PARIS...Bernhard Willhelm designs in the same arena as Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Tsumori Chisato and Jeremy Scott, allowing his imagination to unravel freely each season. The German born, Belgian based talent created a savvy mashup of ethnic and animal influences, using bold black and white linear prints alongside realistic depictions of lions and other creatures. Simultaneously urban, lightly kitschy, graphic and
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PARIS...Tsumori Chisato, who began working with Issey Miyake in 1977 before starting her own line a decade later, brought her expected wildness to Paris runways for S/S 09, taking an exuberant and free hand with print, color and texture. A directional, yet on-trend look at ethnic influences, layering and print mixing, Chisato expertly presented striped harem pants, fluttery, feather fringe
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PARIS...French aristocrat Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has been designing ready-to-wear, as well as unique one-off creations, for forty-five years, famously debuting his teddy bear coat on Madonnna in the film Prêt-à-Porter. Castelbajac shows his fanciful work every season in Paris, spinning an entire environment around the clothing. S/S 09 brought him into the clouds, with a light, pop-art set surrounding each
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PARIS...Venerable French brand Cacharel, founded by Jean Bosquet in 1964, has always presented a youthful mood, including bright colors, texture and pattern in their collections. S/S 09 brought a particularly young look to the runway, through the use of smocking, babydoll silhouettes and pieces that would be perfectly suited for a picnic. A shocking yellow enlivened khaki and provided an
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Paris...Lanvin
If any designer has been thoroughly successful in creating a defined signature recently it has been Alber Elbaz for Lanvin. Once again his special ways with proportion-play, luxury materials and classic dress-making techniques culminated in a collection that was truly worthy of closing Paris Fashion Week. The show began in a reserved way with the structured yet voluminous and draped
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Paris...Louis Vuitton
With Edith Piaf singing on the soundtrack, Marc Jacobs' declared that the Louis Vuitton S/S 09 collection was "all about Paris." Although with the masses of feathers, beads and other Africana references, it was most likely the Paris of that other famous chanteuse, Josephine Baker he was referencing. Whatever his initial inspiration might have been, the show was upbeat,
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Paris...Chanel
In recent seasons Karl Lagerfeld has used grandiose props to emphasize the history and strength of the brand. This time out, girls exited from the door of the façade of the Chanel building at 31 Rue Cambon onto the runway "street". Meanwhile "Our House" by Madness (yet another '80s reference!) played in the background. The major silhouettes looked ladylike but
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Paris...YSL
Designer Stefano Pilati took a look toward the East this season “I felt for an extreme simplicity,” he said, “but it has to be feminine and a bit audacious. Lifting the spirits was making sense to me.” He created a fresh tear-shaped pattern which was used on blazers and boleros, both cropped and voluminous. These top-heavy silhouettes created a
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Paris...Stella McCartney
Inspired by the coloring books of British artists Dinos and Jake Chapman, the runway came equipped with a fabulous felt mural created by the artists. Stella McCartney, the new queen of the jumpsuit, reinvented this silhouette once again, in one case using silk chiffon. The blush-pink, steal-gray and pewter-blue created a soothing palette against the colorful backdrop. Big-over-slim was
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Paris...Haider Ackermann
Haider Ackermann’s subtle way with simple materials is always magical. At first, pieces seemed to hang by a thread but at second glance it was clear that in fact they were connected with zippers! These beautifully deconstructed garments created an illusion of a puppeteer gently hugging the models' every curve with imaginary strings. His leather pieces conjured the workings
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PARIS...Marithé François Girbaud has been pumping out higher end juniors looks since 1969, crafting a light and wearable collection each season. S/S 09 found the designers mixing street casual and a more feminine dressy look, showing both crisp, voluminous dresses and skirts alongside a parade of message tanks and gathered pants and shorts. A bit of sheer on a knee
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PARIS...Jeremy Scott is truly a fashion maverick, to use a current cultural buzzword, moving from the U.S. to Paris a few years ago in order to show his outrageous designs in the City of Lights and shake up the chic crowds. For S/S 09, Scott hosted one of the most sought after parties of the week and showed a typically
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At Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci once again featured a fierce warrior woman; this time sprinkled in Western accents such as metallic appliqués snaking up skin-tight black leggings and crystals criss-crossing mini dresses. Some of the best street looks I saw yesterday showed ladies using black as a base and accenting with punchy colors or metallics.
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Paris...Viktor & Rolf
Forget about a fashion show; let’s talk about a fashion film. The Dutch duo, Rolf Snoeren and Viktor Horsting, created a digital simulation of a runway show that was posted on their website. The 7 minute short film is a high-tech version of “Funny Face,” the inspiration for the collection. “It’s like nothing that you have ever seen
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Paris...Givenchy
Celebrities and fans of Givenchy designer, Riccardo Tisci, stampeded the backstage area, delirious over his latest offering, which he termed “Western Bondage.” Dresses were roped together with bonding straps made of skintight black Lycra. Sleeves were pinned and tucked creating voluminous face-framing silhouettes. Midway into the show a model wearing a hybrid of half-leather and half-denim chaps pranced down the
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