There’s no question, Maxime Simoens has talent, and I’ve enjoyed seeing his presentations. In the past, he’s been inspired by Sofia Coppola (her films The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette informed his two last collections), but this time he imagined a Gothic retelling of the vampire legend, Nosferatu.

There were some interesting pieces–particularly the dresses with flowing, transparent capes. But it was difficult to see how this collection merited being called haute couture, especially when compared with something equally Gothic in style–but worlds away in terms of exclusivity–such as Givenchy.

Maxime’s fabrics and construction are top-notch–but this time, I wasn’t wowed. I look at a collection from a personal point of view, and I try to both see myself in the clothes and imagine how I would feel wearing them. This season, Maxime and I were probably just looking in different directions.

Photographs by Stephane Israël