Stella McCartney Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

For fall, Stella McCartney went for pragmatic sensuality, especially as it applies to day clothes.
The result: an engaging sophistication permeated the collection in which she both pushed and relaxed her specific parameters of feminine-masculine plays and deftly manipulated classics. Thick-knit sweater dresses worked on a slant and half open at the side over languid underpinnings bared an arm, a shoulder, a glimpse of leg. Bustiers in lightweight wools delivered discreet allure, matching trousers and long-sleeved shirts.

McCartney loves her Savile Row references and here delivered them with new femininity. Even at her most streamlined, she incorporated ladylike flourish. Mannish tweeds turned a shade gentle but unfussy in coats and dresses cut lean through the waist. The graceful ease continued for evening as McCartney made seemingly casual use of lush metallic jacquards and brocades, incorporating swirling insets into ivory dresses for a sexy effect.

Givenchy Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy found his inspiration for fall in Victoriana and the Latin toreador. The models had their hair in tight, braided loops with exaggerated curls plastered onto cheeks and foreheads and the wore framing facial jewelry that replicated piercings and tattoos. They looked beautiful and fierce.
On Tisci’s runway the mix resulted in short, trim jackets over sleek pants which transitioned seamlessly to tailcoats, some with peplums or double cutaways; some piped in un-Brit scarlet. The tailoring was sensual but seldom arch, with considerable diversity within the sphere. For example, while most jackets veered sleek, a pair of jeweled stunners featured dropped shoulders and short, cocoon-like sleeves. Dresses came mostly in velvets – cut, printed, crushed – some corseted, some almost medieval in their fluid lines and Byzantine palette.

Kenzo Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Kenzo were inspired by the forest. Models were dressed in protective ponchos and capes in shadowy blue, deep purple and forest green — some in camouflage-style floral patterns spliced with contrasting stripes. Oversize shearling jackets were slung over pleated chiffon dresses in a nod to the volatile climate that has wrong-footed retailers in recent seasons.
The duo worked two main silhouettes: top-heavy layers over ample skirts and less-cluttered looks that paired structured jackets or draped jerseys with skirts and pants in satin, georgette or fil coupé, reminiscent of kimono fabrics.

Céline Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

Designer Phoebe Philo tried to explore the fine line between the idea of sexuality and sensuality and translated that into the Céline-style. She opened with a sweater with belled cuffs covering the hand over wide pants in what looked like embroidered crocheted lace. The fabric would recur in a jacket over pants and a dress, all chaste of silhouette but revealing of skin via random devoré windows. Philo also did a turn with lingerie, corsets undone and deconstructed over slipdresses and deliberately ill-fitting conical bras. Sweater dresses covered up in front flashed circular, open portholes in back.
Besides that there were shirts in charming animal prints over roomy skirts or loose plunging-neck onesies with polite underpinnings and enormous, colorful totes.

Comme des Garcons Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

The fall-collection of Comme des Garcons was a mix of elaborate constructions, some soft, some structured, all out there, most in piles, drapes, wraps of laces in whites, blacks, a tinge or two in gold. Ridiculous by standard measure — sure; they always are. But even on Kawakubo’s lofty scale, a wonderment pervaded this collection. With her every choice, her fabrics, her configurations, the way she instructed her models, their points of connection, Kawakubo determined to make the audience feel the beauty and wistfulness of her strangely personal ceremony of loss and progress.

Haider Ackermann Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

Beyond his consistent way with silhouette and proportion, there’s another thing that has defined Haider Ackermann’s work: his mastery of color. He tends not to emphasize print on the runway, but it came to the fore in his fall collection yesterday. Leopard spots decorated a tie-neck blouse; graphic black and white checks appeared on slim tapering pants; a polka-dot scarf was tied at the neck of a maxi coat. Topping it all off were fitted jackets and coats in glinting metallic tweed bouclé, the tweed simultaneously lending the collection a boyish and more sumptuous vibe.

Junya Watanabe Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

The story Junya Watanabe was trying to tell was that of algorithmic folds. The result: incredible shapes crafted out of the basic and commonplace, such as starched white shirts, cropped tailored black pants, capes, moto jackets and T-shirt dresses. Beginning with a plain white starched shirt and full, shiny black skirt in rounded pleats, Watanabe quickly built up the silhouettes into sculptures topped with exaggerated symmetrical headgear that made the models look vaguely like chess pieces. Skirts and capes came in precise honeycomb accordion folds that encased the body, some stiff, some structured but with a springy, elastic movement. A loose, lean jumpsuit had a spiky shrug around the shoulders.
Most of the clothes would satisfy conceptual fashion geeks and retailers alike. But some of it was just for fun: The round, red honeycomb neckline of a hot-pink dress looked like a modern geometric ruff; an even bigger version of it on a purple look had the shape of a grand, perfectly pruned topiary.

Balenciaga Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

With his fall Balenciaga collection, Alexander Wang made a bold, engaging move — or started to. “I want to approach design [with] something much more subversive and irreverent [in] looking at these classical notions,” he said during a preview to WWD. “I try to respect the heritage and the history, but also add a twist.”
And he did indeed. Out of the gate, mixing meaty fabrics — tweeds, windowpanes, bouclés — in looks grounded in the architectural curvature of the house founder, sometimes with heightened severity. And he piled on glamour jewelry derived from (without copying) the in-house heirloom loot, fastening a sexy wrap skirt with a flower brooch; closing a coat with a dramatic diamanté dagger. Between silhouette and sparkle, there was a lot of lady going on.

Christian Dior Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

For fall, Raf Simons wanted to explore the more sexual side of the Dior-woman by taking her natural urges out of the garden, to a place where more primal instincts dominate: the animal world. The show’s sexual content proved more discreet than Simons’ idea would suggest. The show opened with a pair of short black cutaway dresses with colorful facings and pointy metal mesh collars. Both were worn with second-skin Lucite-heel boots in a blown-up, blue-and-red animal pattern. Such abstracted skin motifs would prove a recurring theme, two or three thick, wavy stripes undulating across a coat or making a splash on a swingy minidress, and, several times, on flashy bodysuits. Often they formed the underpinnings for an impressive lineup of coats.
Tweeds from his Simons’ collaboration with the fabric firm Kvadrat and other substantive materials, including multitone pastel furs, were a core of the collection. A woman in touch with her masculine side looks sexy. Simons dressed her with chic authority in pantsuits with trim, double-breasted jackets over slim cropped pants.

Liselore Frowijn Show Presentation Paris FW2015

Dutch designer Liselore Frowijn made her debut this afternoon in Paris, at the first day of Paris Fashion Week FW2015. She presented a small collection in a salon environment. As a designer Liselore feels the continuous drive to capture the energy she obtains from art, music, people, and different cultures she is surrounded by, in her work. Fashion is the best medium to translate all of this in one eclectic vibe.

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