Paris Fashion Week: Gaultier, Chisato, Westwood

It’s going to be a black and white Christmas this winter, judging by the lack of colour on the Paris catwalk on Saturday.

Fall-winter 2013-14 shows saw several houses chose a more muted colour palette — among them Viktor & Rolf, Comme des Garcons, Jean Paul Gaultier as well as Madrid-based Loewe.

Belgian designer Veronique Leroy, who also used black, added to the one of the other stories of the season: large rounded shoulders — in what was an inventive, off-kilter show which will add to her reputation as a skilful surrealist.

Predictably, the British master of unorthodoxy Vivienne Westwood bucked the trend with panache, in a display of tailored pointed shoulders.

One of the highlights of Paris’s fifth day of collections, Westwood’s show was an inventive tour de force, inspired by the rich fabrics and draped silks brought to Europe by the medieval crusaders. Japan’s Tsumori Chisato on Saturday feasted on colour at Paris fashion week while Australian Martin Grant oozed sophisticated chic in palate-cleansing black, grey and pastel pink.

With Paris fashion week due to wrap up on Wednesday, the most keenly awaited show of the second half is expected to be Hedi Slimane’s second collection for Saint Laurent on Monday.

His first show paid homage to Yves Saint Laurent but without really making his own mark.

Paris is hosting nearly 90 shows and presentations of ready-to-wear fashion for autumn/winter 2013/2014.

Jean Paul Gaultier

Clothes as body armour was the concept behind Jean Paul Gaultier’s rather dizzying Paris show.

A play on voluminous layers of leather, fur, silks, chiffon and even knits — both hanging and enveloping the body— constructed a protective silhouette over models. It all made for a varied collection with some great looks, but one that was frustratingly hard to pin down.

Graphic ’80s elements, such as Polaroid-type prints, followed a long sheer chiffon dress in eggplant with ’70s pleats. Long stripy scarves accompanied a tartan dress. And studded leather bustier tops with ’50s peplums could easily have come from another collection altogether.

Gaultier explained backstage: “It was also the idea of patchwork.”

Indeed, patchwork — the mixing up of contrasting styles or fabric — did show there was a method in the madness.

When interpreted literally, it made for one of the show’s high points: a sumptuous patchwork fur coat in panels, with a stylish cinched waist-strap. But the collection remained elusive.

Vivienne Westwood’s wearable medieval ode

The rich fabrics and draped silks brought to Europe by the medieval crusaders inspired Vivienne Westwood’s fall-winter 2013-14 tour de force.

They were interpreted with the British designer’s signature zest in Saturday’s show. Draped feminine silk silhouettes accompanied some sublime silk-wool jacquards with medieval images of birds, flowers and strawberries” as well as capes and puffed Juliette sleeves.

“I have a book of reproduced medieval illuminated manuscripts,” explained Westwood backstage, provoking smiles for some journalists.

Patterns such as rings, polka dots, interrupted lines and squares were aimed to evoke the decorative patterns on the handmade manuscript borders. But perennial eccentric Westwood, who turns 72 next month, loves mixing up her eras.

“I go back in time in order to give a projection to the future,” she said.

The anachronism included some great modern, even futurist, suits. They harked back to the fine tailoring of vintage Westwood with their tiny waists provocative peaked shoulders.

Some of the shows best looks combined both time periods: like one voluminous white knee length skirt with medieval motifs in ultramarine blue and rose pink. Another look — a knitted dress in rust and dark blue and jacket — was just plain stylish.

Without sacrificing any of her usual flamboyance, Westwood has achieved the feat of producing a supremely wearable collection.

Viktor & Rolf go black and white, with few risks

Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are taking no risks this fall-winter season.

Following the trend to de-clutter the catwalk, the Dutch duo known as Viktor & Rolf replaced their normally inventive art-infused style in Saturday’s show in Paris with simpler silhouettes and a muted palette of black and white.

“It’s a feeling of wanting to be real, a wardrobe for women to wear,” said Horsting backstage. “And slightly rebellious.”

“Slightly” was the key word here. There were some subtle nods to rebellion, like dropped waist lines and short flared minis (a clever play on peplums.)

But at times it felt like the boundary-pushing excitement that made them famous in the ’90s was in hibernation this winter. Perhaps they are tapping into their commercial potential?

A shorter silhouette with short heels on boots, which Horsting said put women “closer to earth,” worked nicely alongside the menswear tuxedoes. But dropped waists and skirts ended up elongating the torso and sometimes shortened the leg, unflatteringly.

Elsewhere, beautiful three-dimensional effects in fabric were sometimes hard to make out because of the flat black and white. They might have been better brought out with a splash of colour.

As ever, though, there were some great abstractions, like their signature bows blown up in leather smothering the torso. Embroideries nicely evoked “rips” on jeans, and featured on menswear tuxedos that made for some welcome androgyny.

Tsumori Chisato

Circular shapes and prints inspired by cascading water dominated at Chisato’s richly varied collection presented amid the splendour of a Paris hotel ballroom.

“The main story is water and the beauty and colour of a waterfall I saw,” she told AFP backstage.

Standing out among the most wearable looks were a silver grey wool coat with gold, black and plum geometric pattern and an Egyptian blue and red velvet dress and matching cape.

Martin Grant

Grant said he had experimented with silk chiffon in his collection, for which he restricted himself to a palette of winter colours - grey, black and navy - tempered with pale pink.

The collection featured sleek shift dresses and pencil skirts, offset with copious use of vertical ruffles along with full pleated trousers.

“It all starts with the fabrics,” he said.

“Lots of wool, lots of silk, double faced [fabric] and silk chiffon [which is] new for me.”

The colours, he added, were “stripped back to cleanse the palate”.