Junko Shimada Fall Winter 2010 Collection

March 14, 2010

Tuesday March 9th, 2010 – Hotel Westin – Salon Imperial

Junko Shimada with “Une belle Fille” tells us another story, inpired by actress Virna Lisi. We’re at the Hotel Westin in the Salon Imperial, lights are on the floor, music that sounds like a 70’s french movie in the background. Lambskin Leather turban, Fuschia, indian pink and vermillon rouge give the tone with optical illusion motifs taking inspiration from 1971. Supple materials, mohair, shearling. silk crepe, chiffon and organza with plunged lambskin sharpens the silhouette. This “Belle fille” wears bat-wing sweater dresses, frilled ample blouses with a sassy allure accentueated by afro-beatnik necklaces and belts in cords and plastic. Every look featured excessive diagonally striped platforms.

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Junko Shimada Fall Winter 2010 Fashion Show Video

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Hermes Fall Winter 2010 Collection

March 11, 2010

Wednesday March 10th, 2010 – Halle Freyssinet

There’s never been a shortage of bags and backdrop at an Hermès show, but this year JPG added a dramatic twist with looks inspired by the 60’s sultry spy, Emma Peel. It was a high octane spectacle, highlighting JPG’s penchant for leather and sharp tailoring, and not simply serving as a showcase for the house’s latest accessories.

Right from the first look, the nouvelle Jane Bond looked boyishly debonair in an all black-leather pant-jacket ensemble, topped off with a rounded fedora. And Jean Paul Gaultier did not spare the leather as he used it on sleeveless gowns, draped at the hips, turtlenecks & 3-piece mens suits. To complete the Avengers throwback, models were accessorized with Englishmen tophats, canes, Birkins, monocles, ties and umbrellas. Strategically placed dark crocodile jeans, mini skirts and vests offered welcome respites from throngs of leather-clad looks. While the show felt a bit cheeky at times, JPG’s energy, vision, and expertise in the art of le bon tailleur, framed in Hermès rich history of fine craftsmanship, make this collection desirable to say the least.

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Hermes Fall Winter 2010 Fashion Show Final Video

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Louis Vuitton Fall Winter 2010 Collection

March 10, 2010

Wednesday March 10th, 2010 – Cour Carree du Louvre

You would close your eyes, listen to the delicate fountain’s clapotie and then open your eyes to get hit by beauty and feminity. The place, the Cour Caree du Louvre is now the ultimate place where marc Jacobs likes to show his Louis Vuitton collections. This time he decided to have the models walk around the louvre fountain, counter clockwise, to go back in time to the 60’s of “God created a Woman”. “Brigitte Bardot symbolizes the feminity, the sensuality, I just wanted to show beautiful women of all ages” said Jacobs. Laetitia Casta, the closest 2010 Brigitte Bardot version you could ever get opened the show, followed by Coco Rocha, Karolins Kurkova, Catherine Mcneil, Bar Rafaeli, Adriana Lima and the most unexpected Elle Mcpherson, also known as “The Body”. Almost all looks featured a corset either in wool, leather, shetland or pinstripe to accent the curves, without any accessories beside some gloves leaving the feminity play the part. We saw a tweed jacket, sequined cable-knit sweater, a boiled wool pea jacket but the real star of the show was the iconic Louis Vuitton bag: the Speedy bag.

The Speedy has been reinterpreted for the Autumn-Winter 2010-2011. A new flap has been added and top handle. Reincarnated as a doctor’s bag, the monogram has been flocked and sequined, woven in metallic thread, remade in cloque, and in guipure lace over Duchess satin. The Damier patern has been recreated in fox, shaved goat and handpainted crocodile. And in its simplest form, the Speedy has been rendered in waxed calf and reconfigured as a doctor’s bag in grainy, supple calfskin.

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Louis Vuitton Fall Winter 2010 Fashion Show Final Video

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Chloe Fall Winter 2010 Collection

March 9, 2010

Tuesday March 9th, 2010 – Espace Ephemere – Jardins des Tuileries

Minimalism seems to be the plat du jour this Paris fashion season; so much so in fact that certain collections looked almost too restrained and conservative. Meanwhile, other shows took a safer route, opting for more commercial looks at the expense of creative expression, thus adding little to the conversation. But when that minimalism is translated into smart, complete outfits, the end result is a pragmatic collection that we can actually see ourselves wearing. Hannah MacGibbon achieved just that, producing a luxuriously comfortable Chloé fall 2010 collection that never strayed too far from the house’s youthful, carefree roots.

References to the 70‘s with cross masculine-feminine silhouettes aided that process, as Hannah demonstrated with a mens topcoat and suit, framed it over a loose, denim button-down shirt, and paired with camel colored high-waisted pants fastened by a hue-matching leather belt. The long and fluid jersey dress provided an unexpected allure, the embroideries over velvets reveal a subtle couture spirit.

The use of leathers to produce high wasted pants, a chocolate quilted camel bomber, a trim on chambray dresses and a flanked, fringe-corseted pair of trousers made these looks lust-worthy. Even the boots, loafers and wedges were cut in natural leather to match the new Chloe bag, Aurore.

One look at these model’s gait and you knew that this collection was meant to please the body and the eye. But MacGibbon one-upped it with a sumptuous lambskin sweatsuit, cashmere sweatpants, a fur coat and a pair of after ski boots. And while some decried that the collection looked monochromatically brown, the use of cafe to fauve hues made it easier to visualize these vestments complimenting our fall wardrobe.

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John Galliano Fall Winter 2010 Collection

March 9, 2010

Sunday March 7th, 2010 – Halle Freyssinet

A tribe of adventuring Galliano nomads trek through a mountainous terrain, crossing imaginary borders in search of a new land. In control of their destiny, subjected to the elements they are wrapped in brocades and worsted stripe blousonswith chunky knit rib tubes fitted tight on the hips. Trousers are inserted with knit panels for utility to an ever migrating tribes woman.

Her outfit tells her story, she accumulates as she migrates: brocade and astrakhan mix of mountain coats, panier skirted cabans thrust foward from the upper tight as do mini skirts layered over sarouel trousers. Her steps are sure laced into spike heel trekking boots.

Layering as she goes to protect herself from the harsh elements of the ever changing climate, she sheds and adds to adapt to her surrounds.
The tribal princesses are drapped in bias cuts spliced with yak fur mixing sauvage with refiined craftmanship. Delicate tulle is encrusted with mongolie fur and worn with barbaric fur and metal jewelery.

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Sonia Rykiel Fall Winter 2010 Collection

March 8, 2010

Sunday March 7th, 2010 – Halle Freyssinet – Paris

Everyone always wonders what Sonia Rykiel gives to her models backstage to get them all hyped up before a runway show. After almost 3 weeks of non-stop running around from show-to-show, it’s a welcome change of pace to go see a collection, knowing full well that you’ll be smiling the whole time the models strut the catwalk. And because Sonia Rykiel has yet to ever disappoint, we were all the more enamored by her latest fall 2010 collection.

In Sonia’s mind, she imagines her jubilant girls sporting a fancifully oversized pompom hat with matching pearl-studded high platform sandals. Crowd pleasers included a mohair rainbow-striped “Pull Rykiel” sweater lined with Swarovski rhinestones as well as a blue-black striped version that was knotted into a youthful knit-bustier dress. Basics were used intricately, as was seen with the wool cardigan that served as a dress, tied at the waist with a multi-strap leather belt. A delightful 40’s inspired lambskin sac fermoir looks to be a palpable accessory come this winter.

It was when we saw the asymmetric coats and bags held fastened by oversized, ‘pearled’ safety pins that we understood Sonia was letting us relive our early childhood through her pieces. You got the sense that Sonia was taking us back to a time when she would play with everything in her mother’s boudoir – from the jewelry to the sewing kit. And upon spotting a pair of military, multipocket trousers in a khaki green hue, we quickly realized that Sonia probably played in her father’s closet too.

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Yohji Yamamoto Fall Winter 2010 Collection

March 6, 2010

Friday March 5th, 2010 – Lycee Carnot – Paris 17e

The saying ‘sometimes you need to take a step back to take two forward’ seems like sound advice, but for Yohji, he decided that one needs to go as far back as elementary school to be fashion forward. Even the backdrops for the show signaled that ‘Principal Yamamoto’ was about to give a powerful lesson in demure construction – invitations printed on school paper & a schoolyard would serve as a catwalk. Solemn school girls opened the show in a declination of navy school uniforms, coats and suits with knife-pleated skirts. As the show progressed, so too did the looks, maturing one look to the next, almost as if the school girls were graduating from their simple beginnings into adulthood.

Solemnity evolved into femininity, and the graduated school girl began wearing bustier dresses made of coarse, coat materials. Then came a mens shirt, worn as a peacoat dress followed by a navy blue knitwear jumpsuit worn with removable gloves. Nearly every look was paired with flat black cavalier boots and some looks even sported sunglasses; a teaser of new Yohji accessories to come. One black coat near the end had an interesting cookie-cutter-like crease sewn from the upper shoulder down to the waistline that revealed itself to be a woman’s profile.

By the end, Yohji’s schoolgirl was no more, stepping into the next chapter of life as a bride. The stitched profile was incorporated into the bride’s black dress coat; her hair covered by a thin red filet veil topped by a miniature regal crown. At first, we were left wondering who would marry this dark princess, but a small smile at the end let us know that her groom could only be Mr. Optimism.

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Jean Paul Gaultier Fall Winter 2010 Collection

March 6, 2010

Saturday March 6th, 2010 – 325 rue Saint Martin 75003 – Paris

When people think of la femme française, it usually conjures up images of la dame blanche whose style aesthetics is often an extension of her culture’s deep, rich history. But for Jean Paul Gaultier’s fall 2010 collection, those clichés were thrown out of the window, as he showed that the contemporary frenchwoman’s aesthetic is born out of France’s new multicultural identity. From China to Mexico, Peru to Russia, South Africa to Brazil, this collection reflected France’s new identity through its smart, colorful use of exotic textures, patterns and prints. Never one to shy from playing with unconventional materials, JPG delivered an energetic show that felt like a fashion field trip on the Oriental Express.

A Masai metallic necklace under a leather perfecto with a Peruvian print skirt over a black Vichy print pants and geisha shoes looked effortlessly balanced and complimentary. Sportswear elements were experimented on, producing classic grey cotton sweatpants with balkan tapestry married to fur-collar trimmed and embroidered flower jackets. African print turbans served as contrasts to the signature JPG “pull marin” striped sweater. JPG favorite and more-than-fit-to-be-a-model Coco Rocha wore a chinese silk print dress under a peacoat with red cowboy boots while Frida Gustavsson wore her chinese silk top under a typical black Vichy french trench coat.

“Today’s world is about mixes” said a jubilant Jean Paul Gaultier to reporters backstage. Indeed, this latest collection showed that embracing the foreign can give way to the beautiful, that the new French glamour is greater than the sum of all its multiethnic parts, and that the genius of one intrepid couturier can sow the threads of cultural differences into an harmonious collection.