RSS Feed(Paris): Snapshots
Sacai
photo: Dominique Maitre, wwd.com
Stella McCartney
photo: Giovanni Giannoni, wwd.com
Kenzo
photo: Giovanni Giannoni, wwd.com
Lanvin
photo: Giovanni Giannoni, wwd.com
Archive for category Spring 2012 (Paris)
(Paris) lo.light: Louis Vuitton
It’s sad to end Paris fashion-week with two lo.lights, but I couldn’t let MJ get away with this Louis Vuitton collection. He uses some of his signature awkward shapes which I presume was meant to add a bit of irony to the saccharine sweet feel of the collection, but it didn’t work. In the end, there was too much going on to get excited about anything.
photo: Giovanni Giannoni, wwd.com
(Paris) lo.light: Miu Miu
There are plenty more looks to hate in this Miu Miu collection, but this was my choice for worst. I cannot get over the ugly blouse. It’s a weird hybrid between a nun and pirate wench costume. Also, isn’t it strange how the fabric in the bosom-area pools to the extreme left and right while at the same time the model’s cleavage looks centered?
photo: Giovanni Giannoni, wwd.com
(Paris) hi.light: Chanel
Does it go without saying that Chanel was the highlight of the shows in Paris today? There is something about Parisian fashion that is almost synonymous with the house, and with some 80+ looks in the collection, it is, if nothing, a spectacle. You can’t help but be impressed that Chanel always goes balls out and gives you an entire wardrobe on the runway – from day formal and casual to swim to evening. Maybe, it’s just that I was seduced by the underwater world that Karl Lagerfeld conjured. In my younger days I knew Disney’s Little Mermaid movie by heart. Putting aside personal affinity for the theme, I was honestly captivated by all the shimmering surfaces that recalled nets, coral, seashells and scales. All the details on the clothes show-off the handwork that Chanel does so marvelously, and it’s lovely to see that couture craftsmanship in ready-to-wear.
photos: Giovanni Gianonni, wwd.com
(Paris) lo.light: Celine
I’m a huge admirer of Phoebe Philo. Since she took over at Celine, she’s arguably the most important woman designer working right now, but this Spring 2012 collection fell flat for me. The central conceit of the show is an enormously wide belt which was then echoed in the huge ankle straps on the shoes. I just can’t get behind the proportions. The lo.light look I’ve chosen is unbalanced and clunky, with a shoulder line reminiscent of the initial looks I hated in the Balenciaga show. However, unlike, Balenciaga, the good looks weren’t brilliant enough to save the collection.
photo: Giovanni Giannoni, wwd.com
(Paris) hi.light: Junya Watanabe
Lace anchored this season’s Junya Watanabe collection. I applaud how he offers up such a colorful and graphic rendition of the old-lady standby in dresses draped and tucked in the Commes des Garcon’s way that we’ve come to love from this designer. The sheer spring parkas and flight jackets are, again no suprise from this designer, but act as the perfect cover-up to counter-balance all that feminine pizzazz. Here’s a few more looks from the collection.
photos: Giovanni Giannoni
(Paris) lo.light: Viktor & Rolf
Viktor & Rolf were apparently inspired by dolls this season. Also, please don’t miss dress in the background.
photo: Giovanni Giannoni, wwd.com
(Paris) hi.light: Veronique Leroy
photo: Dominique Maitre
Veronique Leroy quietly puts out lovely clothes. I’m feeling a little lazy this Sunday, so I’ll leave it at that.
(Paris) lo.light: Isabel Marant
photos: Dominique Maitre, wwd.com
Admittedly, the deck was stacked in my mind against Isabel, and it’s not about the clothes, per se. In fact, I would probably wear them, but the whole brand has lost it’s cool Parisian-girl thing during its expansion into the US. In fact as I looked at this collection, instead of Paris, the vibe was more a reality-TV version of Los Angeles (full disclosure, I live in LA). I can see some starlet trotting these looks out in Malibu, for breakfast at Joan’s and then a club/party. This is not to make an indictment on LA-style. At the same time, nothing is formulated to kill the allure of a brand in my mind than a non-ironic interpretation of Los Angeles as pictured in US Weekly.
(Paris) hi.light: Hussein Chalayan
photo: Giovanni Gianonni, wwd.com
Hussein Chalayan has given us furniture masquerading as clothes (or was it the other way around?), and even more memorable, clothes that literally transform themselves. This season, he’s just giving us simple, elegant clothes that need no explanation.
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