video transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) STORY: Dries Van Noten presented an eclectic Fall 2013 collection on Day Two of Paris Fashion Week (February 27) offering a fresh twist on the combination of masculine and feminine elements. The Belgian designer sent models down the runway sporting black suit trousers, boxy overcoats and oversized sweaters that were unexpectedly paired with glamorous feathered and rhinestoned tops and dresses and sparkly strappy open-toed sandals. Van Noten is the master of mixing clashing prints, patterns and textures and this collection only reaffirmed his unparalleled skill in somehow rendering it all coherent. Van Noten told Reuters backstage about the inspiration behind his latest creations: "The starting point of the collection in fact was menswear, so we have all the big men's coats, the big men's shirts and all these things. So in that way it was important to have as a decoration like completely the opposite, ballroom, ice skating, all these elements. You have the feathers and the diamonds and everything is just a little too brash and too bright." The designer rose to fame in the early eighties and was part of the famous avant-garde group of designers called the "Antwerp Six". Paris is the final leg of the international Fashion Week whirlwind, following New York, London and Milan and runs from February 26 to March 6.