Balmain fall 2010 Paris

The Balmain Fall 2010/2011 collection opened with a faux-fur purple coat, unfastened in the front to reveal a transparent black mesh top.  Paired with shiny black pleather-esque pants.  Need I say more?  Speaking of more, the concept of “less is more” was a foreign one to Christophe Decarnin this season.  From start to finish the collection turned from sexy, to sexier, to simply ostentatious.  And then…there was the leopard.

Embroidery and brocade were everywhere, especially in metallic tones of purple and gold.  Gold on the whole wasn’t lacking for presence, nor was the abundant use of fringe, or dress cuts leaving little to the imagination.  Some pieces actually gave us all three (lucky us!).  Typical of Balmain, many of pants were tight and the shoulders were elaborately pointy.  Amid the shine-fest, however, we did see some more traditional and wearable cuts in pantsuits….even if they were composed of metallic pinstripes.