BEAUTY: Set Design--Louis Vuitton

And here we are starting Paris Fashion Week and what a way to make a splash .. literally. For their Spring Summer '27 surfer-inspired collection (which I am not showing because, frankly, it is not that motivating to me), Louis Vuitton created a jaw-dropping set of an enormous breaking wave, consisting of real water cascading down a structure into two pools. The runway and showspace floor was completely covered in soft sand. Wow...

https://us.louisvuitton.com/

Louis Vuitton's Home On The Range

While the collection did not move me (I do however like the rainwear spotted with little paillettes and crystals to look like it is repelling the rain), the impressive theatrical stage set for Louis Vuitton's Fall Winter '26-'27 men's collection at Paris Fashion Week looks incredible. A complete home was built on a plot of land which the models traversed among the audience members. Called DROPHAUS, the home is a prefabricated architectural environment conceived by Creative Director Pharrell Williams in collaboration with the Japanese hospitality firm NOT A HOTEL. Watch the video below!

https://us.louisvuitton.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Louis Vuitton

Since Virgil Abloh has taken over at Louis Vuitton last year, he has done some interesting tweaking to the brand. This Spring Summer '20 collection might be the moment that he breaks it out of its zone, much like how Alessandro Michele did at Gucci. Abloh looked to spring (it is a SPRING Summer collection after all) and pastel colors, and of course, flowers. There is something so appealing about this collection: the color palette feels safe in a nostalgic and not pedestrian way, and the floral motif is simple and charming, almost relieving, a respite from our current global situation. Much like Silvia Venturini Fendi did this season with her gardening and beekeeping collection, this reminds us of the power of the natural world. And to the wonder and rewarding, restorative beauty of being in it, doing simple things like smelling flowers and flying kites. Yes, there was a cute kite moment in this collection. In fact, everyone who received an invitation to this show received an assemble-it-yourself mini-kite! I love the obvious florals (the large prints of wildflower bouquets) and the not-so-obvious florals (they look like paint splatters or splashes until you see that they are colorful stalks, stems, and petals!), as well as the wearability of it all--the fluid, loose trousers are gorgeous. It's all easy and free. And feels good.

https://www.louisvuitton.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Louis Vuitton

Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton unveiled a Spring Summer '16 collection at Paris Fashion Week that speaks to travel with the kind of sateen Japanese tour jackets GIs brought back from Asia after WWII. Such jackets elaborately embroidered with cranes and dragons were the inspiration for a collection faithful to its roots. After the sateen jackets, the cranes and dragons showed up on lightweight separates but Jones then abstracted the color palette into racing stripes and vacation-seaside stripes. The vacation notion was reinforced with a slogan on tees: "Volez Voguez Voyagez" which encourages us to "Fly Sail Travel" for the summer!

http://www.louisvuitton.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Paris Fashion Week SS '15

Paris Fashion Week has wrapped and here are some highlights and standouts:

Who knew jumpsuits would make an appearance again? 3.1 Philip Lim showed a blue version with pinstripes (the Hundredth Monkey moment for the season)...

...while Vuitton showed a collection based on Indian Shisha embroidery which attaches small mirrors, usually round, to fabric. Creative director Kim Jones is an adventurer and likes to travel to exotic lands. Past collections have seen Jones visit the Himalayas to research Bhutan silk brocade. For this collection, he traveled to India. And here we have Shisha on a flightsuit!

Another truly huge trend was the imagery and culture of Japan. McQueen showed a restrained collection of suits but festooned with the graphics from Kabuki theater make-up. Walter Van Beirendonck used Japanese silk brocades and a circular motif that looked like ancient Japanese family crests called Mon. Astrid Andersen showed sunset colored kimonos and accessories worn by Sumo wrestlers. AGI & SAM showed spartan, minimalist Zen-inspired pieces. And Craig Green showed us deconstructed Samurai padding in his highly-lauded anti-war statement. So it might be strange for me to point out that Junya Watanabe, a Japanese designer, showed a collection influenced by classical Japan, but look at Watanabe's past collections and see suits, Fair Isle knits, Depression-era patchwork work wear... so it is worth mentioning that Watanabe used traditional indigo blue boro, the traditional Japanese patchwork fabric of ancient peasant clothing. Models in lacquered hairpieces created by by Tomihiro Kono, and reminiscent of styles worn by Sumo wrestlers, wore boro or a close cousin, denim, decorated with Japanese designs of chrysanthemums, waves, dragons, or bamboo lattice.

Cerutti 1881 Paris: menswear designer Aldo Maria Camillo's recent trip to California sparked in his imagination a look that "surfed" between sportswear and suiting. Most of the collection did just that in a pleasant but plain way. But his silky tunics in Bohemian patterns fluttering under suit jackets were lovely...

...but what I really liked was the tasseled loafer-sandal, eerily close to what Ferragamo was showing, shown with toeless socks eerily similar to Andrea Pompilio!

And speaking of shoes, Miharayasuhiro found my weakness: metallic shoes. Look at those chukka boots--half or full metallic. The lace ups are great and the sneakers (trainers) are so fun. I actually have a pair of silver sneakers I bought years ago in Florence and I have worn them to death... I just love them.

https://www.31philliplim.com/
http://www.louisvuitton.com/
http://www.cerruti.com/
http://www.miharayasuhiro.jp/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Paris Fashion Week

Now that Paris Fashion Week has ended, here is a wrap-up of notable moments, elements, and details that could have otherwise slipped by...

But before I move on, I want to say that Ann Demeulemeester was conspicuously and sadly absent from Paris Fashion Week. She announced in November that she would be leaving her eponymous label she started in 1985. No word yet on who might replace her at the house. Word is that her men's collection for Fall-winter '14-'15 will be shown with the women's collection at the end of this month, January '14.
Also conspicuously absent was Jean Paul Gaultier. Hmmm...

Onward:

Carven showed a collection straight out of "The Wild Ones," "On The Waterfront," and "Rebel Without A Cause." Dock worker pea coats, ski caps, and jackets that are a cross between a motorcycle jacket and a 1950s car coat were shown in a shady, highly atmospheric pool hall!

Alexander Wang's ode to petroleum products nearly fetishized rubber--but not in that way (nudge nudge wink wink). He was thinking of rubber tires on motorcycles, race cars...and he showed his lookbook in front of a heap of smashed, totaled cars. Pants that looked like oil slicks on asphalt, and jackets that could be recycled tires...

At Louis Vuitton, it was a stripe story... in luxuriously draped scarves and cashmere sweaters. It feels cool, and jet-setty, and Old World all at once.

Jackets on top of coats...on top of trenches... at Cerutti.

Several designers showed their Fall-Winter '14-'15 collections with models draped with or carrying blankets, quilts, or afghans. And here, Sacai has a few blankets inspired by Navajo prints.

Miharayasuhiro has some great shoes to offer for Fall-Winter '14-'15. I love the paint droppings on the boots which bring to mind McQueen's wonderful paint-splattered collection of SS '10, here. Also of note is the shoe with toes dipped into flocking! I also like how Miharayasuhiro showed shoes pre-distressed in metallic leather.

And for a finale, I want to point out a collection at Berluti that was perfectly pleasant and supremely wearable, but looked even better on a variety of models that included mature men. It is always nice to see the tyranny of youth breaking down bit by bit. I mean, just look at these men. Some silver, some lines, some mileage... grrr...
Thanks, Berluti!

http://carven.com/
http://www.alexanderwang.com/
http://www.louisvuitton.com
http://cerruti.com/fr/
http://www.miharayasuhiro.jp
http://www.berluti.com/en/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Paris Fashion Week Miscellaneous, January 2013

Well, Paris Fashion Week for Fall-Winter '13-'14 closed yesterday and here are the last little dregs of some details I found interesting but not enough to post the entire collection...

Mugler showed a collection that was a tiny bit scary since it reminded me so much of the mean-spirited, Fascistic film "Starship Troopers." The insignia on the tops are a logo for "Mugl-air," a fictitious flying company, and they look sharp and serious. But no fashion editor or writer I have come across so far has had a thing to say about the big pink triangle, a symbol for the gay and lesbian community. And ya gotta love the pink bullet proof vest/parachute pack...

Speaking of parachute packs and airplanes, I liked the seat belt buckle that cinched waists on sport jackets and acted as toggles for coats at Dior. Just look at the mystical pyramid in a circle. Does the emblem have a metaphysical/alchemical meaning or is it a symbol of some future society?

Mugler and Dior conceptually segues nicely into the odd color straps spanning lapels at Raf Simons.

And speaking of future societies, Issey Miyake created some foiled rain wear that looks like it is straight out of "Fahrenheit 451."

Shifting gears to something more romantic, Vuitton showed some gorgeous pieces based on Bhutan silk brocade. Creative director Kim Jones went to the Himalayas to research this collection and the luxurious evening wear that resulted was certainly worth it.

Alexis Mabille showed a really cute detail in his collection: a string tie with tassels. (The artist in me thinks, "I could make that!" I can't cut patterns or sew, but I could put some tassels on the end of a string!)

Jean Paul Gaultier's show was cheeky, taking place in neon lined cubicles reminscent of pay-per-view strip booths. And indeed, each model came out and provocatively stripped down. The funny part is they were wearing classic menswear patterns. Pin stripes have been everywhere at Paris Fashion Week and in Milano...

And finally, Junya Watanabe usually incorporates some kind of work wear or a theme of the laborer into his collections. This time he took us back to immigrants on the Lower East Side of New York, and to the Great Depression with men proudly wearing patched jackets and pants, cobbled together from other threadbare pieces. And aren't we all living through the Second Great Depression... Watanabe seems to be saying that times may be tough, but we still have our dignity.

http://www.mugler.com/us/en/
http://www.dior.com/home/en_us/
http://www.rafsimons.com/
http://www.isseymiyake.com/en/
http://www.louisvuitton.com
http://www.alexismabille.com/fr/
http://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/brand/en

Photos via http://www.style.com/