By Cheryl Tay

Unveiled at the second Press Conference of Women's Fashion Week 2011 Singapore on 6 October 2011 as one of the Couturiers to showcase during the 'Haute Couture Week' finale, Alexis Mabille is a designer making waves in the fashion scene with his avantgarde creations, equally matched by commercial prowess and ambition.

SENATUS looks at the meteoric rise of the "Christmas Bauble of Paris", as he is nicknamed by friends.

"Alexis Mabille is the designer to watch," proudly proclaimed Frank Cintamani, Chairman of Women's Fashion Week on Thursday afternoon at the highly anticipated Women’s Fashion Week press conference.

He has good reason for stating so – much of Paris and the style press have been equally enamored with the fresh-faced designer since he first made his debut in 2005 with his ready-to-wear line.

"It's not only the universal appeal that Alexis Mabille - the brand and the designer - wields, with creations for both men and women in splendid ready-to-wear and couture lines BUT also the commercial ambitions of the label, run by a close-knit unit of family members that bodes well" adds Women's Fashion Week Director Kien M. Lee.

The 34-year-old flamboyant dandy (he’s known for sleeping on a bed that is modeled on a meringue, and adorning his very first couture collection with more than 1,500 bows; his friends call him the Christmas Bauble of Paris) from Lyon has experienced rapid success, beginning with his tutelage at the famous Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, where he graduated in two years instead of the usual three.

He joined Dior in 1997, specialising in jewellery and accessories under John Galliano, and later, Hedi Slimane.

The final presentation of Alexis Mabille Couture Fall/Winter 2011/2012 Collection in Paris.

Alexis Mabille with his signature "bow" creation | Photo Credit: Benjamin Kanarek

Impasse 13, Mabille’s unisex ready-to-wear line, was launched a few years later with a purpose: to create looks that flatter both girls and boys equally. He has candidly revealed that he is his own most important muse, saying,

"When I started to do my mixed collection it was because I couldn’t find clothes that I liked. My collection is full of clothes that I myself would like to wear."

Now, his collection has expanded to include designs that are “exclusively feminine”, attracting an impressive clientele that boasts names like Keira Knightley, Sophia Coppola and Dita von Teese.

His bow-adorned first haute couture collection was officially launched in 2008, and it has since then made his name synonymous with his trademark reinvented bowtie.

From burgundy velvet to pale gold snakeskin, Alexis Mabille has done it all; and don’t expect them to always be worn traditionally around the neck either  – the bows appear behind the model’s ear, on the chest, and on the top of six-inch stilettos.

The bowtie is Mabille’s way of retaining his sense of self in his creations. In his hands, the staid “old-fashioned” accessory worn from his childhood days has been transformed with an irreverence distinctive of him.

The opening for Alexis Mabille Couture Fashion Show earlier in July this year.

Mabille’s describes his designs as embodying a “bourgeois with a twist” spirit and it seems like this disregard for convention is winning over Paris.

Will it win Singapore over as well? If his mini fashion show at the press conference is any indication, everything will be fine and dandy.

A Brief History of Alexis Mabille So Far
Education
1995-1997: Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne

Career
1997: Joined Dior, specialising in jewellery and accessories under John Galliano and Hedi Slimane

2005: Launched Impasse 13, a unisex clothing collection, and Treizor, an accessories line specialising in bow ties

2008: Official debut at Paris Haute Couture Week