Alexis Mabille is one of fashion’s brightest young lights, one with a strong understanding of French chic and a penchant for witty riffs on his-for-her and vice-versa. (Truth be told, a boy in a frou-frou flower vest doesn’t work as well as a girl in snappy tailoring.) Though it lacked the impact of his previous two outings, the collection Mabille showed Monday still offered impressive evidence of his engaging talents. He opened with model couples, the girls wearing sweats or other sporty pants with loosely cut bed jackets in “magical” micropaillettes that changed color, from red or black to silver, with the swipe of a hand. While this didn’t foreshadow any big message vis-à-vis the visual trick, it established the tone of polished sportif.

“Let’s not be bothered with over-designed clothes,” Mabille wrote in his program notes, by way of explaining that mood, including his ongoing yen for mannish tailoring, whether in a skinny suit or a terrific peacoat niftied up with flashy rhinestone buttons over a sultry devoré gown. One favorite item, a men’s classic shirt, was realized in triplicate over a swingy gray skirt, and as an unexpected mate to a frothy, tiered ballerina skirt for a fabulously offbeat bride. Which is not to say Mabille shirks on detail; rather, he added lace collars and jeweled cuffs at will, and broke the show’s discretion with a flamboyant bouquet of a coat, the beguiling sister to the aforementioned vest.


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