On the Fringe

PARIS — Tassels have held some serious sway at couture this season.

Take the Armani Privé runway show, where — beyond a blue- and red-fringed evening midi skirt and a bustier gown with matching gloves that trailed long shimmering threads — cloche caps with beaded tassels were on top of most models’ heads. Or at Givenchy, where, for her third haute couture collection, Clare Waight Keller offered everything from a shivering monochromatic metallic cape to a rainbow-colored multitiered skirt with a matching ruff of the swaying stuff.

Ralph & Russo sent out a black tuxedo jacket dress adorned with a beaded wrap edged with golden tasseling, which by sheer force of gravity gave the body added contour, while at Alexandre Vauthier, models wore shoulder-skimming waterfalls of silver tassels from a single earlobe, much to the delight of onlookers like the couture front row favorite Céline Dion.

So why is this fringe movement swinging its way back onto the couture runways? For one thing, the textured accents seem to be a way of celebrating the softer side of dressing in what feels like a tougher, harder sociopolitical climate. And for another, the sheer shimmying exuberance of flying tassels and threads can make a major statement.

A case in point was the opening look of Maison Margiela’s Artisanal show on Wednesday: a head-to-toe shroud of swirling strands in every imaginable color and length, worn with a crown of trailing red ribbons. Shake it, baby.