After redefining the way women dress, Phoebe Philo — Celine designer and purveyor of the new minimalism that has taken catwalks by storm — is aiming to redefine the values of the luxury industry.
Many of the supple silks and cotton fabrics that made up her clean-lined spring-summer 2011 ready-to-wear collection on Sunday were sourced from small mills in Japan and elsewhere that craft material by hand the old way.
And as if Celine didn't have enough to offer the working women of the world, Akris gave professional ladies even more to choose from with a collection of boardroom-ready looks that were just chic enough.
Givenchy delved into the dark side with a dramatic, S&M-soaked collection, while John Galliano continued to churn out the magpie looks that are unmistakably his. Galliano's show was staged in a gilded Paris theatre, and being in the audience there was like watching a lush and elaborate pantomime with the world's biggest costume budget. — AP
Celine
Celine designer Phoebe Philo's return to fashion touched off the new minimalist movement that's swept catwalks worldwide and spawned countless imitations. With Sunday's collection, the British-born designer continued to refine her pared-down aesthetic, sending out square-shaped blouses in leather and low-slung, wide-legged trousers.
A kaftan that appeared to have been made from a starched white menswear shirt and a nubby, pointy-hooded robe-dress had a rugged Berber feel, while a quilted vest seemed to look to the Mongolian highlands for inspiration.
Philo said the collection was her way of stepping back from the industrialised, urban fray.
"There was an idea of travel, nothing specific about a country or a place, but a feeling of getting away from urban and getting back to a kind of artisan's way of working," she said.
While white — the shade of choice across Paris' catwalks — and other neutrals dominated Philo's palette, there were also touches of bold colour, like a sapphire blouse paired with a leather wrap skirt in rich Bordeaux or shirts in fluttering silk that Philo said drew its inspiration from scarves.
John Galliano
The British designer sent out fetching variations on his hallmark baroque, layered silhouette: cropped trench coats cinched tight at the waist were worn over billowy harem pants in Japanese prints or multitiered chiffon skirts.
The models were all styled differently — in an apparent nod to the chameleonic appearance of the show's inspiration, con artist Maria Lani, who, according to the collection notes, "convinced over 50 leading artists of the day (including Matisse, Chagall and de Chirico) to paint her portrait" before fleeing Europe with the paintings. Some wore bird's nest wigs in what looked like cotton candy, while others had tight pigtails or slick gold-glitter dusted up hairdos.
Givenchy
Riccardo Tisci is back in touch with his id.
After taking a foray into exoticism, the king of S&M has reconnected with his darker side, sending out a leather-strap-bound collection for next summer.
Backless vests in leopard-embossed jacquard fastened around the neck and across the back with stud-encrusted straps in black leather. The vests, and boxy shaped sleeveless jackets with tails, were paired with abbreviated skirts layered under long, featherlight skirts in translucent silk.
Tisci, an Italian whose Catholic roots run deep, has often acknowledged the role religion plays in his work, and there was something about the contrast between the looks' hardcore leather and the gauzy cocoon of silk that suggested a soul in spiritual torment.
