For his first fashion show in Paris, Luis de Javier created a sexy and subversive ode to Spain with lace bodysuits and bullfighting touches.
Embroidered matador boleros topped lace leggings and thigh-high stockings, while traditional montera hats were modernized with a Nike swoop and finished with fringe.
Strips of leather mimicked a skirt and lace trousers rested well below hip bones and whale tales, surpassing even Y2K standards. Some models gripped bubble skirts at the waist. Much of the collection was barely there, then de Javier quickly contradicted himself with voluminous capes, explosions of tulle and draped silk jersey dresses that completely covered the body.
The black-and-white collection “embraced how dark my life can get, but also that there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” he said backstage after the show.
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The monochrome color palette further distilled his vision of Gothic glamour.
De Javier said he was paying homage to Cristóbal Balenciaga, but the collection also had elements of Rick Owens in the exaggerated sharp shoulder pads spiking skyward. De Javier challenged the conventional silhouette by showcasing prosthetic horns protruding from the body, as if models were were morphing into animals.
Riccardo Tisci is a longtime mentor and now official backer of the brand, and the designer sat front row. He said he was there to support and “kind of protect” the young designer as he hones his talent in the fashion industry.
De Javier concluded the show with models circling each other in the arena of the Espace Niemeyer as if to fight, as the last one floated out in a dreamy cloud of virginal white, part head covering and part cape that enveloped the body before she revealed a pregnant prosthetic with udders.
To create the collection, de Javier tapped the talent pool in Spain, finding traditional craftsmen and women in the provinces for embroidery and other artisan touches, as well as enlisting students at his alma mater IED Barcelona.
The designer, who has previously shown in Los Angeles, New York and London said his gradual move eastward will be final. He plans to plant the brand’s roots in Paris, where he is closer to family and the ateliers of Spain, with the eventual hope of joining the official calendar. “I’m here to stay, b–ch!” he said.
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