The fall Nina Ricci show began with the popping of flashlights in the darkened Salle Wagram theater.
First out of the gate was U.S. model Colin Jones, a.k.a. Col the Doll, extreme strutting down the runway in a black lace bodysuit, gathered pinstriped skirt and lace tights. Welcome to Harris Reed’s vision of the chic Parisienne.
The British-American designer said he was inspired by a 1962 Richard Avedon photograph of model and actress Suzy Parker sitting inside a car dressed in a tweed Nina Ricci dress with a fur-lined hood, as paparazzi press up against the window.
“It was really this like almost annoyed, aloof iconic-ness that she had that I fell in love with,” he said before the show. “It kind of set the energy for what I wanted Nina to be.”
Reed offered literal translations of the image, adding hoods trimmed with faux shearling to a classic beige trench coat, a velvet bodysuit with a graphic mock croc bow, and another one made of tweed with a peplum frill.
He riffed on ladylike looks, though his versions skewed more ‘80s than ‘50s — think a plum hourglass coat with a matching pillbox hat, or a polka dot dress with leg-of-mutton sleeves, topped with his signature black saucer hat.
It was, he said, “a sleek, French woman through an American lens.”
The designer, known for his fluid aesthetic, shrugged off the temptation to surf the TikTok bow trend, ditching oversized bows for streamlined versions that looked especially chic on white shirts worn with his killer wide lapel suits.
The lineup could have done with an edit: the sheer chiffon blouses felt derivative and the knit twin-sets lacked polish. And despite the presence of a handful of curve models, including Ashley Graham, the cast was less diverse, feeding a sense that Reed’s exuberance has been dampened after three seasons at the house.
It would be a shame if Paris sucked the joy out of such a force of nature, though judging from the hollering backstage, the models were having a ball.
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