The biggest lesson to take from Paris Fashion Week is simple: French designers do what they want – ignoring seasonal conventions and creating definitive work that sets the trends for the rest of the fashion world to follow. The New York designers were, for the most part, romantic, while the Londoners played to their biggest strength: tailoring, and the Italian designers upped the GLAMOUR element by a million.
The Parisian houses focused on liberating the modern woman through rebellion, and while there were a few throwbacks to previous decades (as there always are), designers coloured outside the lines, even opting for posters and protests in their shows.
Here are some of the collections we loved:
Couture outerwear
The Miu Miu collection had some serious edge and every piece worked together to give a different side of the girl with a bad attitude but always impeccably dressed. Muiccia Prada presented a winning collection full of prints and leather in explosive colours. The Miu Miu girl we saw is impulsive, and doesn’t answer to anyone other than herself.
While a lot of the colours from the Christian Dior collection were soft pastel ones, its strength came from their vibrant pop. As usual, the designer showed his mastery over enlarged shapes with clean lines and silhouette. Jackets were favourites and they looked like they were built to lend extra space for different body types.
’70s throwbacks
From the dresses, to the Bianca Jagger-referenced headpieces, heels and short-shorts, the Saint Laurent collection was consistent and strong throughout. Hedi Slimane, the man behind the brand, told a darker story compared to most of the other collections, but equally (if not more) realistic and current. The nod to the ’70s wasn’t predictable and this collection focused primarily on function and edginess.
Last year, Nicholas Ghesquiére’s debut collection for Louis Vuitton wowed critics and consumers alike. This year’s one was that times 10! Like his previous work, this one hinted at the ’70s, but had more of a modern element. This collection was all about the separates. He’s probably one of the only designers this season that showed separate tailored denim pieces and topped them with sheer tops and blazers. Striped leather in pops of red and orange were especially beautiful, while the mini dresses with panels and detailed leggings were a big deal for critics.
Warrior queens
The Givenchy collection was a mix of sexy war clothes. There were smartly-crafted dresses with interesting cuts and panels and mostly in black. They looked amazing on the runway, but the leather is what everyone was talking about this season. The leather panel dresses with string and fringe details could have been terribly dated, but they weren’t. Riccardo Tisci designed a collection of pieces for a girl who fights for the things she wants, and always wins.
Olivier Rousteing seems to be on a roll with countless collections for Balmain that are both smart and sexy. Power jackets with leather that allowed for a lot of movement, were the standout concepts from this runway. The designer took to blue, yellow, black and white to scheme a collection of cutouts and woven pieces that floated on the runway – the execution and finishing was brilliant.
Fashion as a tradition
Pierpaolo Piccioli and Grazia Chiuri payed homage to every facet of Italy with their collection and their execution was brilliant without being overly traditional. The collection moved well on the runway and was visibly inspired by Roman architecture. The detailing that went into the fabric and draping was breath-taking, making it one of this season’s most versatile collections.
Sarah Burton’s Japanese inspiration has been serving her well with her ability to push the envelope in fashion and truthfully, Alexander McQueen is the perfect brand for her to do so. Using black as her main colour, she used only a bit of florals to tell a story of tradition and pay homage to the people who have inspired her the most this year. Some eye-popping moments included bondage-inspired harnesses and the glossy headpieces on the models which gave the show an added bit of excitement. Standout pieces were definitely the kimonos, suits, and cocktail dresses with capes.
Pretty in protest
Chanel is always one of the biggest shows during Paris Fashion Week because viewing each collection is an experience. This season, Karl Lagerfeld treated the audience to a protest where models walked down the runways chanting and holding posters. Women’s rights were the issue, and appropriately, the models wore impeccably tailored tweed power suits. It was an explosion of colour as the designer emphasised, through the clothes, that serious political and social issues don’t always have to be met with dull black outfits.
A little less ball, a little more cocktail
Lanvin, which is always a great show for gowns, didn’t disappoint fans. There were some amazing gowns from this collection that will no doubt appear on the red carpet during award season. One thing that stood out in the collection were the separate pieces and cocktail dresses. Jackets and skirts were beautifully cut and modern in classic nude colours with black making its way into the collection in the most sophisticated way: through dresses, embellishment and layers. Alber Elbaz has already proven his skill and mastery of textiles but the individual pieces in this collection take it to another level. Celebrating 125 years as a fashion house, it’s clear that Lanvin hasn’t missed a beat at all!
Alexander Wang’s debut collection for Balenciaga stayed true to his signature form. There were mesh and tons of pieces including a brilliant boxy jacket with trench embellishments along the sleeves and shoulder. The colours were soft for the most part, though the collection was at its most dramatic in black and white pieces. With this collection, the consumer can create her own identity while wearing Wang’s version of Balenciaga.
