The house of Carven was founded in Paris in 1945, but we'll forgive you if it has hitherto escaped your notice - its energies have previously been focused on creating the kind of blow-the-budget, fairytale pieces we can but dream about (or, more to the point, ogle on the European aristocrats who could afford to wear them).
Fast forward to 2010 and Carven is suddenly making our hearts go pitter-pat for a very different reason. With new blood in the shape of former Givenchy designer Guillaume Henry at the helm, this week sees the label bursting onto the ready-to-wear scene with a collection that is affordable, exquisite and eminently worthy of note.
"I was inspired by Madame Carven when she was 30 years old because she was a real party girl," says Henry of his debut spring/summer 2010 collection, which features fresh, young monochrome cocktail dresses, chic peplum-waisted skirts and utterly gorgeous ruched jersey sheathes. "I was also inspired by Charlotte Gainsbourg in her first movie - she was fifteen, she was really shy and she didn't know how beautiful she was. She was wearing a denim skirt with a men's shirt and heels that were too big for her. She was trying to be a woman and the effect was so cool."
'Cool' nails it. The attitude's in the details: the triangle flash of bare skin at the back of a silk taffeta LBD, the confidently skewed proportions of a cropped cashmere cardigan. And with skirts from £138 and dresses from £215, you won't need a centuries-old nest egg to be able to work it like you mean it.
Carven spring/summer 2010 ready-to-wear is available now at net-a-porter.com.
Picture: Carven, spring/summer 2010.
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