Gnossiennes style

After this spring's premiere of bellini's „capuleti e i montecchi" at the munich opera, we had the opportunity to chat with the costume designer, mr Christian Lacroix.  He reflected on his career in fashion and in particular his last collection for Patou which was coincidentally going up for auction at drouot's the very next day. It was always one of our favorite collections, then presented in this very salon imperial.  

We actually flew to Paris the next day for a viewing just before the hammer hit the auction block.  All of this left us thinking about the beginning of our careers in the early nineties, a time when we all were heavily influenced by Lacroix. Our fevered brains were suddenly filled with visions of polka dots, silk chantilly, cotton guipure, the seemingly random bow on the hem of a skirt, the dissonance of a chartreuse green shoe, blacks and whites, vichy faille, a heavy rich silky satin duchesse, a crisp silk organza, embroidered crosses on the backs of jackets, dotted shantung, lemarié flowers, straw hats,...  translating these elements into a "gnossienne" of modern shapes, loose silhouettes and our personal passion for the colors of the south and the fabrics from taroni.

Johnny Talbot & Adrian Runhof