Kris Van Assche Spring 2009
Kris Van Assche Spring 2009

PARIS, Sep 29, 2008 / FW/ — After introducing androgynous dressing in his menswear shows that featured women, Kris Van Assche made his official debut on the Paris fashion week catwalk with the unveiling of first womenswear collection last Saturday.

Entitled ‘Sang Bleu’, French for ‘Blue Blood’, Van Assche proposed his vision of strong women – hair pulled back in long singular braid, tattoos that spelled ‘Sang Bleu’ or icons usually associated with Goth, and inky black or navy blue clothes that spelled cavalier chic.

A street smart attitude plus mannish clothing – pinstripe suit jackets over mini skirts, the Kris Van Assche woman is a tough ephebic Amazon who is refined. Mini dresses that can be worn as they are or as a top for slim fitting trousers, she also exudes nonchalance elegance

Van Assche who is better known for his menswear stepped into unfamiliar territory with a silhouette that he has already mastered. Mannish clothing has been the rage for sometime, yet Van Assche’s interpretation had remained fresh season after season.

Still, there is a big difference between womenswear and menswear. While menswear are more for subtle innovations that are based on cut, fabric, even attitude, womenswear is more graphic and visual, i.e., it has to be out there to be noticed.

Still Van Assche is a dominant designer and though this maybe his first true foray into womenswear, it holds a lot of promise.

[FELICIA PRINCE]