The Top 10 Fall 2016 Collections of Paris Fashion Week
So it's over. 4 weeks, 4 cities, hundreds of shows with thousands of looks. And at very last my top ten Fall 2016 collection of Paris Fashion Week.
1. Balenciaga
That was definitely Demna Gvasalia week. He spent last six months looking into the Balenciaga archive and methodically thinking through how the essence of Cristóbal Balenciaga can be relevant for a modern woman. The exercise of finding points of cross-reference between a contemporary designer and the storied, often obscure oeuvre of a long-dead designer can often seem forced, sterile, over-academic, even creatively crippling. But in the case of Gvasalia, the surprise element is that he is coming at this task as a grownup who knows his priorities and doesn’t feel the need to over-egg reverence to the house.
Vetements means business. Its hoodies have a cult appeal in one direction, but for the fashion congregation there is also so much to believe in here: not just the wearable, desirable printed blouses and dresses, but also the hope that this is the beginning of a new chapter in the life of Paris fashion.
One of the best shows of the season, it was also Nicolas Ghesquière most confident and convincing yet for Vuitton, full of pieces easy to love and to wear.
“We always think fashion is cultural, not just about delivering clothes,” said Chiuri. “We want this show to be about living your moments, feeling each moment uniquely. I really love fashion. This job we do is a good opportunity to describe the time we’re in.”
McCartney is a famous vegetarian and has built a successful accessories business without using leather or other skins. This season her notes proudly announced that her puffer jackets are stuffed with feather-free wadding and that her cropped bombers are made with skin-free skin. In a world clogged with too much stuff, any designer who can produce more of their own without harming animals, and by extension the environment, is onto something.
There was an homage to Yves Saint Laurent in every look, yet the collection was just as uncompromisingly faithful to the ultra-ultra-skinny youth aesthetic which Hedi Slimane has pushed in fashion for his whole career.
“It’s a busy world, and I find I have this idea of stillness with Céline,” Philo said, adding that designing, to her, is “a constant tussle.” Calming down the creative turmoil for a season seemed to give Céline the chance to re-own the template of shirts, well-cut trousers, and smart utility coats which Phoebe Philo established here to such success.
Tisci traded the romance and simplicity of last season’s lingerie and tailoring for psychedelia and mysticism. Mandalas decorated blouses and dresses with exposed backs, and the Eye of Horus and other Egyptian iconography appeared on engineered print frocks. And that was just the print side of the story. Tisci also explored military tailoring, pairing his generously cut officer’s coats and jackets not with pants but with shorts and trompe l’oeil pumps–slash–knee boots. He trotted out leopard spots and python skin.
The quirky maximalism that’s been sweeping the runways of late hasn’t been lost on Lim and Leon, and there was a compelling kookiness in place of the sporty aesthetic the designers have favored in the past for Kenzo.
Anderson is proving sharp at setting a fashion agenda at Loewe. That read in the waist-cinching silhouettes and handkerchief-point hem. He devoted attention to tackling the “mature” subject of tweed suits, making them with deep fringes, and putting a tweed-sprouting Amazona bag (the house tote since 1975) in the mix.
1. Balenciaga
That was definitely Demna Gvasalia week. He spent last six months looking into the Balenciaga archive and methodically thinking through how the essence of Cristóbal Balenciaga can be relevant for a modern woman. The exercise of finding points of cross-reference between a contemporary designer and the storied, often obscure oeuvre of a long-dead designer can often seem forced, sterile, over-academic, even creatively crippling. But in the case of Gvasalia, the surprise element is that he is coming at this task as a grownup who knows his priorities and doesn’t feel the need to over-egg reverence to the house.
2. Vetements
3. Louis Vuitton
4. Valentino
5. Stella McCartney
6. Saint Laurent
7. Celine
“It’s a busy world, and I find I have this idea of stillness with Céline,” Philo said, adding that designing, to her, is “a constant tussle.” Calming down the creative turmoil for a season seemed to give Céline the chance to re-own the template of shirts, well-cut trousers, and smart utility coats which Phoebe Philo established here to such success.
8. Givenchy
9. Kenzo
The quirky maximalism that’s been sweeping the runways of late hasn’t been lost on Lim and Leon, and there was a compelling kookiness in place of the sporty aesthetic the designers have favored in the past for Kenzo.
10. Loewe
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