CATHERINE MALANDRINO | FALL / WINTER 2012

French-born designer Catherine Malandrino displayed a collection full of vice and virtue with her latest ready-to-wear line. At the show in New York, Malandrino revealed the motivation behind the Fall / Winter 2012 collection.

The designer drew inspiration from the 1942 horror film, La Féline, in which the temptress protagonist transforms into a perilous cat-woman and stalks the streets by night in search of her next male victim.

If just one phrase could sum up Malandrino’s latest collection it would indeed be ‘femme fatale’. There was enough stretch vinyl, PVC, crocodile leather and corsetry to satisfy any erotica fan – the word ‘erotica’ even came plated across a crystal-embellished belt. The Malandrino woman is definitely a provocative one. However, alongside the most eluding pieces there were the more practical ones; a black mohair varsity jacket finished with bold red popper buttons, was teamed up with a knee-grazing pencil skirt.

Fantasy met functionality in Catherine Malandrino’s Fall / Winter  2012 Ready-to-Wear collection. Malandrino’s awe-inspiring looks communicated an air of defiance and confidence; some of her most striking looks were not for the faint-heated. Audacious evening gowns complete with laser-cut leather strips and sheer mesh followed wide-legged trousers and high-necked blouses.

Malandrino also cemented the colour-blocking trend, which we can assume will be here to stay for at least the next few season’s to come. Fur added a touch of the luxe in the form of exaggerated neck warmers and statement jacket collars. Hemlines weren’t as racy as you may have thought, as Malandrino chose to bare skin through alluring mesh panelling, sheer fabrics and plunging necklines.

Catherine Malandrino certainly left a lasting impression with her latest collection; clever corsetry ebbed and flowed throughout and even found its place on a black fur-collard puffer jacket. Overall Malandrino displayed a sensationally seductive collection.

- Ellen Stewart