Paris Fashion Week: Flounces and layers at Louis Vuitton, tweed and birdcages at Chanel, recycled knit at Stella McCartney
PARIS — Louis Vuitton womenswear designer Nicolas Ghesquiere showed a lineup of layered looks with short, flouncy skirts and puffy-sleeved jackets for the label’s spring-summer outing last Tuesday, the last day of Paris Fashion Week.
Set up in a temporary venue in a courtyard of the Louvre Museum, the runway was fashioned out of a mishmash of trunk facades. It ran through the center of the space, and marked the start of the show by rising up into a podium. (See the show here: https://tinyurl.com/yc4dvu22 )
Out came the models, parading tops that were cinched at the waist, their long necklaces and loosely fastened neckties swinging.
The pace quickened through the show, even as the silhouettes grew longer to include robe-like overcoats that swept the floor and loose, bohemian trousers.
Handbags came in all shapes and sizes, with some models carrying more than one, stacked like jewelry.
Shoe styles nodded to the brand’s leatherworking background, with laid-back flats made of fat, mismatching leather straps while dressy heels featured patches of leather with a twist in the middle.
Sitting in the front row, LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault broke into a grin when Ghesquiere bounced down the runway for his bow at the end of the show. Sitting next to him, French first lady Brigitte Macron, who is known to wear Vuitton for official outings, blew the designer a kiss.
CHANEL
Chanel took to the Grand Palais for its spring-summer runway show last Tuesday, marking its return to the soaring glass and steel monument with an eclectic collection of sparkly tweed ensembles and a singing performance from actor Riley Keough. (See the show here: https://tinyurl.com/mpsresbk)
Guests turned out in droves, emerging from a parade of black town cars, decked out head-to-toe in Chanel. After pausing for photos, they headed in through the grand entrance, freshly named after the label’s founder Gabrielle Chanel.
The site of late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld’s famously dramatic fashion show sets over the years, the building was closed for renovations in 2021 — funded by the brand — before reopening for the Paris Olympics fencing competition this summer.
For Tuesday’s runway outing, a giant bird cage sat in the center of the space, nodding to an advertisement for Chanel perfume in the 1990s starring Vanessa Paradis.
Models marched through the space, parading a range of tweed looks, including slit mini-skirts, loose trousers and dresses, amply decorated with light-weight capes, fringes, and bows. Some had tufts of featherlike accessories on the sides of their sunglasses, others clutched handbags resembling bird cages.
Keough was dressed all in black, with an airy cape and silver platform heels. She entered the set singing Prince’s 1984 hit “When Doves Cry” and was lifted on a swing high enough for models to walk underneath for the finale.
The collection was designed by Chanel’s studios as it awaits a new designer following the departure of Virginie Viard in June.
STELLA MCCARTNEY
Stella McCartney took to a market street on the Left Bank of Paris for her spring summer runway show last Monday, sending models out in airy dresses, boxy tailored suits, and fluffy, cloud-like knits made from recycled nylon.
Models marched down the pavement on pointy heels, backless flats, and a new, high top Adidas sneaker, the trains of their wispy dresses floating behind them, many with their backs mostly bare.
“It’s about having a lightness of touch, having that femininity,” she said after the show, speaking to journalists after greeting guests who included Greta Gerwig, Natalie Portman, and James McCartney.
“And then, you know, having the man in there — the masculinity,” she added, referring to the manly suits, which were loosely cut, often worn without a top.
The label calculated the percentage of materials in the show that it deemed sustainable. These included a silver handbag made from a mycelium leather alternative and chunky jewelry representing doves carved from gold and silver extracted from electronics and medical waste.
The figure was 91%, McCartney said, noting the remaining 9% was likely metals like brass and belt buckles.
“Ask any other fashion house what [their] sustainability percent this week is and they won’t even know what you’re asking,” she said.
Birds were another theme; the show’s soundtrack featured Prince’s 1980s hit “When doves cry” interpreted by singer Patti Smith.
“I’m trying to tell everyone that those feathers you’re seeing on the runway — all is pointless,” said McCartney. — Reuters
