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Paris Fashion Week: Kenzo’s ‘hot ticket’ debut; Dior’s #metoo statement, ‘consent’; and Lanvin’s manifesto – past, present, always
Lanvin’s Bruno Sialelli captures the exuberance of the Swinging Twenties, while Dior’s runway show appears to make a #metoo statement, and designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista of LVMH’s Kenzo chooses an extreme setting
From left to right: Lanvin, Dior and Kenzo present their autumn/winter 2020 collections at Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France. Photos (left to right): EPA-EFE, Xinhua, AFP
All eyes at Paris Fashion Week on February 26 were on the debut of Kenzo’s new designer, who put guests attending the freezing, winter morning show inside a sweltering greenhouse. In his extreme choice of setting, Felipe Oliveira Baptista thus ensured that his collection – one that took the house in a welcome pared-down direction – was literally and metaphorically the hottest ticket of the day. Here are some highlights from the ready-to-wear 2020 shows.
Lanvin travels the decades
Lanvin delved into fashion history for an encyclopedic collection.
A model presents a creation of Lanvin's autumn/winter 2020-2021 ready-to-wear collections during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France. Photo: Xinhua
The world’s oldest continually-running couture house will always have roots in the 1920s heyday of its pioneering founder, Jeanne Lanvin. And on February 26, creative director Bruno Sialelli nicely captured the exuberance of that decade, with its dropped-hem flapper styles and decorative froth.
Lanvin's creative director Bruno Sialelli nicely captured the exuberance of the 1920s with its dropped-hem flapper styles and decorative froth. Photo: Xinhua
Bijoux de fantaisie – artisanal costume jewellery – and buttons in the shape of the Lanvin’s signature 1927 fragrance bottle were meticulous in their detail and reinforced the Swinging Twenties vibe.
Yet Siallelli only used that as a starting point as he wove in and out of styles that spanned the 20th century and beyond in a beautiful and well-executed display.
A model wears a Lanvin creation during Paris Fashion Week. Photo: EPA-EFE
Loose silk gowns and coats were defined by prints inspired by the house’s 1949 collaboration on a book featuring watercolours and expressive calligrams. While, the repeated use of checks touched on one of the big trends of 2020.
“In all, a manifesto of Lanvin. Past, present, always,” said the house in its collection notes. For once, the text was exactly right.
Dior to co-renovate the Tuileries
Dior’s runway show appeared to make a #metoo statement as “consent, consent, consent” flashed in neon lights above models who presented the latest ready-to-wear collection.
Dior also announced it is partnering with the Louvre to restore central Paris’ storied Tuileries gardens.
The Parisian house that hosted its show there on February 25 said in a statement it has provided cash for the five-year project to landscape and revamp the area that attracts some 14 million visitors annually.
Starting in April 2020, with the reopening of the northeast grove, where more than 100 trees of different species grow, the project is aimed at preserving biodiversity in the French capital.
Dior’s designer Maria Grazia Chiuri has made environmental protection and the fight against global warming a key theme in recent collections. Photo: Xinhua
Dior’s designer Maria Grazia Chiuri has made environmental protection and the fight against global warming a key theme in recent collections. Dior said: “Each of us can be an agent of change for the ecosystems of tomorrow, whether natural or cultural.”
Christian Dior presented its autumn/winter 2020 collection at Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Xinhua
Created in 1564 – and later redesigned by André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV – the Tuileries is an iconic example of the French garden that merges nature and culture.
“It is also a veritable open-air museum right in the heart of Paris,” Dior said.
Kenzo’s hot ticket
Models present creations for Kenzo at Paris Fashion Week. Photo: AFP
There has been much anticipation after Solange Knowles sang the swansong of outgoing Humberto Leon and Carol Lim last year, the design duo whose overly-busy designs had begun to suffer criticism.
Though it was not a triumph, the Portuguese-born Oliveira Baptista – who had previously revived Lacoste – put out a solid and saleable collection of men’s and women’s designs that successfully pushed the house toward a focused and minimalist mood.
Kenzo had a collection of men’s and women’s designs that successfully pushed the house toward a focused and minimalist mood. Photo: AFP
A model presents a creation for Kenzo during the Women's autumn/winter 2020-2021 ready-to-wear collection fashion show in Paris. Photo: AFP
There were flashes of creative flourish, such as a giant double-breasted tailored coat in vibrant medium blue that hung in a column surreally to the model’s ankles. It touched the billowing hem of oversized pants. Elsewhere, headwear cleverly morphed a 1950’s-style cloche hat with an Asian warrior headpiece – and provoked the clicking of guests’ cameras.
Designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista, centre, accepts applause at the conclusion of the Kenzo fashion collection at Paris Fashion Week. Photo: AP
But most of all, this was a commercially-minded collection, and showed perhaps why LVMH selected Oliveira Baptista in the first place to head one of its premier fashion maisons. When Oliveira Baptista became creative director at Lacoste in 2010 he transformed the house over the eight-year stint. LVMH may well have been impressed by the designer’s proven skill at transforming a dwindling house into a commercial runway success story.