With the beginning of the school year also comes fashion season. London, New York and Milan hosted their fashion weeks at the beginning of the season, and the season came to an end in Paris. Fashion houses from all over the world presented their spring/summer 2014 ready to wear collections to the public at Paris fashion week. From September 24th to October 2nd, fashion critics and enthusiasts received their yearly dose of Slimane and Simons, as well as a bit of controversy. Here’s what you need to know if you missed out on the week of presentations:
- Art inspired textiles and prints. Broad paint strokes were very popular in this years collections. Kenzo featured blue and white paint strokes in their ocean inspired delivery. CÉLINE and Dries Van Noten incorporated simple flower paintings and swirls into their clothes. Alexander McQueen lived up to the public’s expectations, presenting some of the most intricate and beautiful textiles of the week. Raf Simons included several graphic t-shirts in its men’s line that feature commercial art designs. Look forward to art prints being very popular next summer.
- Standouts and disappointments. Master tinkerer, Junya Watanabe, showcased the most creative pieces of the week with his Comme des Garçons MAN collection. Fully Functional, completely inside out fisherman jackets stood out from the crowd in true Watanabe form. Givenchy, however, disappointed the crowds in Paris with an eerily similar men’s collection to last year’s. Seen again was the oversized t-shirt, skirt, and leggings combo, but this year it featured a weak navajo-esque print that didn’t t have the same appeal as the “birds” collections of years past.
- Racial Inequality. It wouldn’t be fashion week if there weren’t a little bit of drama. Last year we saw the media build a rivalry between Hedi Slimane and Raf Simons, who were presenting their first collections for fashion giants Saint Laurent Paris and Christian Dior, respectively. This year, the controversy focused on much more important aspects of the fashion society. Racial inequality was brought up before the start of Paris fashion week through an open letter from the Diversity Coalition calling for a change in the model choices of several houses. Dries Van Noten, Lanvin, CÉLINE and Maison Martin Margiela, houses that were specifically criticized in the letter, were some of the most diverse shows of the week while Comme des Garçons and Ann Demeulemeester, brands that were also dressed down in the letter, used only white or Asian models in their shows so far this year.
