Haider Ackermann Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Haider Ackermann keeps surprising and spoiling his audience with beautiful, strong collections where he folds and twists leather as if it was chiffon and where he creates a poetic atmosphere with his sensual but strong layered mix.

Ackermann toughened up his collection with stiffer fabrics – wool, leather – and added softness with silk and satin for tops and cutout, buttersoft leather for long dresses. Main colors were brown, black and (silver)gray.

The accent was at the waist, tailored jackets formed the basis of the collection. He played with zipped and unzipped parts of jackets and tops which he folded and twisted until they looked like the curls of chocolate-shavings.

Still he maintained that slim, long silhouette although there were some shiny, straight outfits without any curve that looked rather new. It looks like Ackermann is exploring new ways of playing his game of texture and density.

Yohji Yamamoto Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Fleece blankets had to be handed out to the audience at the Yohji Yamamoto show. There was no heat in the venue. After Yamamoto filed for bankruptcy protection in October many stores had to be closed. So maybe Yamamoto had to cut down on his heat expenses. Fortunately his fall collection soon made people forget about the cold.

Yamamoto showed a fine collection of navy, black and ivory pieces. He designed lots of sober asymmetrical coats and pinafore dresses. Pleated and netting fabrics were used a lot.

Due to the colors and the oversized shapes not a lot of the designs felt very feminine, yet they all had something special.

The coats in this collection will probably sell the best. And since there were a lot of them Yamamoto needn’t worry about the future of his brand. With more collections like this the Japanese brand will surely survive.

Maison Martin Margiela Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

That was a good old Margiela-show: held in an empty industrial complex, seated in second hand chairs, drinking cheap wine and watching a collection with all the elements Margiela is known for. Mixing expectations, menswear and womenswear, exaggeration and extreme tailoring.

The pressrelease called it A new definition of the men’s wardrobe’ and ‘Menswear morphs into womenswear’. The result was a pretty sophisticated collection, with precise cut and impeccable finishing.

Sleeves of perfect cut jackets were blown up, waistlines of skirts and pants were floating as if the model had no waist and hips. Instead it gave her the straight silhouette of a man. Silk chiffon layers suggested lightness and distinction, especially when worn with rough knitted wool cardigans or big furry jackets and hats.

Typical men’s artefacts were blown up to become women’s jewellery: cufflinks turned into bracelets and rings, watchbands became maxi-belts, keyrings changed into necklaces. And the famous white Margiela box morphed into a new clutch-box.

It was good to see the team behind the Maison is back on the track after the designer Martin Margiela left. Although the concept of the show looked familiar. Let’s hope they will get ahead of us soon.

Lanvin Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

You can see in every detail of Alber Elbaz’ designs for Lanvin that he loves his job, but – above all – that he loves women and that he understands their way of dealing with clothes. No difficult shapes or silhouettes, but flattering dresses, sporty & elegant jumpsuits and classy but also modern skirtsuits. His fall winter collection was inspired by tribal cultures, it was in the dark and earthy colors, the accessories, the feathers and furry details, the black hair and in the shoes.

Elbaz doesn’t dictate his clients what to wear, he suggests and gives them the freedom to add big, chunky accessories and ultra high heels. He gives them the tools, like fierce dresses with ultra-wide coat-shoulders, dresses with one arm cut-away in red and pine-green, big coats, pleated skirts and a sensual suits – the women make it their own.

Maybe that’s why the stage – a stairway to heaven – was so symbolic. Once you wear a Lanvin, it really feels like heaven.

Vivienne Westwood Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, the Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beansteak were Westwood’s inspiration for her Prince Charming (fall) collection. Her models wore large colorful crowns, hats and cloaks. Their lips were bright red, their eyes were dark and some models had small mustaches painted on their faces. Very fairy tale-like indeed.

Like children love fairy tales they would have loved this colorful collection. The brightest pieces (in purple, red, mustard yellow and blue) were combined together. Colored leggings, belts, enormous hats and big bags completed the looks. Every item seemed to add more fun to the collection. Yet, apart from a pair of printed black and gold leggings, we probably wouldn’t leave the house soon in any of the designs. The shapes just looked too crazy and many items didn’t look finished.

The emphasized shoulders and the voluminous dresses were two great aspects of the show. Towards the end a white dress with floral prints and a light-colored waist belt looked lovely. An orange/pink gown felt like French couture and would also look perfect on the Sleeping Beauty (plus sleeping is probably the best thing to do in a delicate dress like that).

As in this year’s menswear shows Vivienne Westwood paid some attention to climate change. According to her climate change is, at the moment, the context of everything she does. ‘Like everyone who has woken up to the fact that we are endangered species I try to do something about it. And I wish to understand the world’, she said. Still, apart from a water bottle with the message ‘Stop climate change’ on our seats the problem wasn’t visible during the show.

With this collection Westwood showed a good game of dressing up. But although we knew the inspiration (fairy tales) of the show we didn’t get the one model that seemed to be calling on her cell. We also didn’t understand the dress full of paper streamer. As far as we’re concerned that dress was never worn in any fairy tale. So when we heard ‘If you could read my mind love’ at the end of the show we actually wanted to read Vivienne’s. Caus some parts of the show we just didn’t get.

Christian Dior Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

The fall/wintercollection of Christian Dior was a polished version of the haute coutureshow, where the Libertines were John Galliano’s inspiration. Again tough riding-clothes were mixed with more romantic dresses, tops and skirts. It was a well done clash of the historical masculine and feminine, something John Galliano likes the most.The result was sensual and sophisticated without screaming too loud.

He opened the show with a brown leather coat over a ruffled, chiffon dress- romantic at its best. But there were also tailored coats, ruffled dresses in perforated leather, checked jackets and jodhpurs. This seasons hot items – the big knitted sweater and cardigan – were also present, yet with sensual, lingerie-like details like ribbons and lace.

Balenciaga Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

The Balenciaga collection we saw today may not have been the most wearable one. Yet we must give Ghesquière some credits for the experimenting he did.

His computer-age inspired clothes were rounded and stiff at the same time. The padded architectural coats added a lot of volume to the collection, especially the ones with the wings on the back. Different materials altered each other in the designs like patchworks. Some were shiny other matte. The skirts were short, the pants tight.

Some outfits looked familiar, but they were always different from what Ghesquière’s has done before. For example the clothes with the colored stripes (pale blue, tangerine, brown, and aqua) showed some resemblance to Balenciaga’s last show. Only this time the colors were less bright (more pastel) than the ones Patricia van der Vliet and Mirte Maas wore in the ad for Balenciaga’s summer campaign. (The two Dutch girls did walk in today’s show, by the way.)

We thought the coats with wings on the back and the dresses with the multi-font slogans were very renewing and fit in with the scientific, computer- age collection just fine. It is with such pieces that Ghesquière’s showed how a designer can push his fashion boundaries while staying true to the values of his brand.

Gareth Pugh Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

Gareth Pugh may have used a softer approach for his fall/winter collection, his models – with black sprayed foreheads – looked as Gothic as they ever did. They wore heavy, stiff, leather designs and some transparent pieces. Many clothes were pointy to the sides and a lot of the fabrics had frayed ends.

Strong were the women on the runway, dressed in Pugh’s long silhouette accentuating pieces. They looked quite the opposite of some of the male models, who were dressed in tight pants and a rigging or a tank top.

Many of the clothes touched the floor as the models walked the runway. Especially the wide legged male pants were floor-sweeping.

A lot of attention went out to the collars of the designs. They came in many variations (pointed, standing, folded) and looked out of the ordinary.

The show pieces in Pugh’s finale must have weighed a few pounds extra while they had lots of gray chains attached to them. We didn’t immediately jump off our seats when we saw those, but they sure fit perfectly with the Gothic feeling of the show.

Rochas Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

The Goldie Hawn movie ‘Cactus Flower’ from 1969 was the inspiration for Marco Zaninin’s third collection for Rochas. And so we could tell. Most of the outfits could have come straight from Goldie’s wardrobe for that movie..

The clothes were colorful, very retro and as Zanini put it himself: ‘smiley and joyful’. Every look, with unexpected combinations of shades and fabrics, made us more excited.  And suddenly a turquoise skirt, a yellow lace top, a gray coat, a purple ribbon bow and deep red gloves didn’t look all that bad together. Woolen cardigans with elbow patches formed a good mix with small belts and long gloves as well.

Everything had a great sixties/seventies vibe:

The golden lame, used for some pants, dresses, skirts and tunics.
The pink, brown and beige color combinations.
The ruffled collars and wide sleeves.
The metallic fabrics.
The pant suits
The tunics
The cropped pants.
And not to mention the model’s big hairdo’s!

This Rochas collection might have been very diverse, yet Zanini’s craftsmanship held all pieces together perfectly.

Dries van Noten Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2010

It was a different setting and a different collection at Dries van Noten. Especially after his colorful mix & match of east & west this spring, and the show he held in an empty and  stripped bank. His casual/elegant fall/winter collection was presented in one of the gilded salons of the Hotel de Ville. Malcolm Mclaren did the soundtrack: sweet and classical with angry singing.

Army green became elegant and feminine when used in tailored skirts, pants and sleeveless trench-like coats. Gray popped up in tailored jackets, big sweaters and dresses. The hourglass silhouette was also present here, thanks to the  full skirts.

The realist floral prints (in red, blue and green), men’s inspired jackets and animal prints gave it just that rebel feeling. But also because it looked like these women just put their outfit together without thinking too much about the effect and result. This was how they felt and how sthey wanted to look.

Beautiful. Casual. Sensual. Original. Femine.

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