FASHION WEEK IN PARIS A TREND REPORT BY KATHARINA KOWALEWSKI

If you take the major trends of spring summer 2007 from Paris fashion week you can imagine girls in awfully uncomfortable platform shoes to their oh-so-lovely baby-doll dresses in light colours and floating chiffon, covered with hats that hide microchips inside without forgetting the fresh flowers in their hands… The most exciting and inventive designer collections were not about risk taking, but rather work on volumes. Dominant influences came from the 80s and 60s waistlines.

RETRO FUTURISM

To introduce the concept of space and the future, we must begin with the most inventive and technology-driven designer of this fashion week: Hussein Chalayan. A fashion event that made reference to David Copperfield’s magic shows that included microchips integrated into gigantic hats that made the clothes change before our very eyes. Coats became dresses, shifting shapes and finally even disappearing entirely into the big hat - leaving a model naked in the centre of the podium! Not an easy trend to pull off for next summer - although it did provide a drop of excitement to this somewhat lethargic Paris Fashion week. The King of Droids, Star Trek and Terminator (all-in-one!) came in the form of the highly acclaimed Nicolas Ghesquière. As has become usual in recent seasons, Balenciaga sets and resets the fashion agenda. This time with a warrior space ride; retro futuristic Thierry Mugler influence, elongated silhouettes in black patent leather – set off with fabulous gold robot-like leggings embellished with stones - a bona-fide walk on the moon or a trip to fashion heavens. Synthetic shining materials and graphic cuts transformed the models from Costume National into a space mood as well, although in a more subtle way than Balenciaga. Another futurist 80s inspired - but very feminine - way to blast off was offered by Lanvin. Alber Elbaz surprised us with a sexy and very structured line, notably with fabulous black vinyl-aspect trench coats with strong, shimmering surfaces. Miu Miu also chose, for her second Paris presentation in a row, (coinciding with the opening of the new Paris store), a more space-inspired approach with a new silhouette using purple with graphic prints, clean lines, and round collars.

FLOWER-POWER

From purple flower prints dresses presented on carpets of grass and violets at Yves Saint Laurent to fresh flowers in most of the Louis Vuitton bags (and for a first: plastic grocery bags), spring/summer fashion 2007 is literally blooming. Real blossoms were actually on the amazing Alexander McQueen fresh flower dresses while white and black roses graced the dress creations of Giambattista Valli. On a less playful note, flowers were also treated in a dark, gothic romantic vein: for example, the purple cape from Undercover where the flowers bore a disturbing resemblance to eyes. Apart from the soft floral prints and the graphic futuristic treatments, designers known for interesting patterns (like Cacharel) forgot to set the trend instead of following it.

SPORT-CHIC

It's not sure that the sneakers with high heels seen at Dries van Noten and Gaultier are a good alternative to the platform shoes that were everywhere else… But one thing is certain: 90’s sport attitude is back in fashion. The clearest statement was made by Jean Paul Gautier who - besides celebrating his 30th anniversary with a retrospective and huge party - showed some sportswear elements like silk jersey sweat pants, athletic parkas, hoods and caps back on the podium. Same exercise in style at Dries van Noten with his casual and cool sport style made glamorous with satin, nylon, sequins and loose layering. The very chic sport attitude came at Veronique Branquinho, who created silver jogging pants and a jumpsuit in knickers length and merged them into her elegant collection where she sent models out through crystal curtains. Kenzo tried some striped sporty combinations in white and black with pink and yellow accents. Leggings, which are now a must-have piece of any fashion-conscious girl’s wardrobe, were still in the game - notably in interesting short versions of Haider Ackermann worn under shorts and Bermudas. Instead of a catwalk show, a sidewalk show! Bless displayed its sportswear/streetwear fusion collection in the Marais quarter, worn by friends of the designers who walked up and down the street before the crowd of spectators.

BABYDOLL

The most important for spring/summer 2007 are lovely legs for lingerie-style shorts and new adorable dresses. Pretty baby-doll and A-line dresses for modern-day Lolitas were the most recurrent element of Paris fashion week. Almost every designer integrated this product into his or her collection. Balmain impressed is with micro-dresses with chiffon and precious embroideries in combination with innovative materials like metal mesh. Stella McCartney’s new studies in volume resulted in some nice dresses - especially one blue baby-doll version, which was more a top than a dress. The Russian designer Chapurin created his A-line dresses with puff sleeves, which were less exaggerated and very wearable at Dice Kayek… and in the form of an extra-short jacket with shiny green and blue balloon sleeves at Emanuel Ungaro. Besides the sleeves, the collar was used to change the baby-doll look, for example: Karl Lagerfeld chose a free-standing high collar for his silhouette. For those who are “anti short-and-cute-babydoll look”, Martin Margiela offered up one-legged trousers with XLong legs that trailed several feet along the floor. If you want to cover both legs ANN DEMEULEMEESTER had a similar trailing idea…and a collection inspired more from men’s suits like Yohji Yamamoto.

MORE and MORE ACCESSORIES

Looking back to the Paris shows, it seems that diamonds must share their status as girl’s best friend with all sorts of accessories. From shoes to bags to jewellery… some of the Paris runway shows created the impression that clothes are becoming… accessory. The run for the next trendy designer bag, launches of new accessory magazines and the huge success of the accessory trade fair Première Classe (which was held at the same time as the fashion week) all serve to reinforce this trend. If this mad rush for accessories is due to the shorter-than-short pants and dresses or simply to a commercial context where clients are more likely to buy accessories than clothes (price difference and social status symbols that lie in the “it-bag”), remains an interesting question. The fact is that the bottom halves for next summer season have been completely forgotten. Giambattista Valli preferred to work with ribbons for his lovely and short tube dresses. Chanel showed black sequined panties and multiple chains, sandals in Plexiglas, belts and big bracelets. The Chanel signature big chain mix also appealed to Christian Lacroix and his fringed platform shoes. The same shoes at John Galliano who covered his designs under big hats - the most remarkable point of the show was that his collection was actually quite well behaved. Oversized jewellery was a theme at Veronique Leroy who sent out her models with few - but enormous - pieces. At least the brand whose every runway model carried a handbag made a humorous wink: Louis Vuitton did an imitation of the low-price “Tati” department store’s pink & white plaid bag – the same type of plastic bag that street-sellers carry their counterfeit Louis Vuitton wares in!

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

...Setting the stage during Paris fashion week

Victor & Rolf made a strong statement by ending their Cabaret-style fashion show with a dance performance of male couples and the launching of their new fragrance… which almost eclipsed their 20s inspired collection. The American dancer Danielle Brown kicked off the presentation of the Japanese brand Cosmic Wonder. A disappointing performance from Fukuko Ando, where neither the dancers of the Paris Opera nor a last dress entirely covered with crystals could make the collection sparkle. Same sad situation at Stephen Burrows where the models were the only ones to dance and clap their hands - while the spectators preferred to close their eyes to the tasteless mixes of colour blocks and feeble cuts. Infinitely more inspiring: Alexander McQueen’s show. The theatrical atmosphere in the Cirque d’Hiver was completely in tune with his fabulous Edwardian dresses complete with padded hips; bringing the new dark romantic current of Couture to ready-to-wear. Just a few deck chairs were enough for Galliano’s Hermès show to create the perfect St.Tropez atmosphere. The lovely long chiffon dresses and perfectly chosen leather details (for headbands again) were displayed on sociable models who talked and smoked in a very 70’s Riviera mood. More of a statement than a show: was the surgical tape placed over some of A.F. Vandevorst’s models’ mouths. Practically every outfit had a hood. Plastic tape was also used by Zucca, but this time to cover the hair of the models while the male models – largely dressed in worker overalls - wore their hair long.

Transparency & Colours

We also noted some very interesting work on transparency at designers such as Rick Owens and Antonio Berardi with red lace underwear visible beneath transparent white dresses… and Celine’s airy blouses in sheer fabrics. However, the “high-summer” atmosphere was missing in many of the collections often dominated by shades of grey colours, like Lutz and Dior whose modern Joan of Arc had no use for extravagance. Transparency seemed less light in the black dresses and cut-outs at Givenchy. As is often the case, the main colours were black and white – alone or together. The same was true for Martin Grant’s summer dresses and trenches (too bad he experimented with lime green...) The trend for Klein blue timidly emerged, but not many designers showed strong colours - unlike Valentino with his red (all through the show also as hair-band) and yellow dresses. Christian Wijnants treated a palette of pastels (rose, pale green, beige and grey) combined with lovely studies of layering and material mixes from knits to silk.

RAISING THE FLAG

Not very inventive, but still on centre stage: flags. Castelbajac played with the red, white and blue French flag; Martin Margiela worked on the American stars and stripes theme and Comme des Garcons used the red dot of the Japanese flag on skirts and T-Shirts. A better way to pay tribute to one’s homeland was seen at Elie Saab. He used the colour gold, representing the sun of Beirut and of the war-scarred Lebanon. He sent out 55 glam’ inspired gold creations upon a gilt shimmering runway.