First class As the
station clock struck ten, the Louis Vuitton Express, steam billowing,
pulled in to the heart of the Louvre, to the delight of the assembled
fashion crowd. Each of the 47 models then alighted the train carriage,
followed by their own porter carrying their extensive Vuitton luggage.
This was a faultless Marc Jacobs for Vuitton performance; the elaborate
set, the storytelling (the best show notes of the season conjured up a
mood of a bygone age of luxury travel and an air of tangible
anticipation that something magical was about to unfold) and, lest we
forget, clothes, which were all topped by a squat, squashed, over-sized
hat. The silhouette was stiff and structured and often heavily
embellished in gems and richly coloured embroidery, all fastenings were
in the style of jewelled brooches. First Class in every sense.
Leather Leather is proving to
be THE perennial trend. Congratulations if you already invested, you can
feel smug in the knowledge you are still on-trend for winter 2012. Seen
in many Paris collections it was most notable in an equestrian-inspired
trio of shows; Hèrmes, Loewe and Givenchy. It was Argentine Gauchos
for Christophe Lemaire at Hèrmes, the Royal Baroque riding schools of
the South of Spain at Loewe and centaurs for Riccardo Tisci, whose
footwear looked like a hybrid of riding boots and hooves. The equine
theme continued here with huge disc earrings that riffed on horses'
blinkers.
Capes It's all about
the cape. Not the superhero style or a swirling Sherlock Holmes cloak,
we are talking arms through slits or bell sleeves. The freedom to
scratch one's nose and hail a cab with ease. At Yohji Yamamoto the cape
was in knitted hot pink, at YSL there was a modern tuxedo jacket feel,
while Chloe created a hybrid parka-cape.
Deconstruction/reconstruction We
love a show note allowing the fashion crowd a brief glimpse inside a
designer's mind. At Maison Martin Margiela the inspiration was
“gestures", "over the shoulder", "hands in pockets" and "stand up
collar" inspiring the shape and construction of each piece. Coats were
re-proportioned and rose from the shoulder, there were exaggerated
pull-up collars, while double sleeves created capes. Sleeves were sewn
into pockets, and knitwear gave the illusion of movement with molded
bent elbows.
At Junya Watanabe the collection was based on form, or rather changing
form, a trench coat became a funnel-neck cape; cuffed pants were opened
out into the trailing tails of a pinstriped jacket. The running theme
was the deconstruction of masculine tailoring. We suggest that with a
little DIY you can take a new view on an old suit at the back of your
wardrobe.
Beauty queens It was
beauty looks a-go-go in Paris. Thanks to Chanel eyebrows are the thing
for AW12, sparkling, out-of-this-world brows that is. On planet Chanel
they are made from crystals, glitter and beads - a browjazzle as one
front-row fashion editor quipped on Twitter. At Miu Miu, Pat McGarth
went for a psychedelic seventies meets Summer of Love mirror disc look,
worn with faux side-burns. We might give those a miss. Our favourite
revival look of the week- lashings of eighties blue mascara at Stella
McCartney. This is one trend to try at home now.
Purple reign Violet, mauve,
amethyst, heliotrope, aubergine, plum. Whatever you call it, purple is
the colour to be sporting for winter. Endorsed by Chanel, Christian Dior
and Balenciaga, need we say more ?
Volume This season fashion has
risen to a grand new scale – literally. Two of the most eye-dazzling
moments from Paris came as models were dwarfed by the sheer volume of
the creations they wore. There wasn't a figure hugging, body-conscious
garment in sight and the fashion crowd cheered and applauded. Rei
Kawakubo at Comme Des Garcons had fun with felted dresses that had a
paper doll-like feel, minus the tabs. On a softer note, Sarah Burton for
McQueen carried on the inspiration of the McQ show, the forest floor
and fungi. Dresses practically stood on their own, and looked as though
they had unfurled and opened under the heat of the fibre optic lights.
Thousands of layers of organza gently swayed with the tiniest movement.
Opulent decoration There was a
modern take on old classics in Paris. At Balmain Olivier Rousteing took
inspiration from Fabergé eggs by using tiny pearls and crystal
embroidery. For the Carven label Guillaume Henry took Hieronymus Bosch's
'Garden of Earthly Delights' as his chosen print, sending models down
the runway in playful mid-thigh dresses with cheeky key-hole slits on
the bodices. Print maestro Dries Van Noten, used the archives of the
Victoria and Albert Museum to unveil Japanese, Chinese, and Korean
iconography printed and cleverly cut into panels on coats, trousers and
jackets.
Philo on fire This season
Phoebe Philo was on form. Sculptural and very three-dimensional form, to
be precise. She worked with new proportions: full-rounded sleeves on
army jackets; peplums encompassing the hips; and wide, cinched-in belts.
The overall Céline silhouette was ultra modern without a print in
sight. Top of our wish-list for next season are the platform ankle-strap
pumps.
'I'll have a P please, Bob'
In
summary, next season trends are; print, paisley, pyjama pants, pearls,
peplums, pastels, patchwork and pleats. Stella McCartney has backed
paisley PJs. New designer at Chloe, Claire Waight Keller, ran with
pleats on dresses, shirts and skirts. Over at Chanel, King Karl*dazzled
us all with a collection that paid homage to that most iconic of Chanel
looks - the string of pearls. Choosing an underwater theme, the show saw
Florence Welch unveiled as the 'pearl' in a giant Venus oyster shell.
One to watch
When we
heard that ex-creative director at Sonia Rykiel, Gabrielle Gress (who
also spent eight years at Martine Sitbon, another fashion desk
favourite), had produced her own collection we made a beeline for her
Paris studio. We were greeted with dreamy dresses made up of transparent
layers, hinting at the form underneath but never revealing it. A
favourite piece was a soft, bouclé washed sweatshirt (pictured), teamed
with a fluid skirt. These are clothes for dancing barefoot on the beach
in.
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