Top Shows of Paris Fashion Week, Part 1

[eureka]

…And that’s a wrap on the Fall/Winter 2019 runway season! After New York, London, and Milan came the grand finale; Paris Fashion Week. And what a finale it was. Nine days of new collections from some of the most well-known brands in the world. So many, in fact, that it was too much to fit in a single blog post! Check back later this week for part two. In the meantime, here are the first ten big name brands to show during PFW.

—JACQUEMUS
Guests at this season’s Jacquemus show were treated to a set that brought the idilic streets of a southern French village indoors. The clothes themselves were equally impressive. There were Jacquemus staples, like slinky knitwear and imaginative takes on the classic white button-up. However, it is clear the young designer is beginning to really branch out. For example, there were a pair of knit pants that looked extra cosy. He also played with the construction of heavier fabrics, creating blazers and dresses with sculptural elements around the waist. And it wouldn’t be a Jacquemus show without bags that had the whole internet talking. There were totes and clutches galore, but it was the micro-bags, so small they could hardly fit parking change, that created the most buzz. In fact, he even used them to send invites to his show this season!

—CHRISTIAN DIOR
Chances are you may have heard of the Teddy Boys; the subculture that mixed Edwardian tailoring with American rock n’ roll in post-war Britain. (Think Arctic Monkey’s frontman Alex Turner for a modern adherent of the aesthetic.) This season, Maria Grazia Chiuri placed focus on the Teddy Girls, the forgotten counterparts of the Teddy Boys. She emulated their infamous style in various ways, such as the focus on what is traditionally considered “men’s tailoring”. There were loose-fitting pants in a variety of styles, from culottes, to cropped trousers. Oversized blazers and leather jackets were worn with full skirts, playing off masculine and feminine dress codes like the Teddy Girls did. Many looks included draped, strapless bustiers, often paired with a wide belt worn just under the bust. Always looking at fashion through a feminist lens, Maria Grazia Chiuri’s “girl gang”-inspired show opened with a tee that recalled American author, Robin Morgan’s, book Sisterhood Is Global. With Women’s History Month just around the corner, a collection inspired by women, designed by a woman, carried a feminist sentiment that resonated particularly strongly.

—SAINT LAURENT
In recent seasons, designers from Giambattista Valli to Maria Grazia Chiuri have cited Yves Saint Laurent as an inspiration for their collections. Now that Anthony Vaccarello has taken over at the legendary designer’s house, continuing to interpret Saint Laurent’s vision is in his job description. However, this season, the inspiration was much more literal. Inspired by several iconic collections from the house archives, Vacarello updated YSL signatures for the modern day. The second look was worn by a model dressed to look just like iconic Saint Laurent muse, Betty Catroux. Everything that followed was an undeniable homage to the eighties - from the wide shouldered coats and oversized lapels, to the wide belts and pleated trousers - without feeling dated. In a showstopping moment, the runway switched to blacklights, illuminating the evening wear section of the collection in shades like neon green and fluro yellow.

—LANVIN
Due to a high designer turnover rate, it has been a tumultuous time at the oldest, continuously-run house in fashion. Newly-appointed creative director, Bruno Sialelli, seeks to change that. He paid tribute to house signatures by including their daisy design on both womenswear and menswear, and turning the logo of Jeanne and Marguerite Lanvin into a print. There was also the use of colorful trims, occasionally updated by rendering them in a sparkly, sequin-like material. From the opening look to the final coat worn by Kaia Gerber, there was abundant usage of the famous “Lanvin blue”. However, there was plenty of Sialelli’s own work in the collection as well. Many looks contained a handkerchief hem, or incorporated silk scarves. This kind of clean, but off-kilter construction was a running motif in the collection, alongside the use of printed and embroidered mesh fabrics. If Sialelli’s first collection for the brand is anything to go by, the house is in good hands.

—CHLOÉ
The eighties and nineties might be trending everywhere else, but it will always be the seventies at Chloé. Fall is generally known for its muted color pallets, but they had a distinct retro flare here. Similarly to Jacquemus, fabric was folded back over the hips to emphasize the wearer’s figure. Elsewhere, buttons that ran the length of skirts and dresses were undone to the knee, allowing the garment to flare open to similar effect. High-waisted, straight-legged pants that could’ve fit right in at Woodstock were updated with the addition of cargo pockets that fit in with the current utilitarian aesthetic common on today’s runways. Natacha Ramsay-Levi is also a skilled accessories designer, showing a variety of chunky, beaded jewelry options this season. There were a wide variety of boots on display, as well, that are surely to be just as popular as her lace-up platforms of previous collections.

—ISABEL MARANT
In popular culture, there is said to be a thirty-year cycle of nostalgia. Similar trends tend to come about roughly three decades apart, which could explain why the eighties are so popular on the runways right now. They were certainly part of this season’s Isabel Marant collection. Large-shouldered tops and loose-fitting pants were cinched at the waist to give the classic eighties hourglass silhouette. There were also bulky tops tucked into paperbag pants and oversized jumpsuits belted at the natural waist. Marant is also known for her knitwear, and there were several creative takes on sweaters. Heavier fabric, like the leather that made up several dresses and skirts, was wrapped loosely around the body. Even boots, which were shown from ankle-length to over-the-knee, were made slouchy. Despite the large fit of the collection, it still remained feminine and chic through its use of very on-trend eighties staples.

—LOEWE
Loewe is a house that is a study in opposites. Subverted takes on classic staples, or pieces that appear simple but are deceptively intricate. This season, Jonathan Anderson combined historical dressing with modernism. The ruffles at the shoulder of one blouse evoked epaulettes while the finale dress seemed to draw from 16th century military uniforms. Another coat had a trompe l’oeil leather collar that mimicked Elizabethan collars. Leather is the textile Loewe was founded on, and it appeared in both clothes and accessories. Besides several collars, it lined coat pockets and cuffs. Bags of all shapes were large and primarily slouchy. Mixed in with the necessities were pieces that were at once crafty and highbrow - like a dress made of paisleys cut from a separate print and sewn back together. The Loewe woman this season is a businesswoman who still likes to have fun.

—BALMAIN
In the hands of Olivier Rousteing, Balmain has become the house known for over the top rock ’n’ roll glamour. This season, he took his collection in a more metal direction - quite literally. There were studs on everything from interestingly cut leather jackets, to raincoats, to a pair of vinyl pants. Softer pieces were given added edge through the use of spikes, while leather was twisted into flower appliqués. It was all about the contrast between hard and soft, with the two meeting somewhere in the middle. Most of the collection was rendered in shades of black and white, with denim and the occasional pop of pastel only showing up in the middle portion of the collection. To close out the collection, there were a whole host of evening wear looks with wild proportions that evoked the days of maximalist couture, complete with sequins, sparkle, and even more studs. The eighties trend was on display here too, but with a specific focus on glam rock.

—NINA RICCI
Like Sialelli at Lanvin, this was Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh’s first season at a new house. As menswear designers by trade, it was no surprise the pair put a lot of suits on the runway. Blazers, which have been a major part of current street style, were shown in a variety of ways. Some included drawstrings not unlike raincoats, while others included a trompe l’oeil bathing suit pattern over top. All of these blazers were oversized, but maintained their femininity through the use of lightweight fabrics that allowed the garment a great deal of movement. One even included an oversized bow on a single shoulder. That bathing suit silhouette showed up in other places throughout the collection, as well as several bodysuits using the same maillot shape. While loose-fitting clothing has shown up in many places this season as part of the trend towards eighties aesthetics, it was the lack of cinching here that differentiated this collection from the rest and provided an alternative to similar styles.

—CELINE
French street style is in a league of its own. Chic, effortless, and often imitated, there is a kind of timelessness to it that Hedi Slimane captured in his second womenswear collection for Celine. From the opening look to the suit that closed the show, any look in this collection was easy to imagine on a Parisian it-girl any time between 1970 and now. There were also equestrian touches, like caped shawls and over-the-knee leather boots that came in a variety of colors. The horse-bit (most closely associated with Gucci these days, but a staple in the early days of this house as well) made appearances on belts and bags alike. Plaid and felt were major components of the collection, though a few pieces did include Slimane’s favorite sequined textiles. Pants, skirts, and culottes were all pleated. After his decisive first womenswear collection, Slimane’s vision for the brand is coming into focus, and it appears he intends to take the house back to its roots as a seventies boutique.

[all images taken from Vogue Runway]