Elie Saab RTW Fall 2015

It really isn’t about the item purchase at Elie Saab. You buy into the whole universe, the ankle boot the same color as your clutch and the pinch-waist dress someone zips you into. An afternoon at the salon is a given.

For fall, the designer’s high-maintenance ladies assumed a slightly tougher guise, donning lots of leather with lace paneling, and rimming their eyes with kohl à la Carine Roitfeld. A black tent in the Tuileries and a blast of heavy metal amidst a show set of barren trees amplified the message.

The clothes were expertly made, if often overcharged, starting out with lean black maxi coats and luncheon suits with rows of military buttons, moving through Army-green silks and more matchy-matchy looks in rich reds, then teal, then more black. A fur cape shaded from deep green to black might cause salad to drop from some forks.

Print interludes included a noisy, kaleidoscopic tie-dye grounded in teal for a filmy gown slit up to there, and quieter brocades bearing a leaf motif or arty swirls. Silhouettes ranged from short and leggy to Nancy Reagan prim, although the degrees of transparency and intricate cutouts were more intense on the latter.

Elie Saab knows flattering color is primal in fashion, and Lily Donaldson was indeed arresting in a sparkling blue gown that set off her eyes and her killer blowout.