One of the most universally accepted lies in fashion is that of the concept of fashion week, because no fashion week lasts a week. In its last edition, New York lasted six days, London four days and Milan six days. Paris Fashion Week, on the other hand, spans nine days. Does the French capital include more events than any of the others? No: Milan was the scene of 161 parades and presentations compared to the 108 that will be held until March 5 in Paris. But this is Paris. They can extend their fashion week as much as they want.
To ensure that the press and buyers stay (remember that the stay of influencers and celebrities, in most cases, is financed by the brands themselves) the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode organizes the calendar in such a way that At the beginning there is an essential appointment (Dior) and at the end another (Louis Vuitton).
In the category of the most powerful brands in the industry is one that we almost never think about in those terms, responsible for the first date at this fashion week. Anna Wintour and team called the press on Monday in the Marie-Louise room of the Ritz Hotel to present the next edition of Vogue World, the third of the event that shows that the magazine sells many things these days but few magazines, and that it will be held in Paris on June 23, becoming the opening ceremony of haute couture week a month before the start of the Olympic Games.
Wintour explained that the event, a star-studded sports-themed parade devised in collaboration with children's sports academies across France, will take place at Place Vendôme; and his statements were followed by interventions from Pharrell Williams, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Olivier Rousteing and Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel fashion and head of the Fédération. Present in the room were from John Galliano to Sydney Toledano (former head of the designer and current head of LVMH Fashion Group), from Cédric Charbit (CEO of Balenciaga) to Myryam Serrano, CEO of Alaïa. Vogue World is a way to stay relevant, but also a show of power.
Vogue was not the only American brand in Paris. The Vaquera duo, composed of Bree Taubensee and Patrick DiCaprio, presented a collection that revolved around the city's fashion icons (from the conical bra that Jean Paul Gaultier created for Madonna in the nineties to the crinolines of the 19th century). and that revolved around a subject that is inevitable to think about after five minutes: money. Vaquera is an ironic, excessive, camp signature. All of those attributes were present in the parade in abundance.
Critics reproach Peter Do for sticking too closely to the script that is Helmut Lang's legacy in his role as creative director of the firm. Judging by Áo Dài the collection he presented on Tuesday morning with a label bearing his name, he is also focused on making his own business work. The garments for men and women reinterpreted traditional Vietnamese clothing in looks with backless tailored pieces or extra-long sleeves, in coats with open lapels or paint-stained dresses.
Maria Grazia Chiuri's mission at Dior continues to be clear: maintain the commercial success of a brand made by women for women. On this occasion, Chiuri reviews Miss Dior, the ready-to-wear line that Marc Boham launched in 1967 and which was more successful in the United States than in the old continent. Miss Dior is one of the house's best-known perfumes, but the reference has nothing to do with the beauty business: Boussac, the original owner of Dior, had sold the fragrance division to Moët
No delicate flowers, no ordinary ladies: the 72 looks are made up of clothing and accessories to be worn. It is curious that, except for her numerous clients, no one seems satisfied these days with the designer's work at the firm. Vanessa Friedman, fashion critic for the New York Times, has described the collection as “unconvincing.” At this point in which the commercial success of the house is unquestionable, the questions are: who is not convinced? Is that dissatisfied public or the clients more important for the house? And one more thing: is there anything more satisfying than watching someone go their own way without bothering to please their critics?
You probably already know that Rosalía watched the proposal from the front row, which included a revision of the original Miss Dior logo that some have understood as graffiti printing, but among the guests was also the South Korean rapper Mingyu, in addition to those of us who almost did not survive. the madness that was unleashed by his arrival in Tuileries to tell it.
Fashion experts reject anything that plays it safe. The marriage behind Ester Manas, the designer of the same name and Balthazar Delepierre, won by leaning towards the practical and thinking about that woman who does not dare to wear her characteristic lingerie proposals. They presented chiffon, gathered dresses and garments with openings and transparencies to which they added new coat pieces and everyday options that, without giving up their essence, opened new paths.
“I was three years old when I had this dream,” said Alessandro Vigilante at the presentation of his first collection for Rochas on Wednesday. The designer, who was already part of the creative team for this spring, debuted alone with a series of looks in which his passion for dance shined through, not in the literal sense, but in the need to wear clothes that allow freedom. of movement. “Until I saw the firm's file I didn't know how many things Marcel Rochas had invented,” he continued.
“He was also a marketing man, his perfumes were wrapped in lace.” Titled The Eye Has to Travel (the famous phrase of the North American editor Diana Vreeland), her version of the house rescues the use of that material (“more in a feminine sense than a sexual one”) and proposes pieces that work at a party and in the everyday interior of a house. All materials were expressly manufactured for the collection, which implies special attention to detail as well as a willingness to afford them.
Chairs in Rubber (2001) by Estonian artist Villu Jaanisoo were not the only sculptures seen at the Acne Studios show. Constructed from recycled tires, these “bodies made from an industrial material” put in context a collection with which Johnny Johansson translated his favorite words, denim and leather, into a more complex and interesting language. Sculptural but malleable, the leather gave exaggerated shapes to the silhouette while the denim fabric was applied in such different finishes that none of them looked like what they really were. At a time when the industry faces uncertainty, perhaps the right answer is not the simplest one, but rather the one that is elaborately complex without appearing to be so.
