StyleFixer

These were the baddest bitches on a Givenchy runway in a long time. That, and it was hands down the sexiest collection of the season so far.

As Tisci’s interest drifted toward the streetwear scene in the last couple of years and he turned the designer sweatshirt into a covetable (and highly lucrative, no doubt) commodity, his collections lost some of the unabashed sexual heat he was once known for. Well, it came roaring back from the first look out here: a little black dress with grommeted lacing between the breasts, worn with peep-toe boots, the tops of which nearly grazed the skirt’s hem.

After the sex factor, the next thing you noticed was how worked these clothes were, some as elaborately as haute couture. Black-and-white latticed jackets and coats, each more ornately decorated than the last with whipstitching and filigree; Roman gladiator dresses in studded leather backed with lace; fringed tinsel sweaters with giant jeweled medallions nestled at the chest; and, for something a little more low-key—though, to be honest, the one thing this collection didn’t offer was much in the way of variation—second-skin black knits with corset lacing tucked into super-high-rise jeans.

For the record, Tisci said his reference points were Tyrolean costumes, vintage pinball games (which explained the way the models zigzagged through the crowd), and his earliest days at Givenchy, nearly 10 years ago now. “In the beginning, when I started, it was much more tough and sexy,” he said. “I feel like women today tell me that’s what’s missing from the market.” Certainly that’s true this season, when so much of fashion has gone boho.

Earlier this summer, rumors circulated that Tisci was headed toward an exit from Givenchy and about to take on a new challenge. We gave up playing the designer-musical-chairs guessing game a while ago, but there was clearly no sense of wavering in this collection. The one word that kept coming to mind about Tisci’s take-no-prisoners, rock ‘n’ roll warriors? Committed.

The idea of getting “dressed to kill” (or be killed) originated with bullfighters. Are you for one second surprised that for Dolce & Gabbana, Spain is the new Sicily? Those two points on the compass share a wealth of inspirations for Domenico and Stefano. Today there were a black net sheath, a black corset paired with thigh-high black stockings, a black jacket and pencil skirt combination that had the sexy severity of the racy widow—all of it adding up to enough Catholic guilt to choke a pope. There were also flamenco polka dots.

But at the same time, the corrida opened up a new world of possibilities for the designers. The silhouette and embellishment of a matador’s jacket inspired an entire passage of the collection. It was aired with rompers to bring it up to this decade. Then there was the color red: the color of blood in the bullring, the color of the carnations that were Domenico’s mother’s favorite flowers. They were embroidered everywhere, but were most effective as the streamlined adjunct to a body-conscious striped top.

The show was huge, but inside, fighting to get out, was a straightforward story of leggy silhouettes, romantic full skirts, and ornate embellishment on simple shapes. The finale nailed that. The Dolce army marched in white bullfighter shirts and high-waisted, embroidered