Elber Albaz isn't out to create some statement on futurism or minimalism. He wants to say something about where to go next, how the modern woman is going to want to dress when she's done with all the frilly fluff shown everywhere else. Yes, this collection had a fair share of what may have seemed like 1980s big-shouldered mayhem, which kept on trend with all the Azzedine Alaia and Romeo Gigli references bouncing around. But this collection was more potent than that. Those shoulders were so much softer and feminine than anything seen on Dynasty (or even this season at Maison Martin Margiela) due to the fact that they were puffed up with air, a naturally constructed way to gently add volume without adding bulk. And what an easy way to dress! Lacking the severe sportif theme of last season (which was rather butch, only emphasized by the fact that Amanda Moore was the first model out), this season played up a new sense of femininity, which doesn't exactly involve frothy chiffon, but isn't as simple as deconstructing menswear into liquid shapes either. Elbaz's version of a real woman falls somewhere in between, and it's really a refreshing, even pretty thing to see. The simple-looking shifts were really ripe with much more subtle construction details, something that needs to be appreciated up close and in person, along the lines of Raf Simons at Jil Sander. The show got repetitive near the end, but when you're trying to introduce the world to a whole new way of dressing, isn't repetition the only way to really drive it home?
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