Balmain

Autumn-Winter 2011/12 – Christophe Decarnin combined military neutrals with the colour pop left over from the SS in his AW collection which also has a touch of the Olivier twist about it. His layers, rough edges and youthful trendiness wouldn’t be out of place in the east end youth massive, yet the multi-textured outfits; fur, big knits, suede, the softer textures made them warm and comforting, along with the colours; oranges, greens, browns, more earthy and warm.  Even the edgier leather jacket he has lined with fur collars or ribbed to make it seem softer. Although we are still seeing strong military boots and big statement collars this collection has moved away from it metallic leathers of SS and seems younger than its black and motorcycle/aviator style of AW2010. It included some definite high school boy, letter jacket influences. There is something more playful about the AW11 collection that makes it accessible to those not buying into “High fashion”.