Nina nice as pie

"The days of throwing on a dress and a pair of Louboutins and calling yourself dressed is over," Thanks a lot; that's tomorrow's plan out the window.


At least Nina Ricci had more to offer than unsettling advice





Designer Peter Cropping has found his feet, with his newest Nina Ricci collection suggesting that they were  located dancing around art, somewhere between John Currin and Marlene Dumas. 


The aesthetically, aptly named a/w collection "Portrait of a Lady", gathers vintage representations of women dipped in Russian heritage, lingering around le Jardin du Luxembourg whilst being educated in Victorian antiquity.


Frolicking in candle-lit romance, Cropping wrote his love-story with knee grazing, bouclé skirts whose  velvet and scrunched satin were completed with unfinished, tousled hems, imagining a young girl hurriedly incurring mischief, running through fields with scratched knees. However, anticipation mounted with tales of forgotten innocence;  heavy robe-jackets eclipsed lingerie attire with burgundy, boudoir dresses brushing the catwalk with organza under-skirting.


Colour compositions told a story of confliction; bottle green and shadowing black velvets shrouded protruding layers of salmon pink chiffon and dusty blue prairie collars. Concurrently, rabbit fur trimmings, gothic corsetry and floppy madame-hats moved alongside crushed silk dresses, washed with shimmering lace and sensual, sheer overlays.


Vulnerability prevailed beneath trimmings of disturbed femininity, adding a sense of unsure bravado. Far from an epic tale, this is the subtle beginning of Peter Cropping's Nina Ricci adventure.