Gaga stylist disappoints at Paris fashion week

PARIS: The alchemy was off at the house of Mugler, where Lady Gaga’s stylist, Nicola Formichetti, again failed to live up to his reputation as a sort of Generation Y Midas who turns everything he touches into gold.


Formichetti’s second effort as Mugler creative director fizzled Wednesday, as the label fielded a less-than-convincing spring-summer 2012 ready-to-wear collection of willfully wacky sci-fi garb in neutral shades. It was as if the show, which garnered only a tepid round of applause before fashion insiders fled into the hot Paris night, had been tailor-made to drive home a crucial point: That buzz does not a fashion house make.Romantic, boulder-strewn landscapes and anonymous cityscapes – their neon lights shining in the dark – were the dreamscapes of Van Noten’s haunting spring-summer collection.Whether he dresses her in meat or swathes her in a gown made entirely out of stuffed animals, Formichetti can do no wrong when it comes to outfitting Lady Gaga.


But at his day job as Mugler creative director, the stylist has yet to hit on the winning formula.Mad Men” has been off the air for months, but Rochas’ Zanini is betting on the enduring popularity of the ladylike retro styles the hit show helped to relaunch.


For spring-summer, Zanini delivered sober sheath dresses and demure V-necked gowns with full skirts and skinny belts in ivory, powder pink and seafoam green that felt like they’d been plucked straight out of the first two seasons of the AMC series.


With its modest lines, Wednesday’s collection was more demure housewife than va-va-voom secretary, or in “Mad Men” terms, more Betty Draper than Joan Holloway. You could almost picture the sullen Ms. Draper skulking around her kitchen in one of the poof-skirted shirtdresses.Though Lourenco’s collection felt fresh, the sweet spot he hit between a kind of hokey but appealing retro look and something sleek and futuristic was not uncharted territory: Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere has been mining it for seasons.


Still, there are worse things than winning comparisons with Paris’ hottest label.