Paris Fashion Week

The Fashion Statement: Paris Wraps It Up

Last but definitely not least. Paris provided the grand finale this week to a string of fashion weeks around the globe that began in New York early September.

While not quite as colorful as their Italian counterparts, Parisian designers delivered collections consistent their houses' heritages. In other words, each brands' fans will be happy. Some of the highlights:

Alexander McQueen was one of the most anticipated shows of the season. It was the first full collection for Sarah Burton who was thrust into the head designer role when the designer committed suicide earlier this year. The verdict? There were stunners such as the ombrè gown pictured above as well as white low-rise pants with two buckles on each hip and sculptural dresses. It's not quite the same anger, beauty or arty story that has always defined the label. But how can it be? I would hate to be Burton who must be burdened with endless comparisons to the late genius.

Chanel's show was darker and more deconstructed than usual. Black dresses looked they had been eaten by moths, edges were tattered, and there were much less fussy versions of the signature Chanel suit. Ines de la Fressange modeled my favorite piece-a black sheer floor-length gown with a cutaway skirt that revealed a slimmer skirt underneath. The gown's blouson featured heavy black stripes reminiscent of Maori tribal tattoos.

Tags: alexander mcqueen, chanel, ines de la fressange, Louis Vuitton, marc jacobs, paris fashion week, sarah burton, valentino, valenton gharavani

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The Fashion Statement: Paris Couture Pares Back

by Kristin Young (RSS feed) —

Filed under: The Fashion Statement

The haute couture shows in Paris are in full swing, but rather than enjoy the spectacle, fashion watchers have the nagging suspicion they are witnessing the end of an era.

Sure, clothing that can cost as much as a house, have little relevance in today's world-only a handful of women in the world can afford the custom-made pieces. And fashion houses like Jean Paul Gaultier, pictured above, create the looks mostly for press and to promote brand awareness and maintain an image. (Dita Von Teese guest strutted in black wire and stockings.) But the Great Recession has sped up the decline of an institution of fashion, the highest level a designer can achieve, the crème de la crème of the biz. It's sad!

Signs of decline are all there. Shows have been reduced to six spanning three days. Sets have been pared back. Givenchy eschewed a show altogether to stage "presentations," or museum like display on dress forms-a sure sign of financial conservatism.

"Why not just hang a sign on the door that says, 'Shut?'" wrote Cathy Horyn yesterday in The New York Times.

Tags: Chanel, Christian Dior, Dita Von Teese, Elie Saab Couture, Givenchy, haute couture, jean paul gaultier, Paris Fashion Week, Paris haute couture, runway, runway fashion, runway models, runway shows, RunwayFashion, RunwayShow, Valentino

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Lindsay Lohan Out At Ungaro?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Celebrity Design

Last fall saw Lindsay Lohan walking the runway as she unveiled her new fashion collaboration with Ungaro. But while Lohan was in Paris for the shows recently she was not at the Ungaro presentation. Black Book reports that Ungaro owner Asim Adullah told WWD that Lohan was not invovled with the latest collection. It's not known if she has been officially let go. Reviews of Lohan's 1980s-inspired line were less than kind. The fashions included sequined heart pasties used not just to cover nipples but as forehead adornment, neon colors, harem pants and shoulder-baring tops recalling the very worst of 1980s fashion. But perhaps the outrage was preferable to the distinct lack of excitement over Ungaro's latest offerings. Booth Moore of the LA Times says that while the collection was probably better for the being Lohanless, the print blouses, cropped pants and ruched cocktail dresses by Estrella Archs were inoffensive but not very exciting. Is it better to be crazy and derided or predictable and forgettable? We'll have to wait and see if Ungaro decides to let Lindsay back at the drawing board.

UPDATE: Lindsay Lohan confirmed that she is no longer with Ungaro and made a mysterious reference to "legal things" that are going on with the deal.

Tags: estrella archs, lindsay lohan, paris fashion week, ungaro

The Fashion Statement: Paris Celebrates Halloween Early?

by Kristin Young (RSS feed) —

Filed under: The Fashion Statement

Far be it from me to criticize designers when they get creative, try something new or push the envelope. That's fashion.

But, is it me, or are designers presenting collections in Paris this week getting downright costume-y? More than a few of them have gone from subtle references in their collections to frighteningly literal representations of sea creatures, Roman gladiators or whatever else inspires them.

Take Louis Vuitton's show yesterday. Marc Jacobs used giant Afro wigs-the kind you'd pick up on the Halloween aisle-in his presentation. Disappointingly, the Afros were the only things unifying the collection comprised of everything but the kitchen sink (Davy Crockett fur, American Indian accessories, military looks, hippie, club kid, etc.).

Alexander McQueen called his show Plato's Atlantis. With hair sculpted into reptilian fins, models walked by in oversize platformed shoes that looked like heads-scary in more ways than one (you could probably break an ankle in those things). Reptilian patterns, scales and otherworldly silhouettes brought home the idea that we all came from ancient creatures of the deep.

It was a chainsaw massacre at Viktor & Rolf. Paying homage to the economy, the duo took a chainsaw to tulle gowns, cocktail gowns and jackets. To be fair, you expect this sort of thing from these fashion pranksters. These guys have been poking fun at the industry for years (and laughing all the way to the bank).

Gallery: The Fashion Statement 10/08/09

Tags: Alexander McQueen, AlexanderMcqueen, Balenciaga, Lindsay Lohan, LindsayLohan, Louis Vuitton, LouisVuitton, Marc Jacobs, MarcJacobs, nicolas ghesquiere, NicolasGhesquiere, Paris fashion week, ParisFashionWeek, Ungaro, Viktor Rolf, ViktorRolf

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The Fashion Statement: What is Luxury Now?

by Kristin Young (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, The Fashion Statement

As designers march their winter haute couture collections down runways in Paris this week, one has the feeling we're witnessing the end of an era. Only a handful of women in the world can afford this level of craftsmanship and, in the throws of the most diabolical recession we've ever seen, even they are pulling in their gilded belts. More's the pity.

As a result, this may be the last of Christian Lacroix. A few days ago, the designer showed a jaw-dropping collection every bit worthy of his couturier status. But his house is in such a financial mess, it needs a buyer to survive.

Lacroix is not alone, of course. Earlier this year, I asked a CEO of a high-end Italian fabric company how he was planning to celebrate the company's anniversary. "We'll barely be able to afford a birthday cake!" he joked.

Meanwhile, New York's famed specialty store Henri Bendel has stopped selling designer clothes altogether. Beginning this fall, the store will focus exclusively on selling smaller ticket items like jewelry, handbags, fragrance and gifts. It's a well-known fact that accessories sales are the bread-and-butter of retailers and fashion houses. Runway looks, especially haute couture, are more about creating publicity and brand image. But learning that H. Bendel will no longer be selling designer clothing is a little like discovering the coolest kid at school is into Dungeons & Dragons. It's just sad.

The luxury segment-particularly fashion and jewelry-has skirted trouble for years. In Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster out a few years ago, reporter Dana Thomas chronicled how the then $157 billion luxury goods industry eschewed exclusivity-a key characteristic of luxury-in order to rack up mass sales.

Still, few predicted the floor would drop out quite like this. "You can't justify premiums these days with the same old stuff," says Milton Pedreza, CEO of the Luxury Institute, noting luxury companies will be forced to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. "Many people feel like luxury has duped them into buying ubiquitous products. The main principles-great design, superior quality, heritage and service-need to be upped quite a bit."

Gallery: Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture

Tags: Christian Lacroix, Haute Couture, Luxury Institute, LuxuryInstitute, Paris Fashion Week, Tre

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Lagerfeld Debuts Mink-Covered iPod Helmets

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Gadgets, Luxury Cars & Autos

At his Paris fashion show on Sunday, the ever-entertaining Karl Lagerfeld debuted a new line of luxurious mink-covered scooter helmets with built-in iPod capability. The over-the-top accessories were created in collaboration with French luxury helmet maker Les Ateliers Ruby and Apple. They're road legal and feature full carbon fiber shells and ultra-soft burgundy nappa lambskin linings. The iPod hookup lets you pipe music directly to the earpieces.

Lagerfeld, who also heads up Chanel and Fendi, showed matching mink vests and other garments in the futuristic fashion show for his eponymous label. Apparently the haute helmets are Lagerfeld's comment on the recessed economy. "Now everyone is on scooters, even chic women, so we had to do the helmet," he explained. No word yet on when the helmets might be made available for sale or what their price would be, but safe to say they'll be extremely expensive.

Tags: Apple, Ateliers Ruby, AteliersRuby, Chanel, fashion show, FashionShow, French fashion, FrenchFashion, fur, helmet, iPod, Karl Lagerfeld, KarlLagerfeld, Les Ateliers Ruby, LesAteliersRuby, mink, motorcycle, Paris, Paris Fashion Week, ParisFashionWeek, Ruby, scooter

Chanel's Frothy Spring Show

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Tuesday brought another round of dazzling shows in Paris. Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel show was black and white and true to the heart of Chanel. Against a backdrop of white paper flowers including Chanel's signature camellias, models paraded by in silhouettes that were blocky but ornate with details like sequins and passementerie and topped by giant flowered confections serving as hats. The entire collection was a showcase of the intricate detail that defines haute couture. One could look at the pieces and imagine the hours of painstakingly detailed work.

Of course no Chanel experience is complete without a Karl quote. Reuters delivers another one of Lagerfeld's pronouncements on the recession. Lagerfeld's latest words reiterate the statements that he made earlier on the healing qualities of the recession. He likens the recession to "having an upset stomach from eating too many good things." His bright white and cream wardrobe of baroque simplicity is meant to be an antidote to the age of excess.

Gallery: Chanel Goes Crazy for Camelias

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Tags: chanel, karl lagerfeld, KarlLagerfeld, paris fashion week, ParisFashionWeek, spring fashion, SpringFashion

Evian Teams with Jean Paul Gaultier

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

Amidst the catwalk flurry at Paris Fashion Week, a new collaboration made its debut: Evian and Jean Paul Gaultier. In the second of its designer series (the first pairing was with Christian Lacroix), Evian announces its release of two bottles designed by the Hermès creative director.

Gaultier has fashioned the Prêt-à-Porter bottle (interlocking snowflakes, oversized lettering) and the Haute Couture bottle (only seven produced worldwide). The Prêt-à-Porter version is available for pre-order on shopevian.com at $13.95 a bottle.

Gallery: Evian