T Magazine: Paris Fashion Week coverage
Tuesday, March 3
As the sun set on the day and on Paris Fashion Week, a curtain inside a glass structure set in the Louvre’s Cour Carrée was drawn back to reveal a grandstand populated by 200 singers clad in outfits ranging in origin from the 15th century to the 1950s. These were the result of a collaboration between Louis Vuitton’s Nicolas Ghesquière and the Oscar-winning costume designer Milena Canonero (who’s best known for her work with Stanley Kubrick and Sofia Coppola), as well as a nod to the coming Costume Institute exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” which Vuitton is sponsoring. With his runway collection, too, Ghesquière explored fashion’s unique ability to traverse time and space; there were puffer jackets paired with ruffled skirts, fringed and embroidered leather motorcycle gear and ornate bolero jackets worn over technical jumpsuits — clothes that married past and present, to be sure, while also feeling fresh and even futuristic.
For Miu Miu’s latest show, the Rotterdam-based design firm AMO, with whom Miuccia Prada has long collaborated, transformed Paris’s rather drab Palais d’Iéna exhibition hall into an opulent after-hours nightclub complete with plush carpeting and a seductive soundtrack of Liza Minnelli, Lou Reed and Bryan Ferry. There was a louche, decadent feel to the clothes, too, which included crushed-silk evening gowns, puff-sleeved ’80s-style cocktail dresses and shaggy faux furs worn over sheer crystal-embellished slips. These boudoir-ready elements were contrasted with more perverse details like knitted playsuits and prim Peter Pan collars, a continuation of Prada’s exploration of what she described as “the enduring fascination of charm.
The set for the Chanel show was simple this season, at least compared to the brand’s recent recreations of a sandy beach and a row of Parisian rooftops. A mirrored catwalk surrounded by curvilinear white islets fulfilled the creative director Virginie Viard’s brief for a “runway show with no frame.” This stripped-back approach carried over into the clothes, which had a whiff of nostalgia for Chanel collections of the ’80s and ’90s. Models strolled out casually in small groups, seemingly immersed in conversation and wearing easy separates accessorized with dangling jewelry. A sweater embellished with a giant cross referenced jewelry Chanel commissioned in the 1930s while also evoking Anna Wintour’s first cover for American Vogue in November 1988. There were equestrian references, too — seen in the use of riding helmets, jockey silks and jodhpurs worn over tall boots — inspired by images of Coco Chanel with her racehorse and of Karl Lagerfeld dressed in a suit and riding boots.
Monday, Feb. 24
The 29-year-old Nigerian designer Kenneth Ize made his Paris debut with a combined men and women’s show that was inspired by memories of his mother wearing her Sunday best to church. Ize showcased his love for traditional textiles, such as hand-woven Yoruba aso oke cloth as well as lace made by artisans in Austria, contrasting them with more contemporary elements like printed sweatshirts and quilted boiler suits. Simple silhouettes — the pieces ranged from gently tailored suits to loose caftans and carpenter trousers — allowed the fabrics and Ize’s penchant for clashing colors and patterns to take center stage. Building off the buzz the designer has accrued since he was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize last year, he cast models including Adwoa Aboah, Alton Mason and Naomi Campbell, who closed the show with a striped trench coat with a fringed hem.
