MOD SNOW BUNNY
Paris: For the F/W 10 Paul and Joe show, Sophie Albou sent her models down the catwalk looking like 1960s teenage snow bunnies. Minis of all sorts were paired with crochet tights, knee-high sherpa boots and sweater-knit headbands. There were mod shifts and skirts, princess-lined pea coats, nubby sweater dresses, voluminous furs, and hip paisley blouses, all
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SPIES + SKINS
Paris:For the Hermès fall collection, designer Jean Paul Gaultier cleverly selected a theme of British espionage. The inspiration (drawn from The Avengers, James Bond, and the like) covered a lot of bases. Classic spy silhouettes like trench coats, three piece suits and capes were appropriately timeless for Hermès, as were the dapper menswear-influenced accessories. In keeping with the
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MODERN CAREERWEAR
After a tumultuous past decade marked by financial troubles and a revolving door of designers, Cerruti has put London-based designer Richard Nicoll in charge of reviving the 43-year-old house. Fall has found the young designer stronger and more focused than ever — perhaps owing to his new position at Cerruti, a brand rooted in classic menswear. As for
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PRETTY GYPSY
Paris: The looks in Wolfgang Joop’s collection for Wunderkind captured the pretty part of quirkiness, and the intriguing aspects of eccentricity. Ensembles looked thrown together and eclectic, but too visually pleasing to have been accidental. With sophisticated combinations of prints and textiles, and wearing whimsical neck ruffs, bleached eyelashes, and messy hair styled with angelic baby braids, the models
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BALKAN BEAUTIES
Paris: John Galliano opened his show with an oversized Cossack-inspired coat featuring Eastern European motifs in the form of appliqués that decorated cuffs and a swath of fur at the hem. Followers of the theatrical designer will quickly recognize that he has covered this territory before. The Russian/Balkan/Eastern European inspiration appeared as recently as a year ago, one of
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SCRUBBED CLEAN
Paris: Stella McCartney’s personal relaxed yet minimalist style is having its moment in the sun, and this season McCartney’s designs didn’t just look like Stella, they looked universally current. The show opened with a series of ensembles that demonstrated how to wear structure effortlessly. Perfectly tailored coats with upturned notched collars, boxy mini shift dresses, crisp peg-leg trousers, structured
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SWEET SPACE AGE
Paris: Miuccia Prada adapted the early 1960s vibe that pervaded last week’s Prada show for her Miu Miu collection. With an innocence that seemed both ironic and sincere, the Miu Miu girl flaunted her long, long legs in eye-popping orange and purple miniskirts and ultra-short shift dresses reminiscent of Mary Quant's swinging London. Sweet details like scalloped hems,
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PARTING GIFT
Paris: The loss of Alexander McQueen shocked the fashion world, and the sadness it induced among his peers and followers has made for a sober undertone at the shows this season. Having nearly completed his collection at the time of his death, his assistant Sarah Burton and the workers in his atelier carefully made the finishing touches and presented
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FROUFROU DELUXE
Paris: Bubbly, young, and luxe, Giambattista Valli’s swinging 60s looks this season were no reflection of the financial state of his manufacturer, Mariella Burani Fashion Group (who recently filed for bankruptcy). Despite any worries behind the scenes, Valli’s models looked like carefree teenage socialites in frilly dresses with mod silhouettes. Fullness was given to skirts and hemlines with rows
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ROMANCE REDEFINED
Paris: After completing just three ready-to-wear seasons as co-designers of the house of Valentino, Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri have managed to bring back the mystique that the label had long lost. The transformation became official when hipster actress Chloë Sevigny chose a lavender Valentino for the Golden Globes in January. This is no longer your grandmother’s
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FULL TILT FIFTIES
Paris: Partly responsible for vaulting fashion back to the 80s for awhile, Marc Jacobs turned his attention to the more innocent days of the 50s and 60s for fall, first with his namesake collection and now at Louis Vuitton. The full-skirted hourglass was the key silhouette, appearing in cocktail frocks, day suits and skirts paired with bustier tops,
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TRIBAL TAILORED
Paris: Both soft and strong, both masculine and feminine — the Gaspard Yurkievich show seemed to rely on extremes to balance each other. The juxtapositions made for an interesting and inspiring collection that conjured new looks out of old styles. Feminine details like peplums and puff sleeves were added to power suiting and trench coat silhouettes, and exposed zippers
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PARTY + PROFESSIONAL
Paris: Menswear and the 1980s seemed to be the inspirations behind Estrella Archs’ latest collection for Emanuel Ungaro. Cropped trousers, tuxedo jackets, suiting separates, and silk cummerbunds made up the majority of the collection’s item selection. By tweaking the fits and moving the seam placements of men’s standby pieces, Archs created items that looked appealingly professional-femme.
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ACTIVE INTEREST
Paris: Citing skiing and scuba diving as two of the inspirations behind his collection, Riccardo Tisci mixed the sporty references with his signature brand of Goth-chic. The obvious elements associated with each sport were present: neoprene was used for black pants and skirts with a fold-down zippered waist that looked like a partially unzipped scuba suit, and snowflake covered
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WESTERN UNION
Paris: Along with Celine’s Phoebe Philo, Hannah MacGibbon has become a champion of the back-to-basics movement that has taken hold in fashion today. As Philo’s former assistant during her tenure at Chloé, it’s not surprising that she and MacGibbon share a similar aesthetic. The subtle difference in their work is mostly in the design details: MacGibbon tends toward understated
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