Paris Fashion Week: The next Prada or Chanel? Five labels to watch out for

Despite fashion’s obsession with novelty, it can be hard to break away from a favourite label and dip a toe into the stream of fresh young talent.

“It’s like trying to buy a new book,” says Rok Hwang, whose London-based label Rokh will show at Paris Fashion Week on Monday. “You want a similar genre but a different author.”

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Fortunately for those who tend to stick to established names, a number of new designers have adopted an approach or aesthetics reminiscent of beloved fashion fixtures. Here are five such designers to watch at Paris Fashion Week.

If you love (old) Céline and Prada’s intellectual designs, check out… Rokh

Hwang describes Rokh’s artful deconstruction of the classic wardrobe as representative of his generation, “where there is edginess and youth, but also challenges in construction, cuts, details and fit.”

The South Korean designer came to London after a childhood spent in Austin, Texas, where his economist father had relocated the family.

After graduating from Central Saint Martins with a bachelor’s in menswear and a master’s in womenswear, he was hand-picked by British fashion designer Phoebe Philo, then at Céline, to join the brand.

Hwang is all about challenging boundaries. He offers collections of intellectual heft that are yet highly wearable, with an honesty reminiscent of both Philo and Miuccia Prada.

“What I try to do is speak to my generation, to be honest about what I do. It has to be desirable and coherent to the woman who is living now,” he says.

For his Paris debut, expect more of his carefully constructed designs made with movement and mutability in mind: trousers that unsnap into a flare at a seam, a skirt that unfurls around the legs, double-placket shirts, silk blouses with trailing sleeves, and his witty “file folder” multi-pocketed bag.

Such designs garnered the brand its 2018 LVMH Special Prize only three short seasons after its 2017 launch. 

If you love Margiela’s ennobling of the mundane, check out… Koché

Parisian label Koché held its inaugural 2015 fashion show in an underground atrium at Châtelet-les-Halles, the busiest subway interconnection in Paris. Since then, the label has drawn attention for its fearless blending of high fashion and street-worthy relatability imagined by French designer Christelle Kocher, who moonlights as artistic director for Chanel-owned plumassier Maison Lemarié.

In the space of four years, Kocher has been both an LVMH Prize finalist and accessories jury president at the Hyères fashion festival. The manner in which she juxtaposes artisanal excellence and pedestrian materials such as rescued flags, football jerseys and hardy cottons will draw in those who are looking for the spirit of a young Margiela.

For her show on Tuesday, expect arte povera patchworks, sporty hybrids and a heady dose of today’s femininity, as well as an unusual venue away from fashion’s beaten track.

If you love Chanel’s Métiers d’Art, check out… Mame

Growing up in the picturesque mountain region around Nagano prefecture in Japan awoke Maiko Kurogouchi to the beauty of nature and artisanal crafts. However, it wasn’t until she read a newspaper article about the legendary Japanese designer Issey Miyake – whose studio she would join after graduating from Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo – that she understood that fashion would be her professional path.

Acutely aware that Japan’s rich arts and crafts heritage is at risk of dying out, she decided to strike out on her own with her label Mame, founded in 2010, where she uses this precious know-how to create highly desirable, timeless yet contemporary collections.

“I really respect traditional attire but I’m a fashion designer. So I wanted to use [heritage techniques] to make garments that I would wear, something that can be worn in any situation,” she explained.

Kurogouchi may not have the ability of Chanel’s Paraffection subsidiary to rescue ailing artisanal factories quite yet. But her third Paris presentation, albeit off-schedule, will showcase more of her elegant, timeless garments, this time inspired by the delicate blue and white ceramics that originate from the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.

If you love Marni’s kooky elegance, check out… Awake

The acronym Awake stands for “All Wonderful Adventures Kindle Enthusiasm”, and for founder Natalia Alaverdian, an adventure is exactly what each season is.

The London-based designer, who is part Armenian, was born in Russia and raised in Belgium. She has been honing her magpie sensibilities since childhood, when she would spend hours poring over history books or immersing herself in fantasy worlds. She travels regularly between Paris, where she showed last season, and London, where her autumn 2019 collection was shown.

Her label is a maximalist’s take on an elegant, forward-thinking wardrobe – view it as a zany successor to Marni. Her classicism is infused with a dash of subversion – usually through careful constructions, but sometimes with a blatantly bare chest – that give flamboyance to otherwise pragmatic wardrobe choices.

This has proven an inspired choice: Awake has been shortlisted for this year’s British Vogue/BFC Fashion Fund, which recognises the country’s most innovative designers.

If you love Sacai’s splicing experiments, check out… Y/Project

Belgian designer Glenn Martens picked up the creative mantle at Y/Project in 2013, when founder Yohan Serfaty died. He has since transformed it from a fledgling menswear brand into a hot commodity for men and women alike which won the Andam fashion award in 2017, is regularly worn by Beyoncé, and collaborates with brands such as UGG and Diesel.

Its off-kilter mash-up of eras and subcultures sounds awkward, yet is anything but. Highlights of past seasons included double-layered tracksuits; jeans with saucy V-shaped décolletage at the waistband; surrealistically long legs and sleeves that button on themselves and wrinkle like a Shar-Pei dog; and oversized boxy tailoring.

While Martens captures the waves of the moment – such as his casual disregard for gender boundaries – his designs have a certain trend-proof bravura that will bestow longevity to the brand in the manner of Sacai.