Regards to Vivienne Westwood and Paco Rabanu
Recently, the fashion world said goodbye to two legends: Vivienne Westwood on December 29, 2022, and Paco Raban on February 3, 2023. Vivienne Westwood and Paco Rabanne held commemorations in Paris in memory of their founder.
Paco Rabanne did it first. The house’s creative director, Julien Dossena, dressed the models in dresses depicting paintings by the surrealist painter Salvador Dali, a friend of Paco Raban and a Spanish like him. Also on the runway were the famous metal chain mail dresses, which Coco Chanel once called the fashion designer a “tinsmith”. Among them were five vintage models designed by Raban himself in the 1960s, including those for Françoise Hardy and Doniel Luna.
The Vivienne Westwood show was even more poignant. Presented by Vivienne Westwood’s widow, Andreas Kronthaler, the collection reflected the signature style of “Queen of Punk”, not to mention her portrait on some pieces. The fashion show was closed by the fashion designer’s granddaughter, Cora Corr. The girl stepped onto the runway dressed as a bride in a white lace bodice mini dress and high boots, with horns in her hair and a bouquet of daffodils.
Robots at the Coperni show
Coperni recaptured Paris with showmanship. Last September, Maison creative directors Arnaud Vaillant and Sebastian Meyer dressed Bella Hadid in a spray dress. In only underwear, the model stepped onto the runway, where two men with spray guns were waiting for her. They sprayed his body with liquid tissue that hardened upon contact with the skin and turned into a wearable material.
This time, fashion designers also relied on high technology by taking Boston Dynamics robots to the podium. Throughout the show, they interacted with the models: one gave a purse to Lila Grace, daughter of supermodel Kate Moss, and the other, undressed model Rhiann van Rompuy, ripped her jacket off, leaving her with the only dress.
Balenciaga’s first show since ‘cancellation’
Paris Fashion Week will be remembered for two debuts – Harris Reed and Ludovic de Saint-Sernin as creative directors of Nina Ricci and Ann Demeulemeester – and two comebacks: Pierre Cardin staged his first fashion show in 13 years and Balenciaga is back on the runway. “cancel”. Although all four performances were expected, Demna Gvasalia’s collection attracted the most attention. The scandal that erupted at the end of 2022 over ads featuring children and BDSM paraphernalia damaged the budget and, most importantly, the reputation of the Balenciaga house. Kering even had to hire a brand safety officer to analyze the ad campaigns of the brands that make up the holding, in terms of how they might be perceived and criticized by the public.
But there’s no need to worry about the final show: this time Demna Gvasalia went too far with caution, not excess, and for now the only thing she’s been criticized for is “boring”. The models walked a white runway rather than knee-length mud as they did in October last year, and they did so in floral-print dresses, baggy trouser suits, and “shouldered” outerwear.
Boredom! I’ve seen all this, the silhouettes are the same, zero new ideas. I expected color from Demna, she is a great colorist. I wanted to return to their first collections for the brand. There were so many layers, details, highlights. But aren’t my expectations my problems? – Wrote stylist Alexander Rogov on the Telegram channel.
“Demna decided to abandon the experiments because of all the scandals, and without ‘action’ things turned out to be not very interesting. The brand is removing it for show. And we saw everything from season to season, and even my favorite dresses from the show were there.”
stylist Aleko Nadiryan agreed with his colleague on the Telegram channel.
Horses on the Stella McCartney show
Stella McCartney took the helm of extraordinary venues at Paris Fashion Week. The house staged a show in the stable, more precisely at the Manège de l’École Militaire, France’s oldest riding school. Trained horses were the first to appear on an impromptu podium (read – hippodrome) to Depeche Mode’s song “Personal Jesus” and did not leave until the end of the show. The models, on the other hand, took long strides on the sand in their horse-patterned dresses and jockey boots.
According to Stella McCartney, with this show she wanted to first confess her love for horses and secondly to draw attention to the problem of protecting animals. “There is a lot of leather, fur and feathers at these shows, especially in winter. I just wanted to show that animals can be represented differently. The difference is that these animals are alive and my clothes do not kill anyone,” said the artist, emphasizing that natural leather and fur are not used in his collection.
Louis Vuitton scandal
The Louis Vuitton fashion show was one of the most talked about at Paris Fashion Week even before it started. In the social media teaser of the show, they supported Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. It’s all the fault of the evolving white-blue-red flag with the letter “V” in the middle. “Russian tricolor?”, “This ad reminds every Ukrainian of Russian tanks”, “Are you serious? Then there will be the same colors as the letter “Z”, foreign users were angry.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Andriy Yermak, head of the office of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, also spoke. He accused the assembly of targeting “Russian nouveaux riches” and “playing with symbols of aggression”. “Luxury smells better when it’s covered in blood, doesn’t it?” he tweeted.
In response to Podolyak’s criticism, Louis Vuitton posted a photo of the French flag with the caption “Geography” (“Learn geography” – about “socialbites.ca”), but the post was soon deleted.
A pearl dress crumbling at the Kimphysic fashion show
Alongside the Coperni show, where the robot cut the model Rhianne van Rompuy, the Korean brand Kimhekim’s fashion show went viral on social networks. A nude model walked the runway wearing only seamless, nude underwear and an unusual headdress with strings of pearls dangling from the floor. In the final, the brand’s team effectively solved the improvised “dress” and hundreds of beads scattered in different directions.
Irina Shayk replaces Bella Hadid
Bella Hadid yesterday, without which not a single show could do without, has missed all Fashion Weeks this season, including Paris. There was speculation on social media and in the press that Houses refused to invite him because he was too thin. Regardless, the top model of 2022, according to the CFDA and Models.com, has found a replacement in the person of Irina Shayk. In 2023, the 37-year-old Russian woman has already participated in thirteen performances – four of them were held in the capital of France (Isabel Marant, Schiaparelli, Victoria Beckham and Vivienne Westwood).
Russian tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov Alesya’s daughter was seen in two fashion shows held as part of Paris Fashion Week. The model walked in the Weinsanto and Elie Saab fashion shows.
front row stars
Traditionally, there was something to see not only on the podium, but also in the front row. Avril Lavigne unexpectedly became the main herald of Fashion Week in Paris – the singer, who broke off her engagement with rapper Mod Sun, surprised not only with what she came to shows and parties, but also with whom. So, at the Mugler event with transgender star Hunter Shaffer in honor of the release of the new Angel Elixir fragrance campaign, the artist was spotted kissing rapper Tyga.
Julia Fox, rapper Kanye West’s ex-girlfriend, shocked with her appearance in “naked” or latex dresses, Jared Leto surprised with her bright makeup, and Emily Ratajkowski “stepped out” in a provocative top with an anthurium from Loewe.