LEATHER-CLAD WUNDERKIND
Paris: After showing at São Paulo Fashion Week for the past five years, 19-year-old wunderkind Pedro Lourenço had a much bigger stage in mind for fall — not only presenting in Paris but in the very same room where Yves Saint Laurent showed his couture collections. Surrounded by plenty of buzz and with leading
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EASY ELEGANCE
Paris: Fall seems to have caught the Mouret woman on her day off, eschewing her sexy cocktail attire in favor of knit shirtdresses, cardigans and hoodies. Mouret has a knack for creating complex, curvy forms out of just a few creatively-placed tucks and darts, and this time the origami folds took on a softer, more fluid elegance in silk
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MASTER AT WORK
Paris: The masterful work of Yohji Yamamoto continues to inspire with its intensely cerebral exploration of proportion, seams and fashion history, and his deconstructions become ever more subtle and sublime. Yamamoto began his collection in familiar territory with his signature oversized proportions and wide pleats, and it became quickly clear that the designer was meditating on iconic coats
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CHEEKY CHIC
Paris: Queen Viv delivered her particular brand of disheveled chic once again, the seemingly messy ensembles disguising deliberate, artful constructions. This season, Westwood’s collection felt relatively more straightforward, as appealing items easily emerged from the cacophony of graffiti prints, tie-dye and stripes. A rust-colored pantsuit with a jacket featuring exaggerated shoulders and rounded sleeves had a casual-cool thrown-on appeal,
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ANCIENT MODERN
Paris: The models’ silky black shoulder-length wigs with severe bangs set the mood for the darkly romantic and exotic Lanvin collection. The hairstyles called to mind the Egyptian queen Cleopatra and signaled an inspiration from the ancient culture. Designer Alber Elbaz introduced a long and languid silhouette for jersey dresses that swirled elegantly around the body with the effortlessness
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ESQUISITE EQUESTRIAN
Paris: For his most recent Dior couture collection (and many others previous), John Galliano looked to turn-of-the-century equestrians for inspiration. The show opened with a dramatic leather riding cape and continued into lovely leather outerwear – including a coat in a gorgeous mulberry shade. Luxe velvet or suede jodhpurs with knee patches and shrunken hunt coats in tweed further
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DECO SUPERHUMAN
Paris: London-based Manish Arora listed 1920s deco as a major inspiration for his collection this season. The deco references were evident, but the collection read as many more things as well — futuristic, otherworldly, psychedelic, and superhuman — to name a few. As far as deco goes, there were geometric prints, chevrons, and the neon bobs that gave some
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SEXY SECRETARY
Paris: Tim Van Steenbergen continued his exploration of innerwear as outerwear for fall, making unmentionables weather-appropriate by layering them under plush wool, fur and leather outerwear. With their cat-eye glasses and mix of seductive and conservative duds, the models presented a cheeky take on the sexy secretary archetype. Retro-inspired longline bras and high-waisted boy shorts functioned as both the
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COMPLEXITY RESOLVED
Paris: Damir Doma’s first collection for women seemed like a visual demonstration of Constantine Brancusi’s philosophy, “complexity is simplicity resolved”. Possessing clean lines and fluid shapes, the looks were both minimal and clever. Every ounce of style was squeezed out of the collection’s natural ingredients — the drape of the fabrics, the willowy frames of the models’ bodies, the
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STAYING THE COURSE
Paris: Balmain’s Christophe Decarnin has a formula and he’s sticking with it. This season, he continued the bold-shouldered, ultra-short disco dresses and military-detailed jackets that made him an instant star several seasons ago. His signature skintight pants were carried over as well – this time in black leather, gold lamé or gold painted brocade – but the
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PRETTY PARISIENNES
Paris: For his second outing at Nina Ricci, Peter Copping seems to have become more familiar and comfortable with the house’s archives. The ultra-femme looks felt classic and Parisian, yet subtle adjustments to details and silhouettes brought it all up to date. Tightly packed floral appliqués decorated sheer tops and formed dimensional panels on dresses, and bits of fur
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GOTH CRAFT
Paris: There’s always something very much the same and something very different about a Rick Owens show. The designer’s goth-chic aesthetic consistently pervades his work in a confident and powerful way, but each collection still feels like a discovery. This season, Owens played with silhouette, introducing both more voluminous and slimmer shapes into his work. The show opened with
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TOUGH ROMANTIC
Paris: Unlike her father, Yohji Yamamoto, Limi Feu's clothes are typically more urban and rock 'n' roll than they are romantic. For F/W 2010, however, the designer seemed to have a harder time resisting pretty-feminine concepts, with ultra-sentimental silk, lace and crochet dresses hidden beneath the tough outerlayers. Even the masculine double-breasted jackets and coats had ruffles, tiers,
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FRIENDLY FUTURISM
Paris: When the future is cited as an inspiration in fashion, the default result is a mostly black (or white) palette, angular silhouettes and lots of leather or neoprene. Nicolas Ghesquière’s magic, and what sets him apart from the legions of other future-obsessed designers, is his refreshing optimism and his daring experimentation with unconventional construction techniques and innovative techno
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SKELETON CREW
Paris: Orphelie Klere and Francois Alary's Devastee line is one of the more youthful and independent collections of Paris fashion week, each season offering a flirtatious but refined exercise in black and white separates. For F/W 10 the palette remained stark, but greater dimension was achieved via mixed prints and graphics, and a wide range of floral, animal prints,
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