“We wanted a more brutal way of doing things,” confessed Dries Van Noten after his spring-summer 2017 show in Paris. “We just started to chop up garments and throw flower prints on. Everything contrasting!” Indeed, “contrast” is a fitting term for Dries’ multi-faceted outing of opulent gowns embroidered with layers of jewels and draped in silks. Intricately embellished high-necked blouses with Victorian sleeves were kept in eye-killing shades of yellow and blue, while fish-net elements peeked out from underneath her soft cashmere knits and glamorous evening-gowns. The woman portraited by Van Noten this season has nothing against street-wise: just look at the range of satin bomber jackets. Unlike Marchesa Casati, last seaon‘s muse, it’s not about one specific woman for spring. The designer shares only one tip – whoever she’s, she dresses according to her mood, from the most noir and dramatic looks, to most mesmerising colour combinations. The rest is left for you to intepret.
Amid the new league of young, fashion talents based in Paris, there’s Jacquemus, Koché, Courrèges boys, and of course Vetements collective. Another one in the hood is Glenn Martens, who is the designer behind Y/Project. While other re-invent heritage, French brands or mess around with underground rave culture, Glenn is somewhere in between reviving Marie Antoinette dresses and developing a 21st century gear for cool women (and men). For spring/summer 2017, the designer nails denim pants, which are very much into elongated silhouettes. Velvet body-con piece or a pony-hair top subvert the term “elegance”, just like unconventional evening wear which focuses on exaggerated, sleeveless parachute dresses. The models wore layers of pearl necklaces, ironically contrasting with the so-in-demand street-wise hoodies. Following the anti-fashion maxim, the uglier the better, Glenn sent out a line of the most trashy mules and stilettos you have ever seen. “They’re from Chinatown,” he said backstage, without an attempt to conceal this fact. I doubt a modern-day princess would immerse herself in those cumbersome clothes – but a Parisian skate-girl, for sure.
The debut collection by Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent is behind us, and we’ve got the first image of how the new creative director approaches the brand. We know Anthony’s aesthetic at his namesake label, which is mostly about leather, sexy mini-lengths. Hedi Slimane, Vaccarello’s predecessor, was exactly that during his tenure at Saint Laurent, with his sultry LA rock band attire. It was fairly predictable that some of the looks for Saint Laurent will be nearly undistinguishable from the Belgian/Italian designer’s own line. In other words, the label’s clients, who are less aware of fashion industry twists, won’t note a big change in the brand’s ready-to-wear range. At least, those boyfriend jeans, draped gold lamé dresses and classy le smoking suits were far, far away from Slimane’s frequently despised vulgarity.
The 80’s played a role in Vaccarello’s spring-summer 2017: it’s another brand which continues a venture into the topic of over-sized sleeves-of-mutton this season. Also, a big 1980’s moment appeared in the collection as an abundance of iconic YSL logo, designed by Cassandre back in 1961. It was everywhere, from the logo-shaped heels to zirconia embellished tights. The shoes stole the spotlight of the show, and Instagram adored this fashion moment – but is it that ground-breaking? Stefano Pilati did a very similar thing with accessories, when he was at helm of the brand.
Vaccarello previewed his collection and its “new” mood a few weeks before the presentation, by releasing Inez & Vinoodh’s mini-video starring Anja Rubik. Polish model, who’s privately best friends with the designer, trips and strips along the Seine to the tune of a melancholic song by Michelle Gurevich. Anja really does look like the song’s “Party Girl“, and it’s pretty visible that the cult of a nonchalant, chic Parisienne continues to be alive in the codes of Saint Laurent. Although the debut collection is a bit of a cliché, the pieces briefly convey Yves Saint Laurent’s style in a relevant way. It’s the time that will show Anthony’s strength as a designer of such brand.
Simon Porte Jacquemus, like Christelle Kocher or Glenn Martens, is a represantative of Paris’ new generation of most daring and exciting fashion designers. Jacquemus frequently mentions his typically French child-hood as a continous inspiration for his collections, and spring-summer 2017 is not an exception. But his newest “story”, as he tends to call it, is much more refined. The designer searched deep in Provençal folk culture, and he conveyed the mood of a sun-drenched, care-free French village girl in a brilliant way.
Jacquemus loves the term naive. There’s always something childish about his collections, and this season it’s definitely the setting of his venue: a fake, orange sun glowed at the end of the runway, radiating with summer nostalgia. First element of the show that caught my eye was a range of lovely, straw hats, or chapeau de paille if you prefer French. The dresses with voluminous sleeves and over-sized pinstripe suits are on everybody’s lips for spring, but Simon managed to make them look eternally chic. In fact, the collection isn’t about a new idea or silhouette. Borrowed-from-a-guy shirt, block-heeled shoes, geometrical culottes and sexy cuts are very Jacquemus. I guess that’s the appeal of this collection: it’s focused on weekend-perfect ready-to-wear with an arty twist. And it’s quite easy to wear, if you take it off the runway!
Seeing Lindsey Wixson walk down the crowdy alley in Parisian La Canopée isn’t a usual, everyday sight. And it’s even stranger, when you wonder whether it’s really her, or an interestingly dressed passer-by. Christelle Kocher, the designer behind Koché, is obsessed with elevating street wear, and she’s the only designer who literally takes her clothes to the streets. Last season, she invited the fashion crowd to Passage du Prado, a home of cheap phone stores and cheesy hair-dressers; yesterday, her spring-summer 2017 was seen by the anyone who was running their errands in this gigantic, commercial passage.
Kocher’s latest outing was filled with her quite well recognisable signatures. She works at Maison Lemarié, a couture atelier specialising in feathers, so that’s why her off-the-street (or not) parkas and sweatshirts were all about excessive layers of ostrich plume. Velour sweatpants with a multi-coloured, zipped track jackets (my middle-school P.E. memories go posh) – a thing for dressing in anti-fashion way is intense here, too. Adwoa Aboah sported a not-your-average-cross-fit bra-top, while meticulously embroidered slip-dresses never looked so… effortless. I know this sounds cliché, but admit – Koché is a brand, which fuses the idea of “on-the-go” with minute attention to detail, close to haute couture level. The styling of the show felt absolutely spontaneous, and both the street-cast, and professional agency models seemed to enjoy the nature of this show. First days of Paris Fashion Week are always my favourite – it’s the moment, when niche, French designers present their intriguing, not-business-wise attitude to style.
Design & Culture by Ed 