Fashion

Paris Fashion Week AW18: Highlights of Day 7

An eventful day

04.03.2018

By Cai Mei Khoo

Paris Fashion Week AW18: Highlights of Day 7

Givenchy

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Who: A-listers on the front row include Yoona, Min Ho, Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim from The XX

Where: The Palais de Justice, marked by a huge Givenchy signboard on the front

The Low-down: Fans of the Korean stars waited in the drizzle pre- and post-show just to catch a quick glimpse of their idols. Upon exit, showgoers were greeted by waiters carried trays of coffee served in Givenchy-branded coffeecups and madeleines packed in Givenchy paper bags, which proved a hit (it was the first show of the day, but also, the fashion crowd can’t resist logoed merch).

What: Titled ‘Night Noir’, creative director Clare Waight Keller took inspiration from film noir, and movies she’d watched like ‘The Hunger’ and ‘B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West Berlin’. The show opened with four fabulous fur coats worn with low cone-heeled boots. But before you get upset, know this: the fur was all faux, as Givenchy has joined the growing number of fashion brands eschewing real fur for a kinder alternative. Sharp tailoring was mixed with lashings of high-shine leather in black, deep forest green, and petrol blue. Silhouettes were sleek, with a particular focus on the shoulders, a broad, slightly angular cut. For evenings, when ‘the air is thick with sleaze and danger’, there were dresses, spliced with lace inserts, monochrome outfits finished off with tassels, oversized bows ontops and dresses, and a ton of shine in the form of sequins, and pleated metallic cocktail dresses.

Buro Loves: The juxtaposition of masculine looks i.e. a single-breasted long coat-and-trouser look worn with a skinny chainmail scarf underneath, alongside ultra-feminine pieces like the aforementioned metallic cocktail dresses. Oh, and the faux fur coats, in particular the chubby rusty brown version worn by Riannevan Rompaey. 

 

Balenciaga

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Who: Karlie Kloss, Marc Jacobs and boyfriend Char Defrancesco were spotted at the show

Where: A warehouse in an industrial area north of the 18th arr. in Paris — are we still in Paris?

The Low-down: A large snow mountain covered in graffiti stood in the centre of the show space. Tags read ‘Power of Dreams’, ‘Be Aware’, ‘Think Big’, ‘You Are The World’, and ‘Speed Hunters’ — the name of the fictional band that Demna Gvasalia created, with concert merch to match. Also this was Balenciaga’s first co-ed show.

What: The show started off with some serious bodycon looks, with Gvasalia piling on the layers until eventually there were some eight layers (or perhaps more) in the finale looks. Sculpted, waisted jackets and coats made a comeback but this season, the models’ bodies were 3D scanned and fitted digitally instead, allowing for a precision-molded, form-flattering piece. There was the ‘weird’ — a tight lime green turtleneck top that ended in full gloves, men’s shirts with a phone number printed across the chest, which turned out to be a tele survey — ‘the new Balenciaga hotline’, where questions ranged from ‘do you wear prescription glasses’, to ‘favourite music’, and ‘favourite type of transportation’. And the ‘wonderful’ — the oversized outwear like a denim jacket, checked cocoon coats, and a supersized opera coat. In drawing attention to global hunger, there were pieces with the World Food Programme logo on them, of which Balenciaga has promised a percentage of sales of these Balenciaga x WFP items to aid the organisation.

Buro Loves: The supersized outerwear in the finale looks, the waisted coats, bags large enough to fit a picnic blanket and the WFP initiative. 

 

Thom Browne

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Who: PFW’s most popular street style stars, Japanese pop duo (and identical twins) Ami and Aya Suzuki of Amiaya 

Where: The grand Hôtel de Ville, Paris’s city hall. Also where some of the city’s most fascinating chandeliers are found. 

The Low-down: Known for their theatrical shows, this season’s set was modeled after an art class. In the centre of the runway were easels atop raised platforms, with a series of abstract dots on the canvases. Showgoers sat in square booths on either side of the runway. 

What: The show started with a group of ‘schoolgirls’ in brown jackets and oversized grey pants chatting and giggling while heading to their easels. Then came the models walking to a catchy, upbeat remix of Madonna’s ‘Vogue’, who entered each booth, as the painters proceeded to draw and paint them. Here was a collection that celebrated the body in all shapes and forms (it’s perhaps a figure drawing class) – corsets and their lace-up detailing abound, a dress featured a cast of a female form, a floor-length skirt had lumps and bumps, a gown with asymmetric neckline exposed a left breast (but not the nipple). For the finale, the ‘headmistress’ surveys the artwork, followed by a ‘bride’ walking her four ‘dogs’ (human models wearing a dog head). The dogs then unzipped the bride out of her floral gown with exaggerated hips, revealing a grey single-breasted suit underneath.

Buro Loves: The theatrics of the show, but also the reconstructed pieces as seen in a dress, where the skirt looked like a shirt, the exaggerated sihouettes, the astounding workmanship that went into creating the floral trim on the jackets and dresses, and Anna Cleveland’s OTT walk.

 

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