Pierre Balmain @ FW2012 Preview

Pierre Balmain, the Parisian house’s secondary line, presents a glamorous wardrobe in black, white, grey and midnight blue that takes men and women with a poetic, downtown style from day into evening in its Hong Kong store recently. In the Paris presentation, the sinuous mood of the collection is set by a short black and white film shot by Martial Schmeltz, with art direction by Atelier Franck Durand. Inspired by late fifties, early sixties French and Italian films, models Melissa Stasiuk and the darkly handsome Adrien Sahores create a mating dance set to the haunting sounds of Bruno Alexiu’s “Romy,” taken from Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1964 unfinished film project “L Enfer” (Hell).

 As evoked in the film, the Pierre Balmain duo are trying to make contact, connect, meet hands or eyes. The women’s pieces plays into this game of hide-and-seek when soft, transparent fabrics mix with micro-studded pieces in A-line and body-tracing shapes, and easy tops and tunic dresses are worn over cropped, boyish skinny trousers. There’s knife edge, tailored jackets of women who freely mix boyish basics with feminine accents.

  

  

Key looks are seen in outerwear with a 3/4 wool coat with a trompe l’oeil bolero in stud-texture leather, and another where the house’s biker zips and snaps mix with textual wool and shearling. Tailored jackets have Balmain’s structured shoulder, while the biker, with its multi-zippers, is worn loose and open. Dresses and tops go cyber flapper with tiers of thick knit fabric fringe for a three-dimensional effect.

  

  

Men’s looks are paired down and reduced to the most attractive essentials; straight and narrow boyish jackets with biker details, basic pullovers and a skinny no-nonsense biker jacket to wear with slim, rolled cuff trousers and a straight, dark blue denim shirt. Sweaters go for a graphic dimension with a full zip from neck to wrist for the basic crew shape, or bias biker zips for the shawl collar pullover. Outerwear is clean, narrow in wool bouclé sharpened by leather collars, pocket edging and plackets for a graphic finish.