On Aura Tout Vu Haute Couture A/W11

On Aura Tout Vu literally means ‘You’ve think you’ve seen it all’ – and this is exactly what the collection presented yesterday in Paris’ Palais Royal gardens felt like. France-based, Bulgarian-born designers Livia Stoianova and Yassen Samouilov make clothes that are closer to stage costumes than classical catwalk wear – indeed their clients range from French Cancan dancers to Lady Gaga.

Yesterday in Paris, they presented a line as over-the-top and kooky as always: skeletons had been cut out of mirrors and sewn onto evening dresses; this created a comic look mid-way between Alice in Wonderland and Beetlejuice. The dresses consisted of flowy layers with sheer cutouts, fearlessly sexy: backless at times, crotch long at others – reinforced by a repetitive use of lace, fur and thigh high boots. Yet the light-hearted element came in through headpieces, face masks and full glitter robot looks. And there is more to the house – On Aura Tout Vu is, in parallel, holding a large exhibition in Monaco, in honour of the recent royal wedding.

At the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco held in 18^th century villa La Villa Sauber, the duo were invited to give a makeover to the national collections of dolls. Imagine these centuries-old porcelain toys suddenly dressed in rock'n’roll outfits, in mini-discotheques and various phantasmagorical sceneries. You’ve think you’ve seen it all? Well, you haven’t.