La Parisienne

style.com

February 26, 2013 PARIS By Tim Blanks Talking with designers about their collections is sometimes profoundly confusing. Cédric Charlier claimed inspiration from illuminated medieval manuscripts: What thuh? There was a brief outbreak of medieval embroidery, and a shade of green Charlier said he'd borrowed from Brueghel, but the toothpaste-pink he stuck next to it seemed more fundamental to the spirit of the collection. With its hard techno edges, it felt like it was a literal aeon away from monks carefully daubing paint on parchment. If anything, the retro-futuristic feel of the clothes was No Wave—that tiny sliver of streamlined nihilism between punk, New Wave, and whatever came after. Astute trend-spotters are inevitably isolating that movement as watchable. Charlier was keen to emphasize the roundness of his silhouette, which seemed willful given the essential architectural angularity of the clothes he showed. There were indeed some big, beautiful topcoats, but they fought for attention against the sinuous layering of jackets, skirts, and skintight Bermudas. Precision is a Charlier signature. So is the hardware he defines it with. Copper zippers trailed down spines as an accent. When he added twee piecrust collars, it was techno's witty repudiation. That's not where Charlier's heart lies, though. The soundtrack chucked Philip Glass's classical crack-up of Bowie's "Heroes" all over the place, and the models walked out at the finale in a lurid red light to the brutalist strains of The Normal's "Warm Leatherette." Still, Charlier is at the beginning of his career, and if his promise is dark, at least it's promise. Source: style.com

vogue.co.uk

vogue.co.uk

vogue.co.uk

vogue.co.uk

vogue.co.uk

vogue.co.uk

vogue.co.uk

vogue.co.uk

vogue.co.uk

February 28, 2013 PARIS By Maya Singer Not quite two weeks ago, Antwerp-based designer Christian Wijnants took home the ultra-prestigious International Woolmark Prize, an award that counts Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld among its winners. In some ways, Wijnants was a surprising choice—he's anything but a showy designer. But as today's collection proved, a great deal of thought, and not a little poetry, goes into the making of his clothes. Wijnants opened with two knit wool looks that undoubtedly helped land him the Woolmark Prize: a loose cardigan and a funnel-neck sweater, both featuring an intriguing circular knit and the incorporation of varied knit gauges. That's technical stuff, but the sculptural effect transcended the technique. Wijnants repeated those looks, or elaborations of them, throughout this collection; some of the punchiest pieces found him shibori-dying funnel-neck dresses and coat-length cardigans, to graphic effect. Those knit pieces weren't the only standouts on Wijnants' runway. The designer's silk-fringed coats and jackets had a similarly expressive quality, and everything in his mottled black and white jacquard was a winner, in particular a cocoon-ish coat with cropped sleeves. The jacquard, Wijnants explained after the show, was meant to conjure the craggy look of melting snow; likewise, the well-judged bursts of color here were inspired, he said, by the experience of engaging with nature's own surprising palette while out mountain climbing. That point of view came through most clearly in the serenity of the collection—there was a sense of ease, and a sense of space. The only quibbles were Wijnants' emphasis on shorts that felt a little too summery, and more generally, his reluctance to give a really defined silhouette to the pieces that weren't knit. Overall, though, these clothes were compelling and fresh.

style.com

style.com

style.com

style.com

style.com

style.com

style.com

style.com

March 4, 2013 PARIS By Nicole Phelps Sacai's Chitose Abe has been at her hybridized mash-ups for years, but they just don't get boring. This was another outstanding outing for the Japanese designer, one that once more demonstrated how sensitive she is to the conceptual-commercial mix. Her trick this season was to choose iconic—predictable, even—Fall staples and spin them into something genuinely desirable. Trenchcoats, English hunting suits, skiwear, and biker jackets were the pieces in question. In Abe's hands, they looked both familiar and surprising. Take the trench. She broke it down to its elements and fused parts to different garments. A navy velvet dress got an olive-drab cape back and collar, while a navy sweater acquired epaulets and a welted belt. As for those plaid hunting suits, they were spliced with technical nylon or fur, the hems of the jackets becoming peplums above flared pants. The après-ski section delivered the most news. Cozy sweaters with zebra patterns below a deep line of feather fringe looked fresh for Abe, and a pair of down puffers edged with fox were flashier than usual for her. They'll be hits. The leather Perfecto pieces, married to double-breasted coats or a long velvet trapeze dress, recalled one of Junya Watanabe's most beloved collections. Watanabe, of course, was once her boss, so this felt more like a heartfelt homage than pilfering. She picked up the fine art of sampling from him, anyway. All around, fabulous. Source: style.com

The Fashion Spot (naya)

The Fashion Spot (naya)

The Fashion Spot (naya)

The Fashion Spot (naya)