Our dark tale of fashion already reaches an end, but there are many topics we have not covered yet – such a profusion of everything ‘dark’ that it almost becomes caricatured.

You don’t feel like being the lady-in-red, the icy bourgeoise, the woman-in-uniform or the beastly creature? No worries, there is plenty for everyone as we go “à travers les marécages désolés de ces pages sombres et pleines de poison” (Lautréamont).

A few ideas: the desperate, turned high-class gangster (La Femme Nikita), the Gothic princess, the avant-garde boxing-girl, the dark version of the garçonne, the doomed ballerina, the cabaret doll, the swords-woman, the bride in black, the prosthesis-woman, the Hollywood vamp, the dark lady in the boudoir…

Surrounded by simulacra of any kind (portraits, mannequins, photographs…) and strong neon lights, the Dark Lady obligatorily lives in a nocturnal world. She wakes up with a Bloody Mary only to plan her outfits for the night; she drives recklessly to arrive in time at the cabaret she is performing at (perhaps even with a gender trick à la Victor, Victoria). Heavy coats and biker jackets save her from the cold of the night – some would call it Punk Couture.

She is the ultimate PERFORMER, staging her own surroundings to match her dark tastes – she knows her Leigh Bowery but tones down the colours and the gimmicks because she is, after all, known to be THE woman.

On her FW11 designers list: Thierry Mugler, Lanvin, Haider Ackermann, Gareth Pugh, Junya Watanabe, Damir Doma, Comme des Garçons, A-Lab, Versus, Francesco Scognamiglio, Julian McDonald, Felder Felder, Ohne Titel…