PARIS (AP) — It was as much art fair as fashion show for Stella McCartney, who presented an art-filled spring collection at Paris Fashion Week on Monday vibrant with flashes of color.
Iconic Japanese contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara collaborated on the designs displayed outside the Center Pompidou Museum of Modern Art, while sculptor Jeff Koons casually dropped by to greet McCartney after a workshop display of world-famous sculptures by Constantin Brancusi. .
McCartney’s eco exhibit also pioneered the use of regenerative cotton.
Here are some highlights of the spring-summer 2023 collections in Paris:
STELLA GETS ARTISTIC
A catwalk carpeted in yellow, red and blue dazzled VIP guests at designer Stella McCartney’s fashion show in the open-air courtyard of the Pompidou Center in Paris, a set created in homage to the art museum’s famous colored and structuralist exterior in the background.
This vibrancy continued into spring food that was typically fluid and sporty, with moments of bright color.
This season, chic pieces such as asymmetrical white mini dresses cut on the bias, or tight pink neoprene tops with a rounded side silhouette, were the canvas for Nara’s vivid imagination. In front of them, the Japanese artist created striking images of wide-eyed girls and boys in animal costumes, which the house described as “sinister”.
The funniest looks were in bold colors, like a chalk yellow hardshell dive shirt and pant look complemented by bouncy black flip flops and a inflated bag. That made for a good look against the bright yellow runway and had fashion insiders reaching for their cameras.
ECO-MCCARTNEY MAKES REGENERATIVE COTTON
Speaking backstage after greeting her Beatles father Paul McCartney, who supported her, the designer said she was “delighted” that this spring collection set a house record for being 87% sustainable.
“It’s my most sustainable yet. I hope nothing has been sacrificed; you shouldn’t see any of the sustainability, it should still look luxurious,” she said.
It’s no secret that fashion is a highly wasteful industry. Since his home was bought by luxury giant LVMH, McCartney has also taken on a lobbying role within the company to push it in a greener direction.
This season, one of the fruits of that prominence appeared on the catwalk. The designer said LVMH paid for a three-year pilot program to make regenerative cotton, grown in a way that maintains soil health. She said the process “captures carbon in the soil” and “encourages nature, rather than destroying it with pesticides.”
Delving into her advisory role, McCartney described it as a “positive impact,” especially with CEO Bernard Arnault in the front row watching closely the success of her eco-friendly ready-to-wear.
“He’s not stupid, he leaks,” he said. “He can look at all those bags and all those shoes and all those non-leather jackets. And he can compare between the other houses of his and see that there is no sacrifice visually”.
McCartney’s initiatives are seen as transformative and influential for the fashion industry as a whole.
THOM BROWNE’S MING FOOTBALL
Versailles meets the Ming dynasty, via American football, for American designer Thom Browne’s eccentric yet exuberant ready-to-wear gift.
With the Stella McCartney show moving from its usual Paris Opera venue, the space was wide open for Browne, whose silk A-line gowns swept the floor majestically from guests Monday inside the ornate, gilded ballrooms.
“Game of Thrones” actress Gwendoline Christie, famous for being nearly 6 feet 3 inches tall, was appropriately chosen to open the collection in a giant, meticulously embroidered Asian wrap dress. Spiderman’s leather gloves, with which she gripped a metal bar, added a kink.
Browne’s spring mantra must have been “more is more.”
The diagonally pointed eyebrows looked like a version of Asian-era attire. Features like that contrasted nicely with stripes and white football numbers, like a big “19,” emblazoned on the back of the silk dresses.
Collars puffed out in Peter Pan styles, leading the eye to tiered and truncated silhouettes, voluminous Juliette-style sleeves, generous hisses and waves of fabric, and even polka dots.
The show also featured Brown’s signature red, blue, and white stripes, which inflated almost like an inert parachute. Again, Browne’s intentional design repertoire creates endless variations on the same theme.
YE-EVERYWHERE
Kanye West, now legally known as Ye, has been everywhere this Paris Fashion Week. He first walked as a model in Balenciaga’s ready-to-wear show, a turn that designer Demna Gvasalia called an “iconic moment.” The rapper was then spotted at the Givenchy collection facing the rain and wearing a provocative black Balenciaga-branded brace.
While on Monday, Ye held a quite exclusive last-minute show with 100 guests, of which, according to the organizers, “a large part (was made up) of Ye’s friends.”
Ye was criticized by some on social media after the show for being photographed in his Yeezy collection wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt.
LANVIN IS FOR SALE
Bruno Sialelli was in a more understated mood than usual in the sellable spring collection that featured neat, understated looks that generally contained no surprises, like an alabaster tuxedo jacket with square shoulders and frayed hems, or a ruched blouse. medieval style. with tubular sleeves.
Fortunately, the creative energy picked up towards the end of the mixed program.
A large series of silk babydolls with corsets and lingerie in pastel tones was the highlight and played with the idea of transparency. They were adorned with sheer jeweled fabric in the shape of a cloche hat that covered the model’s face, and to help her see even less, Sialelli added shadows below that.
After several years in the fashion wilderness, France’s oldest continuously operating fashion house continues to have a spring in its step with the renewed direction of this French designer.
Source: news.google.com