Highlights Paris Fashion Week SS2011

The fact that fashion shows are becoming more of a spectacle every year became especially clear in Paris. Like always Chanel’s show area was mind blowing. Also, Kenzo’s fortieth anniversary at Cirque d’Hiver was a show to remember. Then we had Viktor and Rolf with their enormous wedding dresses and beautifully illustrated backdrop. And of course there were the horses at Hermes and there was Beth Ditto’s runway début at Jean Paul Gaultier.

As for the fashion, Paris felt a bit more punky and raw (Balenciaga, Ackermann). Plus we saw many minimalistic shows like Chloé, Celine, Costume National and Stella McCartney (partly).

Lanvin
Alber Elbaz’ collection for Lanvin was everything we’d expected and more. He designed gorgeous feminine and asymmetric dresses and flowing skirts women actually want to wear. He used pleating and draping, yet made his designs very body tight too.

Givenchy
For next spring Givenchy felt rather dark, punk and techno. There was a lot of black and white, long silhouettes and sleeveless statements jackets. Tisci chose sheer and leopard printed fabrics and added lots of zippers to his creations. It all felt daring, new and very appropriate for the Givenchy girl.

Stella McCartney
Celebs like Salma Hayek, Beth Ditto, Liv Tyler and father Paul McCartney all witnessed the great show of Stella McCartney. The designer came up with a mix of minimalistic and ultra-sexy clothing. Therefore manly en feminine silhouettes alternated each other. The sober looks, as well as the fruit printed outfits (a new trend also seen at Moschino and Prada) all seemed great for next season.

Haider Ackermann
Ackermann’s fashion show ended with lots of applause from the audience and he sure deserved it. His elegant and modern collection was very impressive. There was lots of leather. Long skirts were narrow and sleeves motor-jackets looked tough. Shoulders were small and razor-shape and his signature cropped jackets often had an open back. The color-palette of black, royal reds & blues and a shot of yellow were a perfect match.

Balenciaga
Ghesquiere’s collection for Balenciaga felt very streetwise. The fact that he had scouted six models straight from the streets might have had something to do with that. Those six girls as well as Stella Tennant, Carolyn Murphy, a pregnant Miranda Kerr and Gisele Bundchen wore his pied de cock dresses in black, white, blue and red. There were colorful printed sleeves blouses, asymmetric tops and there was quilted leather. The overall look was boyish and felt very Balenciaga.

Jean Paul Gaultier Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2011

The summer collection of Jean Paul Gaultier wasn’t the best we’ve seen so far, yet it was clear JPG himself had a great time working on it. Like at his last menswear fashion show he designed several 3D items which the audience could watch through their 3D glasses.

And if you think 3D-fashion is strange; the rest of the collection was just as crazy. Singer of the band Gossip, the curvaceous Beth Ditto, opened the show. But she wasn’t the only ‘fuller model’. JPG hired several other plus-size models for his show. Although you can hardly call Crystal Renn that nowadays.

The girls all had wigs on, the kind that reminded us of David Bowie’s hair back in the late sixties. Their hairdos in a way matched the tough leather jackets, lace up boots, sheer lace, denim suits, printed tights and leather shorts.

Red patent leather formed quite a contrast with the softer leaf and floral prints, but so did the red & white and blue & white stripes JPG never misses in his collections.

Another trademark you’ll always see in his shows: his famous cone bra corsets, which were just as pointy as the shoulders on some of the jackets.

Beth Ditto’s closing performance made the show unforgettably entertaining, yet we were not fully convinced by JPG’s new summer wardrobe.

Jean Paul Gaultier Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Today Jean Paul Gaultier presented the future. His runway show was 3D! All guests attending the show (including singer Kelly Rowland) got special 3D glasses to watch the special effects JPG had added to his show.

JPG’s models were as diverse as they could be: pale, bronzed, bearded, shaved, blond hair, brown hair. A few had glasses on and some had afros. Some were young, others looked older. Even a blond haired girl popped up twice at the show.

The clothes for spring were like the models: a little bit of everything. They seemed to be Moroccan inspired so we saw some see-through fabrics and a few caftan-like blouses. The set of the show was a steamy hammam.

At first JPG showed some transparent black. Two tops were closed with laces at the front. Then some beige looks came buy; jackets with lots of pockets and big scarves (for a cold summer night?). Some printed creations followed. Those prints looked as if they were made out of paint splatters. The models wore a strange kind of bonnet to go with the printed outfits.

To stick with the Moroccan feeling JPG had added some embroideries to his blouses matched with pants that were tight at the bottom and loose around the crotch. We then saw an overall, a suit jacket matched with shorts, a skirt, one black caftan that reached the floor and a see-through black one-piece outfit.

Though JPG mostly used brown, black, beige and white in this collection, he did add some cobalt blue towards the end. Not to speak of the finale, when models entered the runway in bright, shiny, printed designs that came to live with 3D glasses.

The collection maybe was a bit messy, but there were some good items in it. And the fact that JPG was the first designer to use 3D in his collection is worth some extra credits too.

Gaultier is leaving Hermès

After seven years, Jean Paul Gaultier is leaving Hermès. He will be replaced by Christophe Lemaire, who has been designing for Lacoste since 2000. Gaultier will show one more spring collection for Hermès in october. The French house will continue to support Gaultiers business.

Jean Paul Gaultier Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

At JPG’s fashion show influences from many different countries wore used in the designs. We got a taste of Africa, Russia, India and Mexico. The styles from those countries were represented by extravagant headwear and folklore designs. There seemed to be so many different influences, it was hard to tell which country they belonged to.

Colorful African turbans were combined with satin dresses with chinoiserie prints. Black trenchcoats or fur coats were worn on top. There were colorful printed headscarves, fur hats and metallic Indian headpieces.

The models wore Masai necklaces combined with Western motorcycle jackets. They walked in harem pants with fur waistcoats. Their neon colored leggings heavily clashed with the folklore prints on their clothes. But it was all part of JPG’s cultural fashion explosion. Words can not even describe how wacky it all looked.

While the clothes varied in almost every aspect (shape, size, fabric, color) not much was to say about the collection in general. Apart from the fact that it was a cultural melting pot.

Between all influences JPG’s famous cone bra popped up every now and then. Though we loved watching the crazy styled outfits, the coats were the best pieces of the collection.

And the message of this show might just have been about embracing the cultural differences in the world and turning them into something of your own. At least we think that would be a nice approach.

Paris Catwalk Fashion Show fw2010: Jean Paul Gaultier

The Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show opened with two girls fighting against each other in a boxing ring that stood in the centre of the stage. Then beaten up models in JPG designs and boxing accessories came on stage. They wore face protection, boxing gloves, belts with the JPG logo and carried towels around their necks. They had bleeding noses and band-aids all over their faces, as if they had just been beaten up.

JPG’s designs varied from sporty to chique. We could see lots of leather:  belts, pants, jackets and  details. Some knitwear (long scarfs and warm sweaters) was introduced as well. Sporty hoodies in several different shades were worn underneath the models’ neat coats and jackets.

On his T-shirts JPG had printed pictures of muscular male torso’s. And with a few skirts and some sparkling tops the French designer showed his feminine side.

Singer Chris Brown, familiar with beating up, attended the JPG show.

Trends ss2010: the overall opinion

They might seem quite unflattering and we usually think of them as most suitable for gardening or working on the field, but overalls are becoming more and more fashionable.

Ralph Lauren and Jean Paul Gaultier designed a few comfortable and stylish ones for spring. Of course they gave them their own twist.

Some of Ralph Lauren’s overall had stains and tears and some were made out of shiny satin.

JPG added his iconic cone-bra. There were overalls with and without sleeves. Most were made out of denim, yet Roberto Cavalli made one out of a transparent airy fabric and Hannah MacGibbon introduced a leather one for Chloé.

We have to admit those overalls do look very wearable and they combine perfectly with almost anything (t-shirts, blouses, tops). They might become a huge hit.  What’s your overall-opinion?

Tess van Daelen

Trends ss2010: denim never goes out of style

Jeans are one of the few things in fashion that never go out of style. On the contrary other denim outfits seem to come and go every few years. For the coming season several brands carefully introduced a few denim designs. We  saw denim blouses, skirts and dungarees. At Jean Paul Gaultier  streetwise models wore darkblue denim overalls. The designs were immediately recognizable as JPG’s because of the cone-bra details he added. Dolce & Gabbana used denim in both their collections. At the D&G western inspired show denim was mixed with white, beige or brown  in almost every look. Pieces of lace or leather were stitched at the  designs. For her first collection for Twenty8Twelve Sienna Miller also created some denim blouses and tough-looking sleeveless denim motorjackets with frayed ends. Hannah MacGibbon designed exactly one denim look for Chloé. It didn’t match any of the other outfits from the show, but she came up with it at the right time. (Tess van Daelen)

Trends ss2010: la la lingerie

For season ss2010 a lot of attention went out to underwear and lingerie. Many designers used lingerie-influences in their collections. Sometimes underwear was even presented as fully-fledged clothing. Especially at Dolce & Gabbana and Jean Paul Gaultier lingerie played a big part. The Dolce & Gabbana fashion show ended with all the models on stage wearing sexy, vintage-like lingerie with animal and floral prints. As the inventor of the famous cone-bra, Jean Paul Gaultier could not stay behind in this lingerie-trend. He used cone-bra details in many of his designs. Marc Jacobs let one of his models wear silky lingerie on top of her regular clothes. At Dior lingerie was combined with airy nightwear. Many models wore corsets in which their breasts were highly accentuated. Most of the time  they were worn with sexy skirts, but they were also manufactered in some dresses. The corsets were made of silk or transparent fabrics, adorned with bows, laces and ruffles. Karl Lagerfield decorated them with pieces of leather that reflected the bright spotlights as if they were made out of metal. (Tess van Daelen)

Jean Paul Gaultier Catwalk Fashion Show ss2010

With Jean Paul Gaultier’s fashion show being called G Spot it was not hard to predict what the collection would be about. It appeared lingerie played a big part in his collection. And now that lingerie is seen in so many collections, JPG would be crazy not to use this theme. He brought back his oh so famous cone-bra, which he designed for Madonna in the late eighties. It was incorporated in a lot of designs. The streetwise gangstergirls who opened JPG’s show wore denim overalls with cone-bra details. Later on when the models turned into military types and pin-up girls it kept coming back. One model even wore a cone-bra with matching (pregnancy?) cone-belly. Although some fun spiral bracelets were shown in most outfits the bra was the highlight of the designs. Maybe JPG had overused this success-design a bit. But that certainly won’t mean celebrity guests Katy Perry, Rihanna and Dita Von Teese wouldn’t love to wear one of JPG’s cone-bra designs on stage. (Tess van Daelen)

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