Jacquemus
With the last day of #PFW comes the end of this fashion season, and so it’s time to look back at some of the most impressive collections.
Jacquemus brought a little town from the south of France to Paris, making us reminisce of summer with the bright colours of his big winter coats. What a mix! “La Collectioneuse,” as he named his latest collection, brings together feminine and masculine sides using silk suites and trompe-l’óeil knitwear. Vibrant colours, objects of personal value and modernist design were the highlights of his latest collection. But the piece everyone was talking about? The micro handbag that put Simon Porte Jacquemus on the minimalistic radar. Effortless design, understated romanticism, composed sensuality, what is not to love about the woman seen through Simon’s eyes?
Koché
The summer escape, however, didn’t last long and I found myself in the arena where Christelle Kocher, the designer behind Koché and self-confessed positive change believer, tried to combine craft with sportswear. But her mixes didn’t stop here — she also combined Japanese wool or jersey with feminine layers as in feathers or Swarovski. Looks in colour-themed sections, flared panels and asymmetric volumes, wide-brimmed hats, and velvet tracksuits are only some of the ingredients Kocher used in her latest sport-inspired, precise collection in light of the upcoming Fifa Women’s World Cup in France.
Guy Laroche
Richard Rene’collection, “Black Marble,” is a homage to Guy Laroche. Using draped jersey, neoprene, diaphanous chiffon, with gleaming veins chased in rhinestone embroidery — he adopted a Couture vocabulary with all the cuttings and carvings.
Jerome Dreyfuss
In between shows, I stopped by Jerome Dreyfuss’ showroom and, frankly, found it quite hard to leave the place after he’d introduced me to his world of bags, shoes and accessories. Really modest, he is trying to be helpful to all the women by making practical pieces to make their daily routine easier. Besides this, what I much appreciated were the techniques he is using in the making of his items: using bi-leathers only coming from the alimentary industry, donating part of the incoming of the latest collection to an association that is planting trees in the forests. How is the woman that best wears Dreyfuss? Nice, cool, generous… the best image would perhaps be a French girl nonchalantly clad in a French negligee.
Neith Nyer
On the same note, the Parisian girl also inspired Francisco Terra in his latest collection for Neith Nyer. I dare to say men do know what a woman really needs. In this case, he is helping women to wear an outfit from morning till dawn, while having fun. He told me the streetwear in France is very precise, with no separation of dressing for the day or night, so he tried to construct a contemporary look out of two precise universes after revisiting the archives of Neyth Nyer and DDP.
Manish Arora
Honestly, I think the best thing to do for Manish Arora latest collection is to let the pictures talk for their selves.
Uma Wang
Uma Wang had a clear message for the celebration of the brand’s 10-year anniversary: “destroy.” Taking her inspiration from the Inca period, she wanted to “destroy what I learned in these 10 years to do something new.” For this, she used thicker, luxurious fabrics, thick knits that came together with hats made out wraps of fabrics in a distinctive shape, twisted in the front and back. Dare I say it: she nailed it.
Rianna + Nina
If you are in love with colours, craftsmanship and vintage, Rianna + Nina’s classic pieces are the seasonless, one-of-a-kind items you are looking for. Vintage fabrics, reversible coats, embroidery mixed with vintage scarfs… uniqueness at another level for any type of women no matter the event, the time or the needs. I have to admit, I might have a new crush.
Leonard Paris
If we’re still talking colours, buckle up because Leonard Paris is taking us on a trip to Jaipur. On board, we will see women wearing comfortable but still sophisticated and refined clothes. Christine Phung designed for all the active women out there travelling around the world, and she sees them in a silk flight suit or a faux fur flight jacket. Even the life jacket gets a makeover in printed velvet.
Issey Miyake
Yoshiyuki Miyamae at Issey Miyake had light, colours, and layers in mind when he created the aw19 collection. He used a fabric introduced this season, “Blink,” which offers a rich palette resembling a kaleidoscope. We could say Miyamae had a thing for geometry this season as we saw lots of sculpted suits and he didn’t stop there. In the school courtyard, where the show took place, the floor lines were coloured in white, blue and yellow.
Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood
Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood was a family affair transposed in gowns. Inspired by his love for Vivienne, Kronthaler used metallic macs, corseted bustier dresses, fringed pants, warped tweed suits, floral silk biker jacket and zipped accents, all with a portion of environmental activism, as we already expected.
Mashama
Next on the list was Mashama, creating a collection for a woman that has to be a woman by all means. Powerful, confident, beautiful and strong. All her clothes are about giving women confidence whilst at the same time giving her the space to be romantic. In keeping with her cinematic inspiration, this season the designer looked to the 2013 movie Under the Skin for ideas. In the film, an alien woman disguises as a human woman in order to survive in the human world, a storyline Ma found quite relevant to nowadays. Despite the “beautiful outside,” Ma wanted to discover what was “underneath.” In terms of fabrics, Ma used incorporated the house’s essentials but this time she also used “repreve” technology, which makes fabrics out of plastic bottles.
Et voilà! All this being said, Paris had a lot to teach us this season — from hidden messages to the use of new technologies — PFW made strides for a more sustainable future and an eco-friendly fashion environment. Paris you are, indeed, always a good idea. Now even more so, with this breath of fresh air that you brought to fashion. Until next time and, as always, yours truly.
Check out our backstage coverage of PFW here.
words. Landiana Yolo
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