From Paris, Clothes With a Future Look

Marithe and Francois Girbaud, the French designers, are true experimenters in the midst of a nostalgic period in fashion. At times their styles resemble the jogging suits men wear to our better jails, or the kind of protective clothing NASA technicians put on to refuel rockets.

They are known primarily as suppliers of "contemporary" clothes, a trade term that denotes sporty, perishable fashions. But the Girbauds have a more ambitious agenda.

For instance, they make "antibacterial" clothes. They also apply the nylon webbing used in basketball sneakers to clothing. Their spring collection, shown in a Paris movie theater in October, was accompanied by a film of models in futuristic Girbaud fashions walking through a rubbly landscape toward a sun-dappled dawn. It was directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

Their vision, which they call Sport City, involves clothing that is lightweight, pliable, detachable, reversible, rollable and strong, kind of an avant-garde French version of L. L. Bean.

When one thinks of fashion pioneers these days, the image is usually of slashed clothing, perhaps plastic fabrics and models smeared in dreadful apocalyptic makeup. But the Girbauds have their feet firmly on the ground; in fact, their look comes from the pavements of urban America.

"We take raw elements from the street," Mr. Girbaud explained, "the way home-boys dress and put things together."

But the clothes are very sophisticated, especially in their use of fabrics. In the spring collection, the models came out in flowing white ponchos of nylon silk with Velcro and zippers down the fronts and proceeded to rip at least five things open.

In some cases, the models reversed the garment, changing it from a techy poncho with lots of Velcro pockets to a plain-front, very sheer nylon-chiffon dress. Some were trimmed with strips of a newly developed reflective nylon material and worn over Lycra dresses, tops and unitards. To Wear at Decontaminations

Others had hoods that completely covered the face except for a screen of fine nylon mesh to see through, like something one would wear to perform a decontamination. Very "Doctor No."

"The mood in fashion now is to take everything off, to show more skin," Mr. Girbaud said. "But perhaps in the future we will need fashion to cover up, from the deteriorating atmosphere."

The men wore nylon-silk shirts and T-shirts sewn together into one-piece tops that the designers say are antibacterial in fabric and configuration.

"Nothing wrinkles," said Mr. Girbaud, whose clothes are sold at Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus.

"If Chanel were living now, she'd do something like this," he said. "Something anti-bacterial."
By WOODY HOCHSWENDER