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Heavy Metal Goes Featherweight
PARIS, October 9 - To have watched the evolution of Paco Rabanne over the past six seasons is to realize that Rosemary Rodriguez has come firmly into her own with the label. Saturday's show, the first at which she's ever made a solo appearance on the runway without Rabanne pushing her into the limelight, was somewhat of a watershed moment.
Making a heavy tradition look light is no easy task, but she's found ingenious ways of doing it: spraying metallic chains into cascades, applying mesh in overlay and even weaving sterling into featherweight plumes. A chiming sand-dollar-size froth of medallions seemed ready to float away.
But beyond the nod to the founder's signature style, Rosemary also captured a feminine sensuousness that previously has been missing. In sleek pantsuits of gold faille, in a python print skirt, or even in the gossamer white gown wrapping tulle with a silvery bustier, sleek was the word.
Backstage Heidseik gold top champagne was flowing as Rosemary explained "I wanted something very, very light and sensual."
The world has changed since Rabanne launched his couture line in the 1960s against the backdrop of Vietnam. In March of 2003, Rodrigues sent out a collection entitled 'women armored for peace', in a direct anti-war statement on the eve of the US-led coalition's invasion of Iraq. Since then, her style has only gotten lighter and freer.
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