As the release date for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland approaches, fashion labels are jumping on the Lewis Caroll boat, adapting their marketing campaigns to the children’s book. Such has already been seen in Paul & Joe’s limited edition cosmetic line lending images from the 1951 Disney animated film based on the themes of “daydream” and “fantasy”.
In Paris, Printemps asked several designers to interpret a modern day Alice, similar to the idea behind Liebovitz’s shoot for American Vogue in 2003 (featured above). The designs, now displayed on the department store front located boulevard Haussmann, include those by créateurs Alexander McQueen, Chloé and Manish Arora.
Maison Martin Margiela fashioned garments for both Alice and the Mad Hatter, but all visible signs point out the Hatter should really be the March Hare (mainly the hat was nowhere to be seen and his head was that of a hare).
Tea cups, pocket watches, rabbits, and playing cards were also recurring icons presented against a backdrop of posters of the upcoming film.
Inside Printemps, you can find the Salon de Thé Éphémère in collaboration with la Maison de Ladurée, serving their “Merveilleux” macaroon à la pomme verte*. The animal shaped hedge in the tea room was a thoughtful reference to the Queen of Heart’s garden, and the warped checked floors gave a nice dizzying sensation. Especially when looking from the escalators above, one would almost find oneself going down the rabbit hole.
Views from the escalators. More of the tea salon here.
Sarah Moroz reacts to the displays below…
Heck yes! Look at them shoulders! This new kind of “carded” — that doesn’t reek of dashed teen ambition to desperately chug a six-pack — is something we can all get behind.
Alice in Manish Arora
Coyly hiding behind a curtain of tulle: is it Alice — or Margiela himself, the enigmatic man who kept us all guessing has-he-or-hasn’t-he quit his eponymous company? (…P.S. He has.)
The “Mad Hatter” and Alice in Maison Martin Margiela
Oh! Such a flouncy Victorian bedruffle of a dress, fit for a tea party or, hell, a martini bar too. Wish you hadn’t gone down the rabbit hole, Alexander McQueen.
Alice in Alexander McQueen
Would the same adventurous Alice who sasses a catepillar and tells off a March Hare really wear such a sober black dress? Discuss.
Frankly, she seems more like a Chloé client circa Spring/Summer 2007 gal, with dresses in punchy colors and florals prints with rhinestones and embroidery.
Alice in Chloé
What’s with this drab on top and leggy on the bottom? That combo is as ridiculous as using a flamingo for a mallet!
Alice in Haider Ackermann
On display now through March 13, 2010
Alice chez Ladurée open everyday from 12h to 20h and Thursday til 22h.
Printemps Mode, Etage -1
64 boulevard Haussmann
75009 Paris
Photography by Ana Lee-Karkar
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* Granny Smith apple flavoured
