PARIS, France — Lutz Huelle is fascinated by transformations. Has there ever been a day-to-night option as ingenious as his silky cotton parka? It zipped open across the shoulder, folded down into a flounce, and presto! An outerwear classic transformed into a cocktail dress suspended on two diamante straps.
Huelle is a past master of such utilitarian glamour, and his new collection was full of it. The clever little bit of elastication on a coat shoulder; the satin flounce on a raw denim dress; the flapper-fringing on a tuxedo’s lapel and hem; the side-slit on an elongated sweatshirt, which exposed a short skirt lathered with huge silver paillettes… details like these were a seductive combination of familiar and strange. Likewise the tubes of industrial nylon knit which Huelle snaked over dresses to create femme fatale silhouettes. That was one transformation that was odd, but oddly enticing.
The word “hybrid” is bandied around more and more in fashion, but it’s always been in Huelle’s vocabulary, and his latest take heightened the possibilities. The essence of it all did indeed seem to be the way he switched day to night, matte to shimmer, as simple as the brush of a hand across a coat of pavé sequins, turning black to silver.
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