Dior spins 1950s styles into modern looks; YSL shows broad-shouldered glamor; Valli focuses on tweeds; Westwood honors late founder
PARIS — Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri dove into archives from the 1950s for the French fashion house’s fall women’s catwalk show, adding a modern spin to the era’s feminine mainstays. (See the show here: Autumn-Winter 2023-2024 Ready-to-Wear Show – DÉFILÉS PRÊT-À-PORTER – Women’s Fashion | DIOR)
Models strode around a hulking, fantastical set parading familiar silhouettes — neat, short-sleeved button-up shirts paired with full skirts, bustier dresses, trim cardigans and cropped jackets — in somber colors and stylized floral prints.
Ms. Chiuri softened structured jackets and drew on fabrics woven with metal thread to give a new, creased texture to classically-cut dresses — pushing styles into a sporty direction, for daywear.
Accessories including pearls, gloves and thick, black headbands, the tassels tied into bows.
Ms. Chiuri sought to add a Parisian flair to the styles of the period, which are often associated with American Hollywood productions.
“It was very different, the situation in Europe than in the USA,” she told Reuters, noting that the women who served as inspiration for the collection — Christian Dior’s sister Catherine Dior and French singers Edith Piaf and Juliette Greco — were rebuilding their lives following the Second World War.
Moody organ music kicked off the show.
Models wound around the space — a tent in the Tuileries Gardens — under a massive, hanging set, its bulbous tentacles embellished with hand-sewn crochet work, fringes, sequins, and feathers.
Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos described her work as an abstract flower, forming a “magical garden like another world, another dimension.”
“It’s quite unique for the contemporary art world to have this connection to the fashion world,” she said, noting the show added intimacy to her monumental art.
SAINT LAURENT
Saint Laurent designer Anthony Vaccarello drew his Paris Fashion Week audience into a dark, chandelier-lined runway last Tuesday night, sending out a sensual lineup of night-club-ready eveningwear derived from office classics — blazers, pinstripes and pencil skirts. (See the show here: SAINT LAURENT Official Store | YSL.com)
The show opened with a series of sharp-shouldered suit jackets — extra wide, double-breasted — worn over skimpy silk tops and slender, knee-skimming skirts.
Models marched down a carpeted catwalk on spiky, pointy-toed sling-backs, some with scarves trailing behind, as the styles moved between airy, feminine pussy bow blouses and more assertive masculine styles, like hulking bomber jackets and long, tailored coats in red plaid.
Aviator glasses and slicked-back hair styles completed the glamorous looks.
The set, which included low-hanging bronze chandeliers, evoked the ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel, the label’s favored venue for haute couture collections in the late 1970s through the start of the 2000 — but transported into a “radically contemporary black-box setting,” according to the label’s show notes.
The temporary venue was set in the label’s traditional spot facing the Eiffel Tower, which glittered as the last guests streamed out after the show.
The Kering-owned label grew strongly last year, passing 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in sales, and the group plans to expand its retail network this year.
GIAMBATTISTA VALLI
Giambattista Valli switched things up for his fall runway show at Paris Fashion Week, taking a step back from his signature, airy floral styles to focus on tweeds, which he also offered for men. (Watch the show here: Fall-Winter 2023-2024 – Giambattista Valli | Haute Couture)
Models marched down the sparse setting, a hallway in the Musee d’Art Moderne de Paris, wearing jumpsuits, long coats and dresses in tweed fabrics, mostly black or ivory and woven with gold thread.
The show opened with a black, sleeveless jumpsuit cinched at the waist with a gold belt, and worn over a white T-shirt.
Further shaking the fabric from its traditional twin-set role, Mr. Valli worked the material into long overcoats, loose jackets, mini-dresses and a bright, red jumpsuit.
There were also white jeans, the hems chopped off, paired with a glittering floral sequined top in one instance, and a long, collarless tweed coat in another — both worn by male models.
Fancy party dresses were included in the lineup, offered in bright colors — hot pink, red and purple — with neat piles of bows decorating the waist.
Popular with the red carpet set, and known for voluminous, tulle dresses, Mr. Valli broadened his fan base with a collaboration with H&M in 2019.
The label has financial backing from the Pinault family holding Groupe Artemis.
VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Fashion label Vivienne Westwood paid tribute to its late founder on Saturday, taking to the catwalk in Paris with a collection drawn up by her husband and design partner Andreas Kronthaler. (See the show here: Vivienne Westwood® Official Store | Clothing & Accessories )
Models sauntered through the gilded halls of the Hotel de la Marine overlooking the Place de la Concorde in a chic, punk-infused lineup for the Paris Fashion Week show.
Playing with volumes, tailored coats had bold shoulders and wide sleeves, while the lines on tracksuit trousers curved inwards at the bottom, rather than running straight down the leg.
One look mixed a patchwork of floral patterns, with an ample hooded cape thrown over a slim, fitted skirt and carried on towering platform heels, as rock band AC/DC’s growling rendition of “T.N.T.” thumped in the background.
Closing the show was the traditional bridal attire, with Kronthaler accompanying Ms. Westwood’s granddaughter Cora Corre, who wore an ivory lace body suit with matching platform boots.
London Fashion Week, held last month, was dedicated to Ms. Westwood, one of British fashion’s biggest names, who rose to fame dressing punk band the Sex Pistols. She died in December aged 81. — Reuters
