Three Days Into Paris Fashion Week - Brights or Neutrals?
Fri 25 Jun
We’re three days into Paris, and thus far, it seems like the offerings are divided into two camps: neutral-toned and bold and electric.
Hed Mayner is firmly in the former camp. This SS22 collection was fantastic. His now-signature paper bag waist trousers returned in various iterations, neck protecting hats (much like we saw at Prada this season) were gilded and noble. At the same time, broad-shouldered jackets were light and longline to the extreme.
Hed Mayner SS22
Longline silhouettes seem to be a hit thus far in fashion week; while many have been baring the body, others have been draping atop it. Showing during Paris this season, Burberry combined both ideas into a semi-monastic, semi Mad Max collection. Piercings and cut-away halterneck vests brought the sex appeal, while Rorshtard test tees and draping layers rooted the collection with a protective quality. Rick Owens, of course, brought long, swathing fabrics to his waterfront runway but peeled back the hot pink metallics and iridescent tones of previous seasons for a more muted feel.
Nicolas di Felice‘s precollection show for Courreges introduced menswear for the brand and was a 70s space-age fantasy with light flares, even more cut-outs and baker boy caps. It was form-fitting, had sex appeal to boot and felt surprisingly akin to the Coperni aesthetic. Coperni themselves had taken a deep dive into the world of colour with their pre-collection. Hot pinks, bright blues and floral and cow prints appeared on their signature body-hugging styles with great success.
Colour went wild at Louis Vuitton too. Virgil Abloh had been playing with bold greens, checkerboard prints, cloud prints, butterfly motifs, contrast stitching - it featured tenfold. The collection paid homage to the concept of passing on something from one person to another, which is why some pieces, rather brilliantly, felt almost like a memory box reincarnate. There was a nod to ‘Amen Break’, an iconic baseline, through metal music insignia, rave flyer prints, band slogans and casting (Goldie and Lupe Fiasco, to name a few.) It was unfiltered, energetically chaotic, but brilliantly so.
Virgil Abloh's Louis Vuitton SS22
It seems, so far, that brands are deciphering how best to tread as we eke out of pandemic times. Neutrals are safer, easier to fall back on for buyers if times turn sour, while bright, engaging tones seem to throw caution to the wind, asking shoppers and retailers to take a chance on hope. Will the last few days, Paris incite similar ideas? Let’s see.