Et, c’est la fin. On the third and final day of the couture shows, Jean Paul Gaultier said “Jai Ho!” while at Valentino, though they swore they hadn’t called Karl and Raf, Maria and Pierpaolo let the garden grow.
Couture, old-fashioned? Not if two septuagenarians have anything to say about it. On the second day of the shows, Karl Lagerfeld, 79, incorporated elements of streetstyle at Chanel while Giorgio Armani, 78, gave a masterclass in women wearing pants at Armani Privé.
In case you were watching a certain inaugural fashion spectacular on this side of the Atlantic and missed the first day of couture fashion week, here’s what critics had to say about the shows: Donatella Versace put the she wolves in chainmetal, Giambattista Valli toed the line between flora and fauna, and at Christian Dior, Raf Simons upped the ante one million flowers.
Grunge! Chic beekeepers! New Looks! Damier dresses! If your head is still spinning from 9 days of nonstop fashion action the City of Light–ours are, for sure–we’ve got your handily reductive recap of each day’s critics’ pick for top show. Presenting the Paris Fashion Week spring 2013 Honor Roll.
Well, here we are. Le fin of Paris Fashion Week–and the end of our four-week, four-city international fashion marathon. On the day of second acts, Miuccia Prada did some typically subversive takes on ’50s shapes at Miu Miu. But it was Marc Jacobs–that guy who defined this season’s graphic obsession with his collection of stripped down stripes for his namesake line back in New York–who made Louis Vuitton’s iconic damier motif look not-so-square. Checkmate.
Here’s what the critics were buzz-buzz-buzzing about.
Oh Sarah Burton! How well you played this one for Report Card. Karl blew many critics away with his breezy take on going green for Chanel, but when it comes to scoring the most “buzz,” your honeycomb dresses and wasp-waists made you the McQueen Bee.
So, about that buzz…
We bet you can guess which show got lots of attention yesterday: Yup, Hedi Slimane’s much-anticipated debut for Saint Laurent was all anyone could talk about. But Stella McCartney showed yesterday, too, and her sporty chic spring collection earned her raves–while Slimane’s reviews were mixed, to put it kindly.
Click through to see what all the critics had to say about the historic day of fashion in Paris on day seven.
Sunday was a very good day for the fashion week lunch bunch, with Sister Maria looks at Givenchy and cute jungle cats prints at Kenzo. But for the woman of a slightly older demographic, critics concurred that Céline’s furkenstocks–and inimitably chic new twist on soigné dressing–made a powerful statement for the working mother who would wear her house slippers proudly out in the world.
The critics have spoken, and here’s what they said.
Pop quiz: Design in Paris is A) conceptual B) kinda weird C) joyous D) all of the above. On a day that zipped from Space Age sportswear at Junya to crushed can crowns and Comme, Report Card can tell critics were thinking really deeply about meanings. So extra credit goes to Jean Paul Gaultier for interrogating the dichotomy between a runway show and a concert–and reminding us all that fashion is also FUN!
Here’s what the critics were buzzing about.
In case you hadn’t heard, Dior. Is. Back. Friday there really wasn’t a candidate for salutatorian, as all buzz was droned out by the roar of support from critics for Raf Simons’s New New Look–a sensually minimalist take on maximalist femininity.
Thursday designers went back to school–in some case, literally–as Alber Elbaz commenced his second decade at Lanvin with a concise essay on those icons of French femininity, le smoking and the LBD, at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. At Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière earned top marks for his more-pragmatic-than-usual collection inspired by the house founder’s ballet costumes, while at Balmain, Olivier Rousteing was deemed a quick study in the pop culture of the decade in which he was born.
“Smarten up” seemed to be the coaches’ message Wednesday as the first big shows in Paris got underway. Enfant terrible Gareth Pugh was promoted to Varsity when he went medieval on critics–in a totally soigné contemporary way. Meanwhile, in the battle of moody romanticism between two great print houses, Dries van Noten and Rochas, Dries’s flannel à la française scored a touchdown–and that’s how the game was won.
