Lesage and Massaro: Friends of Pilati and Lagerfeld

Confession: I almost missed the Francois Lesage and Raymond Massaro show at haute couture week because the concierge at my hotel gave some wonky directions. Thanks to an extra speedy cab driver and the good will of the fashion gods, the crisis was averted.

It's a good thing it all worked out because Lesage and Massaro know how to pull off a theme. With their show in an old, red-carpeted cinema, the two showed off everything from a mesh-chested wedding dress (not for the modest) to a seriously 18th-century whaleboned corset that would have looked perfect on Keira Knightley in The Duchess. The vibe was 1920s film noir, and though most of their line of corsets veered to the bizarre, they worked it.


Most of their show was a video presentation that featured a heavily eyelinered, bob-haired model on different imaginary streets in Paris. I'm assuming this was somehow funny, judging from the audience's laughter, but then again I don't speak enough French to get irony.

Lesage owns a 125-year-old embroidery company that provides textiles for the likes of YSL, and Massaro's shoemakers are a favourite for Unkle Karl (Lagerfeld)'s haute couture shows. Clearly these gents know the technical side of the biz, and it was all about details here. Their looks were more Dali/Schiaparelli out-there than many people would wear, but that's why it's so easy to respect what they do - each corset is a handcrafted piece of Surrealist art.


A few of my favourite parts of the show? Seeing the bajillion-pound, art-deco Cartier diamond necklace the designers managed to get, and realising in person what a freaking giant Ivana Trump is. Shall Rivkie and I plan on seeing you at ready-to-wear week, Ivana sweetie?