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The fall 2011 collections ignited a return to decidedly chic, feminine dressing. But as Anne Slowey reports,there’s nothing fussy or frilly about the season’s sophisticated ladies

There was a moment at the Thierry Mugler show, just as Lady Gaga took the stage smoking a cigarette, when the entire season seemed to splinter into two starkly different halves: grandstanding showmanship ver­sus grandly elegant clothes. Onstage, the audience was treated to a stylist and a pop sensation’s purview of fashion—for them, a universe where looking interesting and avant requires extreme measures. Which stood in contrast to what we saw elsewhere, which was, to put it simply, everything that is right with fashion at the moment: the beauty and simplicity of elegance, done in a way that women can readily interpret.
Gaga’s fashion director, Nicola Formichetti, is the newly appointed creative director of Mugler, and he was determined to bring a little fantasy back to the catwalk with his first women’s wear show for the brand. But for all the buildup, the actual sight of Gaga on the runway in Formichetti’s creations—primarily bodysuits with sheer paneling and exaggerated shoulders—was a bit of a letdown. I mean, where were the clothes? It just reminds us how different “real” women and celebrities are when it comes to their relationship to fashion. Stars use it to build an image; the rest of us look for clothes that connect with some inner part of ourselves—we need self-expression, not a fan base.
In the end, Gaga at Mugler proved just an amuse-bouche in a season that would come to feel like a scene from The Tempest. Later in the week, Christophe Decarnin was a no-show at Balmain; he left the company because of “work differences” (widely speculated to be stress-related issues). John Galliano, as we all know now, had just brought his career to an end with a bigoted, drunken  rant. His highly publicized fall from grace stunned the industry; editors played snippets of the now infamous YouTube exposé on their iPads in the front row. Dior CEO Sidney Toledano publicly and elegantly spoke of the difficult affair before the company’s subdued runway show in a tent at the gardens at Musée Rodin. The wrenching awkwardness gave way to heartfelt appreciation at the finale, when the entire atelier of “mains” (i.e., the skilled hands who create the clothes) was invited onstage to take a bow normally reserved for the theatrical Galliano. A few days later, at Galliano’s self-titled collection (in fashion, the show must go on, apparently) beautifully draped plaid silk jackets and elaborately embroidered robe dresses made the fall of one of fashion’s greatest showmen seem all the more senseless. The designer, said to have been struggling with addiction for some time, quickly offered a public apology and is rumored to have decamped to rehab.
Needless to say, the vacuum at Dior sparked endless speculation: Who would be Galliano’s replacement? That announcement might not be made until the fall. Ric­cardo Tisci of Givenchy is the most widely talked-about front-runner, although it is hard to imagine the house of Dior finding its full measure of elegance in the hands of someone whose dominant tropes are Catholicism and gothic themes. Certainly, other designers who haven’t worked in couture but who understand the complexities of running a giant company, such as Marc Jacobs, must be in the running as well. Haider Ackermann was also favored by those insiders who have always appreciated his moody, soulful sophistication—conjecture that was buoyed by one of his best shows to date. Ackermann’s low-slung silhouettes, exquisitely wrought in draped teal and plum silks, had an edgy, yet painterly, appeal. Dior, a house originally known for reshaping the body in excesses of fabric, could find a wellspring of ideas in someone so like-minded.
But for all of the industry’s current unease, even high-octane drama couldn’t overshadow the beauty of the clothes themselves. Once again, this season, American designers held their own against their European counterparts. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler continued to shine, for fall exploring computerized jacquard prints in a renewed take on American Indian blankets and macramé skirts. Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte also used computers to reframe Americana, casting photorealistic images of wheat fields reminiscent of Willa Cather’s My Ántonia across their prairie dresses. Michael Kors celebrated 30 years in the business by rocking out to his own greatest hits: ’70s-inspired halters and slim trousers in jersey. And many relative newcomers—such as Prabal Gurung and Joseph Altuzarra—followed suit, offering their own strong visions of the season’s return to elegance. Shapes were softer and less strict, though still exuberant. In New York, as well as Paris and Milan, the patrician, razor-sharp edges that have dominated the last few seasons gave way to softer shoulders and longer below-the-knee lengths that at times had a retro quality—whether it was ’90s grunge (Richard Chai Love); Depression-era prints (Louis Vuitton) and shirtdresses (Jason Wu); or postwar ’40s padded shoulders (Miu Miu). Other, more jocular details from each of those eras—puffers, parkas, metallics, feathers, bugle beads—made appearances, too. Even the LBD (Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani) reemerged on both sides of the Atlantic.
The menswear moment is still holding steady, with stiff, mannish coats at Jason Wu and Céline, plus dusters, cutaways, and oversize boyfriend sweaters worn over flowing skirts and pin-straight pants elsewhere. Another ’90s staple, the perfecto motorcycle jacket, is back, with variations seen at Junya Watanabe and Marni. And fur sleeves (Peter Som) along with sleeve-and-collar combos (Burberry Prorsum) seem to be a common answer to the question of how to handle fur—back, this season—in a modern, relatively price-conscious fashion.
Come fall, pants, while still a major trend, will have some competition in the form of skirts. These came in every iteration from peplums to kick pleats; many, like those at Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, have sheer linings playing peek-a-boo beneath their hemlines. Delicate chiffon layering at Narciso Rodriguez and Gucci was a big statement, reminding one of how elegant seductive dressing can be in the right hands. But for all its refinement, the season was not without its novelties. On the lighter side, dots and paillettes offered playful counterpoints to hourglass shapes in lace at Marc Jacobs and simplified silhouettes at Stella McCartney. Meanwhile, Rick Owens and Giambattista Valli played on more monastic notions of outerwear with cropped and full-length capes. Elsewhere, long panels flowed off the backs of coats, conjuring a mood of ancient nobility. And speaking of medieval, in her fourth  women’s collection, Sarah Burton has stepped fully into the shoes of Alexander McQueen, with a mouthwatering collection that had the audience all a-Twitter (literally) about whether one of her feathered-fur or frayed-organza gowns would make its way down the abbey aisle April 29 on Kate Middleton.
Perhaps one of the most exciting trends this season was a return to classic couture shapes of the late ’50s and ’60s. Junya Watanabe showed finely crafted leather jackets over full skirts, while at Jil Sander, Raf Simons mined the cocoonlike shapes of Cristobal Balenciaga in a lineup of voluminous padded dresses and coats, hooded ski sweaters and cigarette-slim stirrup pants. Meanwhile, at Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière reworked the skirt and oversize fishnet lacing to create a new, relaxed silhouette that was one part schoolgirl, three parts bourgeoisie. He finished off the effect with Pierre Hardy’s rococo-detail shoes and bags, which looked as if they could have been unearthed in the models’ grandmothers’ closets, somewhere on Avenue Foch. The result was a phenomenal group of simple shapes that had a youthful spirit, perfect for any woman in search of easy clothes that will make her look good without standing out. In my book, that’s the epitome of chic.