Making way to our last stop of the fabulous fashion month, we end with the French capital, Paris.
Showcasing designs from the city’s most established brands to some new faces, this Spring/Summer collection has produced some spectacular looks.
Stella McCartney gives Paris a Serve of Sustainable Style
“Selling sustainability to the world,” as she puts it, Stella McCartney has kept the environment in mind for this collection.
Her show featured 22 stalls to promote alternative materials and circular fashion while also including education stands from material innovation startups.
The market served as her backdrop as models showed off signature McCartney pieces as well as relaxed everyday looks thoughtfully crafted from 95% recycled material.
The collection featured a variety of playful takes on tailoring with dramatic elongated suiting that was broken up with contrasts of texture, glittering collars and details, or mini shorts to show off some skin.
In matching the warm Parisian sun, the looks were lightweight and airy, materials billowing down the runway. Floral dresses were then seen, ruffles and sheer material to emphasise the body as well as hybrid denim pieces and garments made of vegan “leather.”
McCartney collaborated with her father for part of the collection on the catwalk, which celebrated clothes that get handed down through generations. “I always took pieces out of both my mum and dad’s wardrobes, and now my daughter borrows from me,” she says.
Commenting on the sustainability of her collection she says, “we’re not here to make you feel guilty, It’s just about doing what you can, taking a water bottle and a shopping bag out with you when you leave the house or whatever. And not consuming so much fashion because we know we don’t need it.”
Balenciaga
Taking place in a dramatic, red curtain draped theatre, creative director Demna examines the notion of identity this season.
The show notes read: “This show is a reflection of Demna’s world, and the identities that comprise his community.” And he does just that by including his friends and family as models in the show with his very own mother kicking off the presentation, draped in an oversized baggy trench coat upcycled from vintage trenches.
These oversized silhouettes were a common theme this season. Blazers with exaggerated boxy shoulders as well as bomber jackets with overly long sleeves transformed the body’s natural shape.
Not an ounce of skin was showcased with layering being another main point seen. Under the oversized outerwear, long shirts and hoodies were paired with midi skirts over baggy pants.
Although the colour palette stayed with dark, bold, and neutral, pops of colour made their way in the show.
Long dresses flowed down the runway. A few held the same shape of a long sleeved and elegant fit with a ruffled twist in the waist. This dress design was seen with floral fabrics as well as a classic staple black.
This season Demna questioned, “what does fashion do for us? Because for me, I mean, I must be honest, I don’t care much about luxury or the whole idea of it — because I don’t want to give people a proposition to look like they’re rich or successful or powerful. My fashion works from down up, and not from up down,” he says.
Christian Dior is at Home
In expressing her vision of modern femininity, Maria Grazia Chiuri presents a powerful collection to assert independence in the face of our masculine world.
The show is set amidst a video installation by Elena Bellatoni. It presents fierce statements such as “I Don’t Belong To Anyone Else,” “My Body Is Not A Product” and “I Am Not Your Doll.”
The colour palette of the looks is very neutral, ranging from black and whites to beiges and browns. The main motifs focus on the house codes and asymmetry.
In honouring the brand’s signature shapes, the looks include sturdy blazers with a belt to cinch in the waist. These are put together with white collared blouses.
Celebrating femininity, tethered lace and transparent dresses and skirts are put together with business attire. These dainty dresses match chokers. The sheer skirting reveals knee length boots proving a rebellious take on feminism
The asymmetry was demonstrated through many pieces showing off one shoulder. Blouses worn on the side with one arm completely covered and the other exposed or dresses that had ruffled detailing on just on shoulder.
In explaining the inspiration, “this collection restores the idea that the body/clothing relationship is set in the context of the times and not in the time of one day or nostalgia. Fashion has, more than ever, a responsibility to help women realise their worth and express their differences,” says Chiuri.
Issey Miyake
This season Issey Miyake took to nature for the inspiration behind this collection. Whether its the simple reflection of sun glittering in water or a fluttering flag in the wind, the garments aim to emphasise the shapeless yet impactful forces around us.
The first looks are consistent thru the material. A sheer thin fabric that wraps the models from their face all the way down to their feet to accentuate the human form.
Colourful gradient and rainbow-like garments perfectly capture the reflection of sun in water. seen through dresses and stockings the pieces featured a navy contrasting with a gradient of yellows and oranges.
More theatrical looks made the runway with blazers from both sheer and opaque material though all relaxed and baggy fits with exaggerated boxy shoulders. These looks, although oversized have pleating, creating a perfect and beautiful fluid movement of fabric.
The collection also debuts Miyake’s first New Balance collaboration. The shoe was crafted with a vintage-styled low-top silhouette with exposed foam accents. It was of course complete with an enlarged “N” symbol.
Vivienne Westwood
In paying tribute to the legacy of Vivienne Westwood, Andreas Kronthaler presented a sentimental collection.
In honouring the icon, Kronthaler looked through Westwood’s personal wardrobe.
“I organised and numbered Vivienne’s personal wardrobe, clothes we did together. Revisited. Reworked. The collection coming out in the order I picked them, numbered from a hat. Where I felt I changed, or I added, or I took away,” Kronthaler explains in the notes.
The looks were utterly and unapologetically Westwood, quirky, punk, and fun. Her signature tartan pattern gracing the stage with the iconic hourglass figure seen through the tailoring of a tight cinched waist and boxy shoulders.
These theatrical, oversize-theme goes one step further; in a variety of looks that featured a mix-match of textures and colours. Beads on skirts, purple satin pants paired with a large cape, and a bright pink knitted set.
Fabulous eyewear, was a common sight on this runway. Accentuating the face and added an extra level of fun and contrast to the looks.
Speaking about his love for Westwood, Kronthaler adds, “Loved the way she dressed. Always the opposite of everybody else. Wore things until they fell apart — her corduroy suit which she wore over twenty years constantly. A great mender always done in bed — never wasted anything. She understood how to make the most of herself — the most of it! Her thought was always somewhere else, somewhere exciting, that’s what made her so attractive She had a very special relationship to time, she truly travelled in her mind. Love her so much.”
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