Riccardo Tisci never ceases to amaze me. I attended his first couture presentation for Givenchy a few years back and remember thinking: This man has ideas. His shows are never predictable, and this collection was no exception. Once again, it was staged at the Hôtel d’Évreux, an hôtel particulier next to the Ritz on the Place Vendôme. The space is an architectural jewel–Tisci used it in July for the showing of his Fall/Winter couture–and it’s an extraordinary spot for viewing very special clothes.

As in July, the clothes were displayed throughout three rooms: as guests passed through, models walked around very quietly (the whole experience was quiet, almost solemn). This season, Tisci took inspiration from Japanese robots–probably the source for that extravagant headgear–but the clothes themselves were rather airy and fragile-looking. The girls looked much more like Japanese warrior princesses than plastic toys.

A particularly wonderful thing about presentations (as opposed to runway shows) is that you can get so close to the work–and stay for as long as you like. My two favorite pieces were a bolero with an appliqué of crossed robots on the back (like a Catholic cross), which was so unusual, I kept returning to look at it again and again. The other standout was a long, airy white chifffon dress that shaded to yellow feathers on the bottom.

I bumped into Louis Vuitton’s menswear designer, Paul Helber, while walking through the collection, and we both remarked on how amazing the clothes looked. It’s always inspiring to see such a wonderful display of creativity–that’s one of the things I love most about fashion!

Photograph by Arnaud Paumier