Designers who showed off their spring-summer 2006 collections in Paris on Tuesday took women on a long, romantic vacation.
In the streets of Paris, a transport strike snarled traffic and heated up tempers. But it was pure calm at Issey Miyake, where creative director Naoki Takizawa brought women to the marshes of Asia for a cool look at his ``Singing Bamboo'' summer collection.
A vegetal theme reigned throughout as the Japanese designer used lots of natural fibers for tops, jackets, skirts and one great suit with a bamboo hand-painted motif. The show began with cotton and linen sheath dresses etched with fine corn-silk fringe. The same fringe spilled over the hips of short skirts worn with simple T-shirts.
Many tops were pure and effortless -- a scarf tied over the bust or tossed over the shoulders of a sleeveless shirt. Long sarong skirts wrapped gently around the hips, spilling over to the side in a cascade of pleats that looked like a giant leaf.
Though fishnet tank tops are nothing new, the ones layered over T-shirts and long sarong skirts in this collection were dotted with iridescent seed beads like dew drops under the midnight moon.
Last March, Jean Paul Gaultier took his couture clients on a trip to Romania. From the looks of all of the peasant blouses, oversized smocks and Cossack pants, it would appear that Gaultier extended his trip to Ukraine.
This ready-to-wear collection told the story of an imaginary village where peasants wear luxurious versions of folkloric garb. The starting point was clearly the smock, cut in generous proportions for blouses and dresses that slid off sexy shoulders.
Billowing sleeves were embellished with the letters of the alphabet and other traditional needlepoint designs. Peasant blouses were worn under knee-length jumpsuits, and overalls were cut from slate-gray menswear pinstriped fabric. Some were cut from soft cotton in white and red, pressed close to the body by black lace corsets.
One smock took the form of a white strapless dress with black embroidery etched over its empire waist. It was worn with a matching smock jacket.
Though they entitled their collection ``Rock and Chic,'' husband-and-wife team Marithe and Francois Girbaud seem to have invaded the English countryside for inspiration.
Fabrics were fresh and crisp, from crinkled cotton trench coats to delicately embroidered cotton gauze camisoles worn over block printed jeans or funnel skirts with layers and layers of ruffled petticoats underneath.
Laser-cut lace added a modern dimension to T-shirts worn over straight-legged trousers or full, multilayered skirts. But let's not forget that the Girbauds are most known for jeanswear. New this season were pinstriped jackets with ruffles inlaid at the back, mocha brown jeans sanded in spots, and crinkled gypsy skirts in hot earthy prints.
Last July, John Galliano, creative director for Christian Dior, was inspired by illustrations of Dior's work by famous artists.
The thesis of that show laid the basis for an interesting collection of smart, chic street clothes in flesh-tone fabric, overlaid in black lace. Galliano continued the theme Tuesday.
The opening number featured slinky silk dresses with a sheath of black lace over the bodices. Another dress had a trompe l'oeil print that, from afar, resembled a T-shirt under a lacy top against suntanned shoulders.
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