Vionnet A/W 2014

There was a late winter snow storm brewing at Vionnet this season, one that snap froze tulips dead in their Spring tracks, while preserving their beauty, just as creative director Goga Ashkenazi did with her A/W 2014 collection. Vionnet was reborn in Etienne Russo's Tuileries set, as a backless, valenki dress opened the show before moth-nibbled jumpers and panelled 'tulip' skirts led us into luxurious cable-knit stamped leather jackets. The green-fingered colour palette of choice? A winter cocktail of grey, chartreuse and petrol blue. But despite winter's cold snap, Vionnet's signature draping techniques still blossomed - from one-shoulder pleated gowns (with a few side panels somewhat provocatively missing), to a softly draped, pinstriped all-in-one. The botanical theme was carried home with tulips as an ongoing appliquéd motif, as well as a fur bomber, striped with green veins, and the furry mink flats that offered a buffer to the elements. However, the collection's more structural elements, such as a two-tone grey coat, spliced by its panels and the show's boxed bustiers, came courtesy of the architecture of Yokohama's airport terminal. Here, man and nature found their happy medium within the garden of the 'Fleurs du Mal'.