Paris Fashion Week: Nina Ricci S/S 2012

Beautiful, high quality clothes Peter Copping mentioned, when we bumped into him at the Browns party during London Fashion Week, that Nina Ricci had never tried to be a fashion icon or tried to do something particularly different

– she simply wanted to make beautiful, high quality clothes.
Since the Central Saint Martins – and Louis Vuitton under Marc Jacobs-trained designer turned up at the house in 2009, he’s been doing just the same – paying homage to a house whose heritage has made it a household name and slowly bringing it on to ensure that it’s relevant today too.

Today’s collection was another success. “The dresses were lovely – I loved the pansy, Liberty-like prints, they were incredibly pretty,” said Condé Nast’s Anna Harvey. “Being quite commercial, I loved that I could wear them all. The navy blue at the end was wonderful too – I thought it was very elegant and feminine. Charming.”

It was charming, but it was modern too – with a mix of decades and fabrics that sometimes jarred a little against each other but in the main felt like a show bursting with ideas and inspiration: brocade bra tops worn with full Fifties skirts, pencil skirts with kicked out hems and ruched satin dresses with embellished straps, white brocade princess coats and cocktail dresses of the lightest navy lace wound about the body amid ribbons of frayed silk.

It was lighthearted and playful at times, with peplums of bushy chiffon frothing from the waist, short sleeved leather jackets worn loosely over matching skirts and then a gorgeous run of prints that felt both vintage and new – in green and pink or faded pastels, they were inspired by Russian artist Zina de Plagny who worked with Ricci in the Thirties and Forties.

Then far more up to date fabrics bled into the traditional shapes, with woollen coat dresses, lace front cardigans and tactile dresses embroidered with silk flowers or stiff gold leaves. One red silk ruched dress had a languid sex appeal, while a finale of long lilac or navy chiffon gowns displayed a luxurious romance that never tries too hard. Wicker birdcage hats worn on the back of the head brought the Forties in again with a whisk of humour – Copping may not be trying to change the world, but he’s certainly enjoying himself here.