Red Queen. Comme des Garcons SS15

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Why brilliant fashion designers, a notoriously nonanalytic breed, sometimes succeed in anticipating the shape of things to come better than professional predictors, remains one of the most obscure questions in history and, for the historian of culture, one of the most central.” said Marxist historian, Eric Hobsbawm. This sentence perfectly introduces you to Rei Kawakubo’s extraordinary summer, full of blood and roses. Very theatrical it was the SS15 for Comme des Garcons was very politically-historically connected. We switch from 2014 to 1914. Pain, wars, love, favourism, feeling, power- all of these things left a clew in those massive pieces. There was not even a major variation in reds; it was the same rose red, or poppy red, expressed again and again in widely different textures and silhouettes that ran like exploded and tattered versions of an invented history, one of Kawakubo’s own making. It was all RED. And very dramatic and deep. The hair reminded me of Alice in The Wonderland‘s big-headed queen while the exaggerated hoodies felt like The Red Riding Hood. Maybe it’s not hard to live between the world of kids and world of adults? Maybe we shouldn’t initially think of red as blood, but more of love? Rei Kawakubo, the poet of fashion, asks us again a strong question.

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Moody Ruffles. Ellery SS15

The Aussie girl, Kym Ellery, does sculptural beauty this time in Paris. The collection is so, so breath-taking. It has so much movement, flair, boldness… the materials used are so gorgeous, that the amazing over-sized ribbons look super effortless and wearable. Ellery always masters best the fun with fabrics- in their Paris-based studio, the real magic happens, making their collection better and better each season. Ellery had two main emphases: creating a lean, attenuated silhouette, and elaborating it with rich textures. The opening look established the theme: a pair of extra-long tweed trousers topped with a mesh undershirt and matching tweed singlet. The singlet had a buoyant flare, but this was a more measured take on the sculptural volumes Ellery has explored in the past. The tailoring was a highlight—lots of great pants—and the shirting, too, done in heavy-duty cottons with a touch of sheen. Ellery also scored with her long, almost monastic tank dresses, which kicked out under the hip. Serene but with a vibrant atmosphere in the air.

 

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American Hustle. Acne SS15

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Hustle, hustle honey! It’s Acne for SS15, and we’got a big hustler thing going on. Rap gold chains, shiny aviator glasses, 70’s wide trousers and sexy V-necks are just few things that felt super hot. Green, yellow, beige, red… all of that was here, making the collection looking IT. Backstage Johansson said he’s been captivated lately by young people’s affection for and appropriation of luxury goods, the implication in the statement being that the phenomenon isn’t an experience he remembers from his own Swedish youth. But was he endorsing the current situation or poking fun at it? It wasn’t always clear. In the case of a strapless minidress made from a teal green terry cloth towel—spa day!—it seemed like Johansson was taking the piss.

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Silk Fragility. Haider Ackermann SS15

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As usual, Haider. You steal the spotlight of Parisian Fashion Week, without having a lot of effort. The summer created by Haider Ackermann is all about flesh-tone silks, backless knitwear and come-undone tailorings. Over-sized sweaters, cool vests, beautiful, blush pink trousers and magical, lilac capes- it all felt like a delicate, breezy summer in Paris. Stiff glossy leather belts orbited skin-tone satin tops and sharp, shoulder-skimming playsuits, while gathered chiffon blouses – slashed to the navel, were loosely tucked into low-slung trousers complete with sporty, racing stripes. Fans of the label’s more androgynous cuts will no doubt be inspired by the sleeveless crepe jackets, floor-length trench-coats and waistcoat tops. Haider Ackermann always ends up on my Parisian favourites. And this dreamy, ethereal surely classifies as one of the most wearable creations yet bt Ackermann. In love with the master-layering as much as in the whole collection. J’adore!

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