Your Friday French Fashion Report: Givenchy Spring/Summer 2011 Womenswear Collection

Part Austin Powers Retro, part Goth, at first reminiscent of the bad ass style of Jean-Paul Gaultier, designer Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy offers a collection for spring and summer that is edgy and eye catching while remaining wearable (if one is tall and thin of course!) Tisci's use of sheer flowing fabrics, geometric angles, and plenty of zippers makes interesting viewing from the runway or the sidewalk, and there are a couple of pantsuits that should be de rigeur for the well dressed enemy agent. The colour palette is a bit austere for spring, after a long winter in Paris (where black is the national colour) one is thirsty for something bright, but admittedly this collection would not translate in pink and lime green. Watch for the trickle down effect in mainstream pret-à-porter this year - I predict the zipper as ornamentation and sheer chiffon skirts over culottes!