Paris Fashion Week Was Surreal, & So Were The Trends
There was something intensely surreal about being in Paris last week; about leaving Milan on the heels of the news that public schools there would be shutting down because of coronavirus. It was hard to explain to friends in the U.S. — all still comfortably operating under an “it’s not that bad” mindset — the apocalyptic nature of the feeling in the air. And it was extra surreal to go to fashion shows in the midst of it, while teams dropped out right and left, and shows and presentations canceled last minute. There was even an aesthetic metaphor for the week: a woman in the front row at Chanel wearing a medical mask with white Chanel flowers on it.
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As in Milan, politics were noticeably absent from the runways in Paris. Climate change and fashion’s contributions to it were hardly addressed, and plus-size models barely had a presence. It was an odd insistence on fashion without context, rendered even more confusing by the way the designs referenced the end of the world so directly, as though designers had anticipated a dystopian week — which might just be a sign that dystopia is now just here to stay.
Our favorite looks mirrored the ambient strangeness: They were dreamy, exaggerated, apocalyptic; they reimagined gender to be at once aggressively feminine and very masculine, with sharp shoulders and feathers, bows and neckties. Colors stepped outside the usual earthy fall palette to embrace pale kiwi green, purple, and fuchsia — though the color black was heavily embraced by nearly every designer, too. Overcoats dusted the floor; capes billowed dramatically behind models. Ahead, our favorite trends that emerged from Paris Fashion Week.
Pale Green Things
Once I noticed this color — which is somewhere between kiwi and lime — on the runways, I saw it everywhere. It’s a welcome burst of juiciness in what is generally a season of dark, muted colors. At the Acne showroom, pale green velvet and brocade was used to evoke the feeling of reused fabrics; Saks Potts’ presentation in a parking garage featured a pale lime green coat with matching knee-high boots; one of the planets that Marine Serre imagined for her runway featured the color in tattered dresses and shoes; Off-White featured it in a boiler suit and as a track jacket atop a white ball gown; even Chanel added the color to its classic palette.
Marine SerrePhotography by Etienne Tordoir.Acne StudiosPhoto Courtesy of Acne Studios.Saks PottsPhoto Courtesy of Saks Potts.Off-White™Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.ChanelPhoto by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.Fringe Forever
Ah, fringe. There was absolutely nothing as ubiquitous this entire month as the presence of fringe swaying jauntily or bouncing aggressively, depending on the designer, and it was no surprise to see that it carried over from Milan to Paris. Swaying in white from a black top at Givenchy; covering a sparkly black coat Rochas; underneath neon “CONSENT” signs at Dior, and more, the Western-turned-futuristic dangly fabric detail will definitely be inescapable in *checks calendar* approximately six months time.
DiorPhoto by Victor Boyko/Getty Images.GivenchyPhoto by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.RochasPhoto by Kristy Sparow/Getty Images.The Biggest Bags
Yes, there were teeny tiny adorable little bags on the runway, but they were nothing compared to the welcome drama of the oversized bags. Nanushka turned out a large vegan leather bag that looked like a giant croissant (or maybe I was just hungry?); enormous foldover bags were cradled under arms at Off-White; and large totes swung around at Balmain. One does wonder why fashion thinks handbags should either be microscopic or supersized, but, at any rate, this trend is going to make packing in style much easier for September fashion month.
NanushkaPhoto Courtesy of Nanushka.Off-White™Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.BalmainPhoto by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images.Beautiful Bows
Ok, I’m just going to level with you. I live for a good bow moment. So you can imagine my delight when they appeared on so many runways in Paris, referencing the upper-echelons of the ‘70s at Celine; ranging from silky and soft to stiff and proper at Elie Saab; and tied in ponytails at Chanel. What’s so great about bows is that they can look tomboyish, tied around the neck, and they can also look extremely feminine, billowing and oversized. Bows have no gender, and they are every gender. Is it fall yet?
CelinePhoto by Peter White/Getty Images.ChanelPhoto by Victor Boyko/Getty Images.Elie SaabPhoto by Kristy Sparow/Getty Images.End-Of-The-World Wear
If the world was really, truly ending, would you worry about what to wear for it? That was the question many designers seemed to be posing to us in Paris. At Marine Serre, a post-apocalyptic, multi-planetary backdrop had models in outfits to deflect moonlight and time travel; at Balenciaga, they walked on water in long layers of black; at Balmain, liquid silk brown capes billowed behind models that looked like they were dressed for battle on the desert planet. It was sci-fi fashion at its finest, allowing showgoers to, even if just for a moment, think about what the future holds for events like these.
Marine SerrePhotography by Etienne Tordoir.BalenciagaPhoto by Estrop/Getty Images.BalmainPhoto: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images.
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