The Highlights of Paris Fashion Week

Firsts in Paris

Presenting her collection at Pitti Uomo last summer (she is often mentioned as the person who could take the helm at LV after Virgil Abloh), Grace Wales Bonner was winner of the Paris Fashion Week with her first collection. The British designer was unfamiliar with Paris, yet she took advantage of this situation and took inspiration from intellectuals and artists who settled in Paris and produced here over time. Like James Baldwin, for example. She chose the salons of the Hotel D’Evreux on the magnificent Place Vendôme to present the collection. The pieces designed by her with reference to the dance rhythms of the 20’s and Josephine Baker referenced not only the curves of dance but also Baker’s and Baldwin’s courage to speak their minds without holding back. Completing the mood of the fashion show was the performance of jazz maestro Herman Mehari. The accessories of the collection had traces of Ghana. It also featured Wales Bonner’s adidas collaboration for the Jamaica national soccer team.

Brought a collection to Paris once before, Emily Bode brought her brand Bode back to the city again but with an innovation. Emily Bode, one of the flag bearers of designers who give materials a second life and work on the axis of upcycling, presented a women’s collection for the first time. Besides her signature pieces, there were also evening dresses with gold embroidery, sequins in silhouettes reflecting America’s 1930s and 40s…

Inspiration and Creative Collaborations

Reflecting the kimono style on contemporary pieces, Nigo was inspired by The Beatles in Kenzo’s collection, Dries Van Noten by flower gardens and German geographer Alexander von Humboldt.

The inspiration was Hubert de Givenchy at Givenchy. Matthew Williams was inspired by a photograph of the designer in the 60s. “He was tying his sweater around his waist, like he was wearing a skirt,” Williams says. “That led me to the idea of expressing yourself through clothes.” I don’t know if Williams’ premise is convincing enough for you, but for Homme Plissé Issey Miyake, it was all about “a world that blurs our perception of space and gravity”. Another designer inspired by space was Chitose Abe of Sacai. The Japanese designer, who is currently presenting the new edition of his collaboration with Cartier, took us on a journey through unlimited space, just like in the Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar... Since we see Matthew McConaughey in Cartier designs in the movie, this collection also includes jackets and other outerwear pieces resulting from this collaboration.

Sacai was not the only one collaborating with Carharrt. Just like Chitose Abe, Junya Watanabe, another Japanese designer who works with futuristic elements in his designs, collaborated with 18 different brands in his functional collection consisting almost entirely of black pieces. Apart from Carharrt, we also saw traces of Palace, Levi’s, North Face and New Balance.

Anti-Collaboration

Ever since Kim Jones took the helm at Dior, he has built his presence and line at the Maison on collaborations. Yoon Ahn, Matthew Williams, Travis Scott are among the most memorable ones. These creative partnerships continued most recently with ERL. Jones was on his own this season! And he presented the purest, best collection he has ever done.

The theme of the collection was fluidity… However you want to interpret it, but for Kim Jones it certainly evoked the rivers of London, her home, and Paris where she worked. One of the greatest modern poets of all time, T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land was Jones’ anchor for the collection. The poem, which is based on the idea of human life, the barrenness of the soul, death and renewal, was read by Robert Pattinson, one of the brand’s global ambassadors, and Gwendoline Christie, known from Game of Thrones.

Unlike the poem, neither Jones’ ideas nor the clothes were barren… On the contrary, we can say that they were very dynamic. He was referring to Yves Saint Laurent’s days at Dior and interpreting couture approaches in a contemporary language. Like modern poetry! We saw wide-leg trousers, already a key part of the Paris collections. They were accompanied by pleated skirts and transparencies. All in neutral tones (the other big trend of the Paris collections).