Quirky touches infused the menswear runways in Paris Fashion Week on Friday, while Givenchy got serious, reviving its long-neglected couture roots.
Fashion attendee Courtney Love, meanwhile, spoke about being ambushed in a strike over Uber at Charles de Gaulle airport.
Givenchy’s unexpected return to couture
It was a normal enough start for Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci.
Sharp long tailored suit jackets were followed by embellished basketball-style T-shirts, denim and a sprinkling of cobalt blue coats.
The ubiquitous gothic stars, giant mysterious key-shaped pendants, images of the crucifixion, and Roman-style layered skirts — were also designs expected from a serial provocateur like Catholic Tisci.
But what made fashion insiders gasp in this very unexpected show was the unforgettable image of Naomi Campbell strutting the boards in her underwear in a glittering black couture jacket.
The look came alongside a diaphanous, feathered couture gown in pale yellow, and, elsewhere, fastidiously constructed white baroque fringing that had people grasping for their cameras.
It’s been years since Givenchy has showcased its couture on the catwalk. Fashion insiders applauded this comeback for the age-old couture masters.
Courtney Love talks Uber-gate
Love, Kurt Cobain’s widow, created a social media storm on Thursday when she tweeted that she had her car set upon by striking taxi drivers as part of an Uber-related protest after arriving at Paris’ main airport for Fashion Week. “Paid some guys on motorcycles to sneak us out, got chased by a mob of taxi drivers who threw rocks, passed two police and they did nothing,” she tweeted.
The former Hole singer, who wore a revealing black Givenchy dress on Friday in her first public appearance since the debacle, said: “It was horrible. It was scary. The Uber strike was nutty. As a tourist coming in to the airport it’s a lot to handle.”
“We were literally held against our will for two hours. Not as serious hostages. But it was scary,” she said.
She also said that she was “unaware” of the power of social media, and was shocked to see her tweet make its way across global media and become one of Thursday’s top world news stories.
Maison Margiela’s peeled rubber
The setting of a former train repair depot was a playful metaphor for Maison Margiela, a house which, after all, built its name on dissecting and reassembling bric-a-brac.
In Friday’s creative show there were hints of this “recycling” tradition.
Collage-like singlets and long swinging coats were, the programme notes said, made from industrial rubber that was first moulded onto mannequins, walls, and other clothes, then peeled off when dry, with the underlying material sticking onto it.
But the collection played it safe overall.
Classic suits with long proportions were worn on a bare chest, and a glittery bronze tuxedo with large retro lapels mixed in a dash of the seventies.
Given it’s a change of direction for the house, the collection left some wondering why the creative envelope — now under the stewardship of John Galliano — was not pushed more.
Kris Jenner makes appearance on her own
Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner rocked up to the Givenchy show without her son-in-law, Kanye West, for company.
Fifty-nine-year-old Jenner held her own and rocked a black Givenchy look, with slicked back hair and shades, and mingled with Love.
West had been in town Thursday to attend Paris Fashion Week, but skipped the Givenchy show — where he is a regular fixture — because he had left for England to perform in the Glastonbury music festival.
His wife, Kim, met up with him there.
Juun J. experiments
It was fun, creative chaos for Korean designer Juun J. who showed off back-to-front tops, trompe l’oeil unfurling zippers and oversized sweaters in his strong spring-summer collection that riffed on the eighties.
The playful looks felt quirky and fresh.
A pinstripe suit was twinned with voluminous denim jeans that sported a cool unfurled zipper section that looked like the model had left home in a hurry.
A baggy denim shirt sported a high collar, making it look back-to-front, continued this nice, hurriedly-dressed idea.
The best look in the show was a baggy, oversized Breton striped sweater. At first glance, the meandering lines on the front made it look like the sweater was creased, but it was in fact a trompe l’oeil effect and the sweater was as straight as Fashion Week is long.
Berluti’s colour vision
It was the most colour-rich display seen so far this season, courtesy of Berluti.
The house — a bootmaker since 1895 — branched out into clothes last year under the watchful eye of LVMH-owner Bernard Arnault’s powerful son, Antoine, who is CEO.
And it’s making a visual impact already — their collections are certainly not for the colour-shy.
On Friday, apple and earth green met joyously with raw Sienna, bright yellow, and vivid blues in loose Dandy jackets, high-waisted pants and insouciant baggy boho shirts.
The setting — inside the 17th century manor, the Hotel Sale, that houses the Picasso Museum — set off this colour-rich Dandy musing to a tee.
