s show” and also praised the “incredible designs” at the Jil Sander show.
When Grumbach inquired about spring 2007 trends, panelists offered a bevy, including sport-inspired, python, dresses, jewel tones, futuristic and newly shaped jackets. Fargo agreed with Fink about color being a really big story and with Singer about the importance of dresses for spring. “We know we will do a great business with them. They are available at every price range.” Fargo said.
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The moderator showed some allegiance for his native country by encouraging the audience to go see “Fashion Show: Paris Collections 2006,” an exhibition that bows Sunday at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Viktor & Rolf, Yohji Yamamoto and Martin Margiela are among the 10 designers whose work is featured along with video clips and music from their respective shows. “It makes a big difference to show them with videos and music. That gives an emotional fashion show. A fashion show with no emotion is not a show,” he said. “It is interesting to see what Thierry Mugler brought to the scene. He wasn’t interested in fashion.”
On a separate note, Grumbach mentioned how pleased he was that Stephen Burrows showed in Paris last month after a 30-year hiatus. The American planned to follow up his French debut in the early Seventies with another showing in 1978 but he could not make it. “Maybe he was already broke,” Grumbach quipped. Regardless of the reason, his more recent appearance “went very well” and Grumbach wondered aloud why Burrows wasn’t more celebrated as a designer.
More importantly, Grumbach emphasized how it is “extremely important to consider that American designers as well as others have the right to be international.”