L.A. Fashion Week Spring '03: Marithe+Francois Girbaud
After stepping out of the spotlight for nearly two decades, Marithe+Francois Girbaud is quietly reentering the fashion forum with a new collection of denim and contemporary sportswear for women. The company, which is based in Paris but has a U.S. licensee, held an exclusive runway presentation immediately following the California Market Center’s (CMC) fashion show on Nov. 1 in the CMC lobby. Marithe+Francois Girbaud’s collection featured urban chic and utility looks including nylon scrunch skirts with cargo pockets and striped pantress gauchos, worn with button-up Chinese poplin blouses. Danny Gladstone, president of IC Isaacs, the company that produces Marithe+Francois Girbaud in the United States, said Girbaud’s designers are strongly influenced by Japan’s fashion market. One standout look was the group of permanent-wrinkled denim jeans gathered at the knee and paired with punk-flavored slashneck T-shirts with ruffles. —Claudia Figueroa
