Paris Fashion Week has been big and small at the same time, Balenciaga has left its mark again
Paris - Last week, at Paris, at times it seemed that time had stopped for a year and a half, and that everything was as before.However, it has not been a fashion week like any other.
In the French capital, Fashion Week ended Tuesday night with the parades of Chanel and Louis Vuitton and the emotional tribute of more than forty designers to his colleague Alber Elbaz, who died on April 24.After the High Couting Week at Middle Gas in July, this has been the first fashion week since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, with many parades.There were still some big names on the calendar, such as Dries van Notten, Sacai, Celine and Comme des Garçons.But Stella McCartney, for example, decided to parade in extremis on Monday morning.The official calendar was reorganized quickly and Shang Xia, who premiered a new artistic director, Yang Li, had to parade half an hour before.
Six thousand spectators in Balmain, twenty in Paul Smith
At times in Paris everything seemed the same.How was demonstrated in Balmain, where designer Olivier Rousteing celebrated his tenth anniversary as an artistic director, with a spectacular music festival on an island in Sena, on the outskirts of the city.Franz Ferdinand and Doja Cat played for hundreds of journalists and six thousand fans.Beyoncé read a pre -recorded letter to Rousteing, and Naomi Campbell and Carla Bruni, among others, paraded.We saw them in the foreground, on screens as large as the skyscrapers.It is surprising that a designer who designs princess dresses with astronomical prices is at the same time so close to "the people".
Balmain lived large -scale fashion week, while for example Paul Smith, opted for the small.
In a room from his headquarters in Paris, a one7th -century mansion in Marais, the always happy British personally commented a dozen looks, each of them before groups of about 20 spectators."I liked making a face -to -face presentation after Covid's horror," he said carelessly, "we haven't seen each other in a long time".Smith showed tailoring garments, stripes, tops made of cycling male material and colors inspired by his home in Tuscana.For the presentation, the Londinense Anaiis sang three songs under Smith's approving gaze.
That the party begins
As in the last two seasons, the Belgian designer Dries Van Notten just showed an online video, directed by Albert Moya, and a photo shoot, made by Rafael Pavarotti.The collection of bright colors is inspired by the Holi Festival in India."The collective energy and the joy of a noisy crowd, the fireworks, the pop and rock concerts, the burning man," Van Referent notic in the notes of his collection."Bring passion and joy! That the party begins".But a virtual party is less party than a real party.
Another Belgian designer, Christian Wijnants also decided to leave the catwalk for the moment."I still didn't feel prepared," he told FashionUnited."The Fédération of the Haute Couture ET of the Mode insisted, but we had the summer accused, and at that time the situation was still too uncertain to assume such a great financial risk".Wijnants, who last week projected his film in Ibiza and released a section of his great successes in Paris, hopes to organize another parade next season.
Van notten is usually a fixed during fashion week.His shows have always been very busy, especially for a brand that never advertates and that, until recently, was completely independent.Last year was one of the initiators of a movement of designers and other fashion professionals who aspired to a less rigid system.
@Bullyesq Nah, Be The Guy That Never Turns Down A Drink and Understands How To Turn Up A Party
— not your father but you can call me daddy Mon Mar one5 22:48:37 +0000 202one
Now that the "really" shows have returned, and everything seems as agitated as before, there is doubt if there is much enthusiasm for presentations and other digital activations, and for "slow fashion" in general.We will have to wait for the definitive figures of YouTube, Instagram and Chinese social networks to see if the absent ones were right or not, and if virtual shows and videos continue to have a future.
Because, there is no doubt, that it has been an unconventional fashion week.There were barely Asian viewers, except European correspondents.But even from Europe, delegations seemed smaller.So there were fewer Belgian and Dutch journalists than in the past.This is certainly due in regards to the Netherlands, also to the small landscape of the media, but in general also to the restricted budgets.Vogue editions managed directly by the American editor Condé Nast no longer send separate equipment to fashion weeks.
The tribute to Alber Elbaz, last night, was both a celebration and a funeral.On the one hand, it was a beautiful moment.The champagne flowed.In the end, confetti was sprayed through the Le Carreau du Temple market room, and the models danced, some more convincingly than others.But it was also a sour moment: Elbaz died in April of Covid's disease, with only 59 years.
Four other observations from Paris
one.Fashion often has little to do with fashion
Sex, and nudity or half -nakedness, was a constant.In Vivienne Westwood, where especially the male models walked with at least one buttock exposed.But also in Miu Miu, where Miuccia Prada reinvented the miniskirt 'low rise' of Circa Y2k: Christina Aguilera suddenly became an icon of style.Lycra became popular among brands, from Saint Laurent to Xüly Bet.Koché presented a collaboration with Tinder.Bikinis and swimsuits abounded, especially in Chanel.Why are uncles and fasteners so popular?Perhaps the textile industry expects 2022 to finally bring us the summer of hot girls that was actually announced by 202one, but in Europe, and in other places, it has been annulled, at least figuratively.But it may also be that the strategy is economical: you have to invest less in fabrics.
The text continues under the photos.
2.We saw some debuts on the catwalk
For the most part, the designers changed companies during the pandemic or just before: Matthew M Williams in Givenchy (in the sports hall behind the Défense, where Jacquemus exposed in their day), Nicolas Di Felice in Courage (in a piece of grasspainted white in a corner of the Bois de Vincennes), Gabriela Hearst in Chloe (with views of the Seine).
Perhaps the best debut was that of the Brussels Duo Ester Manas, who first led to the catwalk his philosophy of "unique size".Ester Manas wears women of all sizes with garments that are not as simple as they seem at first glance.Its diverse cast can be an example for the entire industry.
Raf Simons, another well -known Belgian designer, who is also the artistic co -director of Prad.The mixed collection was less surprising than its experiments during the pandemic, and also more elegant, with skirts for boys and a desirable tailoring.
The text continues under the photos.
3.The Belgian firm Ann Demeulemeester finally relaunched
Ann Demeulemeester has recently changed hands: the Belgian brand is now directed by Claudio Antonioli, an Italian fashion businessman.The line is designed in Milan by an internal team and goes back to the great hits of Demeulemeester, almost everything in black and white, and this season with a strong approach to the denim.For the styling of the show Olivier Rizzo was used.Demeulemester herself was in the front row and told FashionUnited after it had been an emotional moment for her, and that she was satisfied with the result.
4.Balenciaga won fashion week
The most prominent parade of the week was that of Balenciaga: a red carpet was installed in front of the classic Théâtre du Châtelet, with hordes of curious Parisians and tourists among the bars.The guests posed for photographers and cameras and then were accompanied to their seats, where the images of the red carpet were screened live on a giant screen.Among the guests were models, celebrities and "friends of the house" of the new Balenciaga collection.When everyone found their seat, another surprise followed: a special episode of the Simpsons, in which the whole family is going to parade in a Balenciaga parade.The artistic director Demna Gvasalia was cheered.
This article was originally published in Fashionunited.Be, and then translated and edited from the Dutch to Spanish by Veerle Versteeg.
