At Schiaparelli, I feel like Daniel Roseberry doesn’t have a clear idea of what the brand’s ready-to-wear line should look like. For a consecutive season now, it’s more of an after-thought of his haute couture that was forced to be less in-your-face, more “commercial”, but at the same time still look flashy and rich. In a way, Schiaparelli ready-to-wear is giving Olivier Rousteing Balmain or something Alexandre Vauthier-ish. Paris is overfilled with fashion like this, and Roseberry’s is just adding up to that certain not-so-niche niche.
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Duran Lantink is one of the most exciting names in Paris. His bigger-than-life clothes are editorial favorites, and innovative approach to fashion – an actual rarity. His extremes of silhouette shaped an avant-garde aesthetic that is already being picked-up by the establishment. Still, nobody has mastered the Duran method, and he’s the beautiful outlier.
This season, the designer went to the beach, inserting inner tubes of padding in one-piece swimsuits and adding several cup sizes and generous uplift to bikini tops. Full-body bodysuits, meanwhile, were padded at the joints, making the models resemble insects or aliens. Other looks were accessorized with handbags worn as bonnets, the straps tucked under the chin. “It was really important to think a bit more about wearability, but still in a very fun way,” he said. The exceptional silver jewelry belonged to Carla Sozzani and was made by her companion, Kris Ruhs. The sculptural necklaces claimed space in a similar way to Lantink’s bold designs. It all worked.
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Something was definitely off about this Balenciaga outing by Demna. Not in a conceptual or ironic way – this would be make the collection spark with the designer’s signature knack for disruptiveness. What worries me is spring-summer 2025’s flatness of meaning behind the clothes. The models – who walked on an extra-long, wooden table – opened the show with lingerie, which was actually an illusionist layering of bras and garters on flesh-colored body stockings. Then, the collection shifted to Demna’s well-known twisted take on streetwear. Shrunken polos, garments made out of stitched together hoodies, well-worn baggy jeans… we all know this story. The finale was about eveningwear that was totally mild and whatever. The show was accompanied by a remix of Britney Spears’ “Gimme More“, the ultimate anthem of over-consumption of mass media and pop culture. When I heard it, my first thought was: Demna’s exhausted. We kind of all are.
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I found Alessandro Michele‘s runway debut for Valentino a disappointment on many levels. I don’t get the reasoning behind sending down the runway over 80 looks that are so terrifically archaic and deadly retro. Yes, it’s Michele’s prime aesthetic, but it can easily (and quickly) get exhausting. Near the end of his tenure at Gucci, you literally felt an overdose of nostalgia. I really hoped Michele would channel his quirk for the past it in a contemporary-looking way. Let’s remember his Gucci debut was an unexpected gender revolution. But at Valentino, he totally missed the opportunity to show a breakthrough. Also, what’s the actual point of remaking Valentino Garavani’s 1970s and 80s garments in 2024? First, there’s a vintage market for that. Second, it looks absolutely stuffy and dusty without even a drop of irony in the styling.
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In his 10th anniversary show for Loewe, Jonathan Anderson wasn’t looking back at his all-time hits. It’s Jonathan: he’s a designer that is always looking forward. The delightfully surreal, but not overly on-the-nose collection began with a bouncingly light, flowered, off-the-shoulder crinoline dress. Corseting-free and hands in pockets, the look – which reappearead a couple of times in the show – felt absolutely contemporary and cool (unlike the stuffy prettiness at Alessandro Michele’s Valentino debut). Anderson finds sheer pleasure in messing with classicism. References to classical composers and painters on T-shirts – made in feathers – pictured Mozart, Chopin, Bach, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and a Manet soldier boy. “I like this idea that they’re kind of like pinup rock stars,” Anderson said. “Like when you go to a museum or you go to a concert: experiential things that you want to take a memento of with you. The idea that music reminds us of moments in our lives.” Then there were his multiple reimagined French golden age couture dresses, all hoops and semisheer flower prints and trapeze-line silhouettes abbreviated to very short minis. Worn with sneakers, there was nothing fussy about his take on eveningwear. Again, a contemporary feel that many, many designers had a hard time grasping this season.
And to celebrate Jonathan Anderson’s victorious decade at Loewe…
Design & Culture by Ed 