Running the gauntlet in the LVMH Prize for Young Designers and the ANDAM Awards this year had Alain Paul thinking back to his first dance audition as a nervous eight-year-old freshly at the Marseilles opera ballet.
“On the other side of the table were [choreographers and dancers] Roland Petit, Marie-Claude Pietragalla and Dominique Khalfouni. The impression of the moment left a mark on my whole life,” he said backstage before his spring show, titled “The Audition.”
In a recreated jury room with long tables set with clipboards with evaluation grids, pencils and bottled water neatly set in impeccable alignment, models, which included Paris Opera ballet principal dancer Germain Louvet and choreographer Imre van Opstal, walked by wearing variations on the dancer-off-duty look.
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Some opted for tailored jackets and crisp buttondowns. Others wore warm-up clothes or the remainder of a stage outfit. All seemed to be in the midst of an outfit change when they were called in, additional garments thrown on a shoulder.
The spring was about “these in-between moments where you’re not training, you’re professional but you’re proving yourself, you have to be confident,” he said. “You have to show vulnerability but also technique.”
The designer’s fashion chops were certainly on display in the construction of tiered dresses made of delicate low-denier tights, loosely joined to create an eyelet effect, and the way tank tops and slips were layered haphazardly but ended up becoming handsome asymmetric ensembles.
Surreal proposals like a sculptural corset jutting from the body at a 45-degree angle were balanced with easier fare like double-waisted trousers, oversize shorts pulled closer to the body in soft folds and those multilayered separates.
It telegraphed an impression of effortlessness that reminded one of performers achieving demanding poses with a serene smile on their faces.
