Paris fashion week report:Colorful and creative, with a handcrafted feel
MANILA, Philippines - YStyle highlights the latest from the fall-winter 2012-2013 shows.
Olympia Le-Tan
There were books in Paris’ Musée Nissim de Canondo, encased in glass or strewn on couches. The books, upon closer inspection, were clutches: Olympia Le-Tan’s F/W purse collections with titles like Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence and This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Downstairs in the kitchen a burlesque show featuring the designer’s first clothing collection was taking place. Bettie Page-esque models, replete with the hair and curves, were dressed in OLT cardigans and knee length skirts: reinterpreted preppy classics. They stripped to their underwear amid the househelp cast and the audience.
Augustin Teboul at L’Eclaireur
All black and with details that looked like cobwebs, the Augustin Teboul collection in L’Eclaireur was the brand’s official launch in the Paris ready-to-wear scene. Annelie Augustin and Odély Teboul, who first showed their collections in Berlin, teamed up with photographer Stefan Milev to create limited-edition wall plates. An installation in which Swarovski crystals engulfed the space focused one of the duo’s black creations in the center of the floor. Other outfits included macramé and lace with handwoven details and leather jackets.
Amaya Arzuaga
The Amaya Arzuaga show displayed the designer’s talent for soft pleating and details of craftsmanship that highlighted the body, including pseudo-cracked forms on fabric. The sleekest outfits were an all black ensemble with a slash of leather at the waist and a gray dress with little wing-shapes at the waist and hips. Other emphases on the hips included a gray pair of pants with a cuff at the bottom, sleek and sexy, with its matching blouse showing just an inch of peek-a-boo skin at the waist. Slim and boxy, the two silhouettes in the collection aimed to frame and focus on the figure.
Manish Arora
Bright graffiti that said “Life is Beautiful” was the backdrop of the collection, which utilized leaflike pieces and flowers on ensembles and made for a tactile experience. Prints of lips gave a feminine noir feel, as did ballooning skirts with tulle underneath. Like a mad surrealist ‘50s trip, the collection felt pretty, with a wow-inducing final look replete with holographic-like skirt and a floral applique chiffon top.
Lie Sang Bong
Pod-like forms decorated the outfits of Lie Sang Bong’s collection, clustering together like bacteria on leather and chiffon. It adorned jackets, dresses, skirts; the same shape masked the models’ faces in a dark gray. The Korean designer patched coats and dresses in neutral colors with shapes that took off from the pods, on shoulders and lapels. He went further to construct shapes on multi-colored dresses and added a 3D dimensionality with blouson jackets and a swishy skirt. The models walked like giant dolls in a futuristic vision.
Bernard Wilhelm
One of the show’s themes was transit, and the word transit was written on several pieces in the collection. Thin rope-like edges unfurled from knitted sweaters or hung from tops and skirts down to the floor. Colors were orange, blue, red, white and fuchsia with the occasional yellow. Like an arty painting inspired from streetwear, the collection also included tribal prints and animal and jungle-inspired prints. Loose shapes gave the feeling that these were ensembles one could move freely in.
Allude
In deep rust, bright orange and brick red, the Allude woman looked ready to walk the world in her lean fringed coats and blanket-like knits. With a bit of shine on thin necktie scarves or a cloche to hide her hair, she could as easily transform into a ‘70s hippie for a night on the town. Zigzag on a gold dress or on printed tights hinted at something more than a clothed-up Ms Prim, as did the sliced patches on a bright fuchsia ensemble.
