Paris Fashion Week: Ann Demeulemeester Spring/Summer 2011

Ann Demeulemeester has found a new side of herself this runway season. Gone, or at least less prominent, are the endless layers of black; instead, Demeulemeester found inspiration in "something pure, clean, yet abstract...graphic abstraction."

It's interesting that Demeulemeester is going down a new path just as the young fashion world is downloading the ideas of her nineties peers. Helmut Lang is gone, Martin Margiela hasn't been in the business for ages...the one remaining strong is Demeulemeester and her vision of deconstructionism. So for Spring 2011, there's no better time for her to take something of a departure--her signature look has been transformed into something tougher, even futuristic at times. Demeulemeester used the notion of protection as her starting point, taking hints from fencing costumes and developing a new structure. Lightly padded and buckled breastplates swooped high over the neck in chalky, stark white; asymmetrical motorcycle jackets in a graphic black-and-white pattern were knotted off with obi sashes; cropped, strong-shouldered leather jackets paired with miniskirts had the look of the cavalry.

Demeulemeester has a knack for poetic volume, but even that was scaled down and reinvented through asymmetry. Skirts were cut high on one thigh then sloped all the way down to the floor in trailing fishtails, sometimes layered in flowy chiffon over narrow leather pants--the perfect way of juxtaposing Demeulemeester's new strength with her love of moody, languid grace. There's still plenty of deconstruction to be found; pristine, sharply tailored jackets had only one full sleeve, giving way to harnesses and straps down the other arm. Such a jacket (symmetrically-sleeved or not) was so precisely, impeccably cut that women will clamor for it come spring. If this is a restrained, more directional Demeulemeester, she's sure to earn herself yet another decade of admirers.

Photos: vogue.com