Come As You Are. Courrèges AW17

March 6, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant of Courrèges resigned from doing a typical fashion show and simply invited their friends to wear this season’s clothes. The way they wanted, with no stylists. Vinyl miniskirts paired with models’ own vintage tees and Nike shoes; lilac mini-dress in patent leather over a motocross shirt; a logo cabas bag and dirty Vans, as easy as that. Andre Courrèges designed and presented clothes for women of his times – Meyer and Vaillant are doing the same, with success. “It’s come as you are“, one of the designers concluded.

Royals are Fly. Y/Project AW17

March 2, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marie Antoinette and today’s rappers – at a first glance, nothing in common. But if you look at their shared love for over-the-top fashion, you might get the point behind Glenn Martens‘ autumn-winter 2017 collection at Y/Project. Big fur coats; leather hoodies with shearling inserts; lace-trimmed sweatpants; ball skirts styled with rhinestone embellished gladiator sandals. A clash between royalty and streetwear? Martens would rather call it as finding the mid-point between those two bold universes. A desire for looking, hmm, fly (although I doubt Antoinette would be use this word for her style).

Yves is Pleased. Saint Laurent AW17

March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Anthony Vaccarello‘s debut collection for Saint Laurent, which we’ve all seen back in September, was a safe entrance to the house with sultry “party girl” look. However, his autumn-winter 2017 is so much more and it’s incredible in every aspect. First, the attachable sleeves-gloves hybrids, which were all about mega volume. Then, the highly covetable over-the-knee boots, whether in patent leather or heavily embellished. Cognac leather made everything, from the evening gowns to mini-dresses, look sexy, but far from vulgar. And when you’ve already thought that Vaccarello nailed it – the cable-knit sweater-dress (of course embellished with thousand rhinestones) was there, stealing the spotlight. In this collection, one can distinguish some of Anthony’s signatures, that we’ve already seen at his now-closed namesake brand. Faded denim, lots of leather, sharp silhouettes. But the designer managed to praise Yves Saint Laurent, without being too referential. The collection was inspired with YSL parties from the 80s – Vaccarello’s favourite period – and one specific look, which was slightly revamped. A black dress embroidered with a purple flower and green leaves was a 2.0 version of the same dress Yves did in the past, done in collaboration with Lessage. It was fantastic, just like the rest of the collection.

Saint Laurent

French Love. Jacquemus AW17

March 1, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

The anticipation before Simon Porte Jacquemus‘ autumn-winter 2017 was growing, as the designer posted three, very special photos on his Instagram account. On each, the show invitation was pictured. And they were signed for Pablo Picasso, Manitas de Plata and Francois Gilot – a pack of cult personalities, who shaped the cultural world of Spain and France in the 20th century. One thing was sure – Jacquemus won’t disappoint this season, “inviting” those three personalities to the show.

And he didn’t. That was ‘chic’. The pure quintessence of this word. From the miniature bags and over-sized to geometrical jackets and flirty dresses. Surprisingly, black was the collection’s main colour, while the designer is rather known for bold shades or simple white. But the collection was far from dull. This sense of darkness made the statuesque coats look refined, mature. You could really notice the hidden beauty of this collection, which keeps so much of the designer’s intimacy. His uncle was a bull-fighter: that’s from where you’ve got the sculpted, matador hats. Little, bejewelled buttons and buckles were a nod to Christian Lacroix, one of Simon’s biggest fashion idols. “When I was a child, I grew up dreaming of Christian Lacroix, who I saw in my mother’s magazines, and meant fashion to me” is how he explains his life-time obsession with the legendary designer, who never said a ‘no’ to signature, over-the-top splendour.

Although this collection would have stolen more than one heart of old Parisian boheme, Jacquemus focuses on his contemporary girl from the real world. Giving her a dream, a story. “It was about this Parisian girl who wears couture who falls in love with a gypsy in the south of France. She tries to be like a gypsy, but she cannot—she is too couture!” There’s this current mania for French chic, which usually ends on ripped denim and not washed hair (according to best-selling books with style tips). But Jacquemus, with his unique, deeply rooted sensibility, brings chic to women of today.

Jacquemus

Folies Bergère. Koché AW17

March 1, 2017March 1, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Folies Bergère is a Parisian music hall that remembers the moment Josephine Baker appeared on the scene ‘dressed’ in bananas only, playing her role of Fatou. A century later, Christelle Kocher taps this remarkable landmark as her autumn-winter 2017 show venue, opening a new, much more mature chapter of her brand. The atmosphere of the music hall significantly differed from previous Koché venues, which used to be much more into the streets and the least “fashion” districts of the city, while Folies Bergère, although forgotten by the Parisians, oozes with historic chic. And that was a quite well-considered background for the label’s neo-decadent clothes. Kocher continues her signature streetwear-meets-couture style, sending down a line of models wearing varsity jackets with intricate embroideries and feather trimmings. Sensual lace peeked out from beneath über-cool baseball shirts and loose shorts were treated with posh satin. This season, Koché is a go-to brand for dresses (in fuchsia, specifically), and not only. There were even heels in the show, the first time throughout the brand’s four season timeline. Progress is something the wave of new designers in Paris praise.