Paris Fashion Week made the biggest headlines of all, from the new dawn at Louis Vuitton, Chanel's venture into supermarket and the shrink-wrap models in Iris Van Herpen.
Alas, the month long fashion week craze in the four capitals, New York, London, Milan and Paris is truly over and done with. While we've covered the first three mentioned cities, we still have to bid adieu to Paris we say, “Job well done, designers!”
Wrapping up our report on Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2014, we take a look at Nicolas Ghesquière’s debut at Louis Vuitton, Chanel’s luxury supermarket at Grand Palais and the rise of Suzy Menkes as International Vogue Editor.
A new dawn for Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton has been keeping the fashion literati agitated for months since the announcement of Nicolas Ghesquière as its new creative director.With no interviews granted for the headlining news until after the fall/winter shows, there was little anyone could do but wait. It truly wass a new chapter for the iconic fashion house with Ghesquière creating an understated but powerful collection that could rival the extravagant shows by his predecessor, Marc Jacobs. One of the biggest highlights were the miniature Petite Malle trunk bag and the one-handled speedy bag.
Viktor & Rolf teamed up with Swarovski
Designer collaborations with famed jewellery label Swarovski has been an ongoing project and the latest addition to the family is fashion house Viktor & Rolf with the creation of two collections named "Velvet Rock" and "Frozen Crystal". The jewellery collection was offically showcased during the fall/winter runway show where the looks were also incorporated with Swarovski crystals. Standout looks included a sequence of grey knit dresses -- asymmetrical, cut away and voluminous -- in boiled wool, and long grey and black dresses embellished with columns of Swarovski crystals.
Grocery shopping at the Chanel mart
It’s true that whatever Chanel endorses, even the most pedestrian matter can become luxurious; this was proven yet again at the Chanel Shopping Center. Aisles of Chanel "groceries" greeted guests at the Grand Palais, with the fresh produce and candies up for grabs while more heavy duty items like doormats and cereal boxes were prohibited to be taken home. Of course, that didn't stop the crazed fashionistas from trying to sneak some past security. Rumour has it that one fashion editor actually took home a Chanel doormat.
Suzy Menkes, the new International Vogue Editor
Globally renowned fashion journalist, Suzy Menkes will be joining in the Conde Nast family as the newly appointed International Vogue Editor. Known for her work previously at work at the International New York Times, Menkes’s new position at Conde Nast will put her in charge of all the Vogue publications worldwide with the exception of Vogue US. While we congratulate Makes for her new position, we can't help but wonder if Anna Wintour had a hand in excluding the American publication from Menkes, in order to continue having a full control over Vogue US.
Iris Van Herpen shrink-wrap her models
The Dutch designer is no stranger to the term "outrageous fashion" with her repertoire of creating plastic dresses and utilising 3-D printing technology. This season, Iris Van Herpen takes it a step further by vaccum-packing her models in gigantic shrink-wraps and suspending them in the air. Guests witnessed the writhing models in the bags as the show was going on and while that might be a little disturbing to some, the collection presented by Van Herpen was of innovation that made great use of 3-D printing in creating the looks. Rest assured that the models were supplied with oxygen via an air tube.
The real reason Anna Wintour skipped Armani in Milan
We talked about this in our Milan Fashion Week wrap up, where it was rumoured that Anna Wintour skipped the Armani show to make it to Paris Fashion Week in time. Now the truth is finally out; instead of heading to Paris, Wintour was spotted in London having an intimate lunch with Burberry CEO and CCO Christopher Bailey. Now we think this just makes it look worse than it already is, with the editor favouring Burberry over Armani – both prominent advertisers of Vogue US.
Finding power in the simplicity of Céline
You can always count on designer Phoebe Philo to create empowering collections by sticking to the minimalistic approach. She is the trendsetter who made minimalism the most in-trend fashion since her debut spring 2010 collection. This season, it is no different than previous collections for Céline; the approach is as straight as an arrow – creating clothes for the modern women. Despite the masculine silhouettes like the oversized man-styled trousers, Philo showcased the tenderness of the collection with its use of fabric and the movements of the clothing. Highlights of the collection goes to the black fitted coat with white buttons, the oversized trousers in grey and the deconstructed two-piece coat dress in white.
We recommend:
- London Fashion Week wrap up - Cara Delevingne for Mulberry and Anna Wintour in Newcastle
- New York Fashion Week wrap-up: Star Wars, a streaker and Wang brings it to Brooklyn