>> To an audience of only 75, Peter Copping sent out his first runway show at Nina Ricci in the salon above the brand's Paris store.  Copping, who spent the past twelve years at Louis Vuitton, took Ricci to a much more feminine, commercial place than previous Ricci designer Olivier Theyskens. “I like wearable clothes,” he told WWD. “I’m not necessarily into being too avant-garde . . . whenever we did more feminine-based collections [at Vuitton], the sales were always incredible in the stores as opposed to the more austere or hard-edged things."

The Spring 2010 show was about all about the house’s “signature codes”  — bows, lingerie, lace — Copping said, and he's keen to add capsule lines of lingerie and wedding dresses soon. So what's his verdict? Hilary Alexander called the collection "charming," T staffers were fans — Anne Christensen deemed it "very pretty" and Armand Limnander "lovely" — and Elle's Joe Zee, too, was won over: "I'm not usually a fan of romance (clothes that is) but Peter Copping's Ricci debut was a slamdunk in romance. Sweet but not saccharin."

Some, however, seemed more hung up on the switch to commerciality: Los Angeles Times's Booth Moore noted, "Olivier Theyskens' Nina Ricci was all vision; Peter Copping's is all saleable product."  Suzy Menkes commented: "[It] is not necessarily a bad thing for a house [to be very commercial] . . . but Mr. Copping, having staked out his pretty girl territory, needs to take her to a newer place." And Style.com's Sarah Mower is holding judgment: "At first sight Ricci is now in a safe pair of hands but the jury's still out till next season."

>> For his second major runway show in Paris — last time around he surprised everyone with a video presentation instead — Gareth Pugh, went softer, androgynous, and gray.  None of his until-now trademark hard-edged black and white palette to be seen — gray covered the model's faces, hairs, nails, bodies, and even blocked out their eyebrows.  Toni Garrn walked for the first time this season.

Showstopping plumed mohawk headdresses are an editorial shoe-in, and will perhaps soon be seen on front row guest Rihanna, dressed in Pugh, who marked the designer's first major celebrity front row guest (Adrian Grenier and Michael Stipe also attended). Both menswear and womenswear were combined into one show this season, which ended with the Cranberries' "Zombie" playing — perhaps symbolic of the season's "gender-bending zombie look," as the Los Angeles Times's Booth Moore put it.  More details from the show here.

>> Pastel seems to be the palette of choice for Spring 2010 in London, and London returner Jonathan Saunders is no exception. With the help of Katie Grand's styling know-how, plus Christian Louboutin gladiators that had spectators in a tizzy, Saunders's models worked the runway in sheer flouncy pink and lavender pieces and rope-trimmed dresses.  To break the mold, highlighter yellow also appeared in the large, sparse, and uncomfortably hot room Saunders showed in.

>> In the space behind a record store in London this morning, Anna Wintour stopped by for a preview, and Peter Pilotto and design partner Christopher De Vos sent out their trademark watercolor prints atop sculptured and draped minidresses. The collection inspired quite the impulse gushing from Another Magazine ("Peter Pilotto — show of the week so far."), Vogue UK ("The Pilotto show has been one of our FAVOURITE shows yet") and Los Angeles Times's Booth Moore ("Peter Pilotto is next big thing out of London."). Wintour's bouncers were so energized by the show, they apparently almost knocked Suzy Menkes over as they rushed Anna out.

>> While Valentino Garavani is preparing to tape an episode of The Martha Stewart Show to promote Valentino: The Last Emperor next week, his proteges Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out their second try at his legacy this morning.  Their first collection for the brand in January was deemed too close to the designer's own style — perhaps done out of fear of having the same fate as Alessandra Facchinetti — so for this second collection, they needed to move the brand forward.

Unfortunately, they seem to have earned more rave reviews for their choice of venue — the Galerie des Moulages, with open windows to the Eiffel Tower — than for the clothes.  Los Angeles Times's Booth Moore deemed the collection the "same coat with fur trim a dozen different ways, yawn." Hilary Alexander thought "the clothes were just too much of a blast from the past," and Suzy Menkes was left wishing for Alessandra Facchinetti.  Curiously, with all the archival inspiration, there was not a single "Valentino red" dress in the bunch.
*image: source