Denis Gagnon - spring/summer 2010
Schiaparelli was the first designer to put zips on dresses, but Montreal designer Denis Gagnon turned it glamorously organic for spring-summer 2010.
Showing at Montreal Fashion Week, Gagnon’s zippers curved and shaped cloth and leather, embellished the neck to the feet and glinted like diamanté. With a philosophy of soft and hard textures, high and humble materials, layers of sheer chiffon and jersey gave the dresses a fluid translucency while ropes of shiny zippers snaked around like mountain folds on an alien desert landscape.
Using a soft palette of nude, grey, oyster pink and soft green with classic black, Gagnon draped and folded short dresses, harem pants and blazers into futuristic, elemental shapes that never lost sight of the body. But it was the leather pieces, like the soft green dress and a black leather jacket with silver zippers, which really stole the show.
In the calm after the storm, all we can think is, where can we sign up to be part of Gagnon’s army?
Seow Chin Pua, Fashion Writer
Marek Wlazlo, Photographer
