The Avant Garde: Paris Fashion Week Part 5

Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent fans might think that this collection was too similar to the previous one, but there was too much colour for that. My next major spree will involve platform sandals, sheer tights, lame, a leather mini and probably a neck tie. Or a normal tie as a neck tie. Hedi mixed it up in the middle of an amazingly lit set, 70s with a modern twist. One word that sprang to mind was patchwork, there were fabrics thrown together that shouldn't have worked but did. There was even khaki, pinstripe and suede, with a big emphasis on LEGS. Yes, there were classic black looks that were quite YSL, but the best ones involved the mix, the miss-mash, like snakeskin paired with star print. It made me want to go to LA and spend all my time in nightclubs.

Chanel

We all knew from the invite that the show would take place in a street setting (Boulevard Chanel). I wish I could have guessed that it would involve protest, and typically KL tapped into the current political and social climate to create an army of impeccably dressed womens' rights "protestors" calling for equality. The show divided opinion, with some people online stating that in light of current issues (i.e. Hong Kong) it was inappropriate, but in my opinion, it's fashion - it's supposed to be FUN! And it was, despite the serious message. Karl always produces great theatre, the Parisian street set looked amazingly authentic (although the show took place indoors) The famous tweeds were all too apparent, but unlike any previous collection as there were boxy jackets and slouch pants, paired with multicoloured shirts peeking out between labels, totally reinventing the suit. The accessories were also typically covetable, with briefcase bags, multi toned metallic shoes and brightly coloured cuffs and bangles, even whistles for crying out loud!

We then saw more extremely colourful suits, which were most effective paired with peacock like eye makeup, and I went crazy over the technicoloured boots. The bags will fly off the shelves - we saw protest bags boasting messages such as "je ne suis pas en solde" (I'm not in the sales) and spring frenzy hippy chic shoulder bags and briefcases. Our favourite tweed jackets were cropped over shirts to create a similar silhouette to dresses shown last season. The new floral print was a triumph, especially as the lining of a trench coat. He then threw in a couple of understated khaki looks with the hippy bags.

After the extremely colourful opening, we saw a neutral mid section consisting of an array of navy, white and black pieces with metallics for added effect. They were no better or worse than the colourama that preceded, just more for the norm core crowd. The new Chanel statement belt will now overtake Moschino's cult offering. The gold shoes and accessories were another must have. Then came the Cruise like almost nautical stripes (with Gisele in camel) , some pinstripe, a new take on the white shirt, Kendall sporting a black and white fringed board dress and finally Joan Smalls and Lindsey Wixson rocking the classic monochrome. There's always so much to marvel at, so much to take in and process. I'm sure we'll be pouring over the details for a while... (I'm going to do a separate accessories post).