Wild and wacky designs
Print Edition
PARIS Fashion Week showcases the latest ready-to-wear collections for spring and summer 2015 with several designers seemingly struggling to produce their most inspired work.
JEAN Paul Gaultier
Following recent lukewarm reviews that cattily branded the once-avant garde designer “irrelevant,” Gaultier finally let his ready-to-wear ship set sail.
And what a send off.
In a high-octane theatrical homage, the showman put on a five-part journey through his design-archive as well as his wacky imagination. This, all through a “Miss France” beauty pageant theme.
In fashion terms, the pinstripes looks were among the strongest: abstracted in shorts, asymmetrical suits and truncated jackets. So were the menswear tuxedo jackets — dissected and mixed up with shimmery silver disco minidresses.
But this was all about the spectacle.
Alexander McQueen
Giant white 3D flowers met guests at Alexander McQueen’s spring show, based on designer Sarah Burton’s dizzying collection of antique kimonos.
Despite these potentially eccentric propositions, what met guests was one of the most “ready to wear” shows Burton has produced since the house founder died in 2010.
Black face masks added the obligatory edgy feel, but simple Asian silhouettes in black and white with spliced sections in the skirt made it feel like the British designer has gone down a gear.
Valentino
It was a tour of Italy behind powerhouse Valentino’s spring-summer show.
Designers Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri said they were inspired by the 18th century tradition of the “Grand Tour,” when cultured young Europeans would take an educational trip in Italy “to explore the art, philosophy and traditions.”
Laced Roman sandals, traditional lace detailing and tunic silhouettes came alongside long and loose embroidered skirts in indigo blue.
Not all went smoothly, as a series of coats and gowns in baroque motif seemed a tad overbearing.
Dior
The start of the collection brought a much welcome calm.
Designer Raf Simons continued the historical musing seen in the couture collection — mixing influences from 18th-century French royal court attire with a contemporary menswear twist.
Take, for instance, a couple of great 3-D Marie Antoinette “panier” dresses. They were subverted with pilot and astronaut uniform straps in the top. The result was a great sort of Versailles punk.
The mixing of the contemporary and the historic worked to a tee.
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