Schiaparelli Couture Fall/Winter 2015

By Liza Foreman

Well there is retro fashion, and then there is Elsa Schiaparelli and the joy of the house being recently revived to show beautifully designed throwback creations to the designer, for the couture season Fall/Winter 2015.

Somewhat theatrical in nature, like the designer herself, the collection was fittingly shown in a faux theater that harked back to yesteryear, and was called the Theatre D' Elsa, on the Place Vendome.

Where else, for a brand with such an illustrious history?

20s-style doorways framed the runway and posters in suitably antiquated colors hung on the walls, and matched some of those found inside the decorative folder of show notes that included old world illustrations.

The Piece En 2 Actes, or the "Ce Soir, On Jour" collection, included smatterings of the late designer's favorite color, shocking pink, found in high heeled shoes or in a floor-length flyaway gown that looked Grecian in style, like some other pieces, some of which were decorated with images from Greek-style murals.

The eccentric nature of the house could be seen throughout, from a furry waistcoat and knee-length length wooly widecut trousers, to an oversized thermal looking pink skirt decked in images of a Betty Boo style woman's head wrapped in a scarf. 

And the house drew on styles from multiple eras in history, but clothed them all with a Schiaparelli twist.

There was a wartime civilian women's suit in brown tweed patchwork, dressed up with silver detailing on the collar that worked like a riff on the decoration from a military uniform.

There were decorative capes from yesteryear and rich glittering patterned materials rich with the empire, used for dresses cinched at the waist and three-quarter length trousers that worked like period pieces but, a la Schiap, retained a sense of modernity, be it from the choice of a particularly offbeat yellow, to the fact that some of the designs were combined with, say, an OTT pink polar bear sleeveless top, giving the ensemble a sense of the quirky and irreverent.

Others, like an ostentatious looking see-through blue floor-length gown, a la Marie Antoinette, with a rich embroidered black collar reaching to the midriff and revealing a line of pure white flesh, used technology or light prints on the material.

It is a delight to see such beautiful creativity, and the reworking of such an original visionary that stays true to the house's history and still stands out today.

The looks are like rare butterflies flitting through the crowded fashion scene.

Even the descriptions provided in the show notes work like a delectable menu to warm the appetite:

"A moonstruck chiffon dress and 'in the night" biker jacket, or a midnight silk velvet dress embroidered with flowers of garden pailletes and golden volutes, or a suit made of patches of tweed embroidered with zinc pailletes," read the notes.

Versace Fall/Winter 2015 Couture

By Liza Foreman

Models with straggled locks of blond hair, crowned in pretty flower chains, like those decorating the dresses, strode down the Paris runway for Versace with a nonchalance and air of Boho glamor, for the opening night of couture week in Paris.

It was as if Saint Laurent designer Hedi Slimane had taken his California cool aesthetic on show at his menswear collections and worked with Donatella Versace, with her beautiful craftsmanship and flamboyant detailing, to create a series of luxurious dresses that had a certain free love flair.

Indeed, love was in the air. In the show notes for the collection, the designer said, "The ethereal nature of these light as air dresses reflected a woman's passions exposed."

Sometimes she was a cute lioness, and at other times a prowling tiger.

In keeping with the Versace aesthetic, these luxurious creations were sometimes floor length and flouncy and at other times slight and sexy, think dresses that revealed sensual strips of flesh.

The idea was, "A new Versace evolution. Elevated deconstruction, softness," the house said in the show notes.

They continued:

"Stripped of detail, transparent silk chiffon gowns flow from boned bodices lined in velvet, the fabric free to float as if pure air.... Lightweight chiffon layers bring softness to tailoring, especially with the drape of bell sleeves. The tailoring is punctuated by metal staples that define the silhouette....Cut-out chiffon layers create raw-edged flowers that decorate chiffon dresses in dove grey, powdery pink, faded green and lilac....Fil coupé velvet and hand-painted flowers are floating on a long gown as if destroyed, with boning lined in velvet. A string of flowers trails up to hold the dress at the neck and the head....A new sense of ease comes from an oversized embellished sweater which hangs off the shoulder, worn over a floor length embellished slip dress, held just by slender shoulder straps."

FrontRow: Issey Miyake Color For Men's Summer 2016

FrontRow: Issey Miyake Color For Men's Summer 2016: Issey Miyake Men Spring/Summer 2016 A wooden sign post reading Issey Miyake, set amid the foliage leading into the Musee de Quai Branly, s...

Issey Miyake Color For Men's Summer 2016

Issey Miyake Men Spring/Summer 2016

A wooden sign post reading Issey  Miyake, placed amid the foliage leading into the Musee de Quai Branly, set the tone for the designer's Spring/Summer 2016 menswear show in Paris on Thursday.
In the minimalist notes, the Tokyo-based studio declared that the theme was set somewhere between Tokyo and Mexico, or "two cities full of life where nature collides."

The graphics that decorated the in -part sports-inspired looks, however, were created in Japan by the photographer Yoshinori Mizutani.

They worked like old Japanese art traditions, in part.

One model walked in a purple one-piece jumpsuit of sorts that cropped in at the ankles and waist, while another wore pink socks that looked a little gentlemen, but were matched with one of the sporty looking suits with shorts and loose fitting tops that were given a refined edge through the beautiful colors and patterns that made one think of Japan's wood block artists, the ripple of a sunset or Mounti Fuji or a tsunami decorating those distinctive artworks.

Here the aesthetic was watered down and relied more on straight lines and a more graphic look, but the colors were just as powerful as those woodblock prints and made the collection pop. These outfits were paired with scarves tied around the neck, a la Mexican bandits, and bright sports shoes and some of the shirts and, in fact, the whole aesthetic looked a bit Hawaii, a place that is indeed en route from Tokyo to Mexico.

Rahul Mishra Fall/Winter 2015

By Liza Foreman

Rahul Mishra Fall/Winter 2015

From his atelier in Northern Delhi, the designer Rahul Mishra creates elaborate embroideries and other designs with the help of scores of worker bees.

But for his second Paris Fashion Week outing, he used such techniques to create wearable ready to wear pieces rather than the avant garde shapes shown in Delhi last year as part of the Be Open exhibition in which he created more unusual designs with a luxury overseas market in mind, using Indigenous crafts. Here he took it and made it something ready to wear for wherever.

The designer showed a collection that, while it drew upon Indian heritage, sometimes also looked entirely elegant and western, as was the case with a short black woolen suit or knee length narrow dress with a round collar. Both would fit right in with any sophisticated designer wardrobe.

On the other hand, there was a delicacy and use of embroidery and choice of colors on some little cute pink and cream outfits that was sometimes quite modern Indian girl setting out for distant shores.

Tones were mostly neutral with the color coming in the form of the decoration.

There were some lovely details like embroidery shown on transparent mid riff panels, mirroring sari designs showing bare skin, and sometimes more elaborate highly decorative pieces like an almost graphic style embroidered three quarter length jacket that one might see worn at a wedding. Mishra said backstage: "I always believe God lies in the detail. At the same time Paris is very chic and understated and sophisticated. This is a rare balance in a city and one I am trying to strike in my work."

Many Indian designers stay too Indian when they go overseas but Mishra is going in the right direction with these beautiful textile works.

Veronique Branquinho Fall/Winter 2015

By Liza Foreman

Veronique Branquinho Fall/Winter 2015

Most of the time these days, fashion editors complain about trekking across town for fashion week shows but sometimes the discovery of unusual interiors selected as a venue by designers makes it a pleasure.

Such was the case on Monday when Veronique Branquinho chose a vacant Hausmann style apartment tucked behind Opera that was matched by an original show.

The building came complete with ornate ceilings and dangling wires and the requisite models who walked to a surreal sound track combining classical music with booming back beats, and an eerie sounding songstress whose voice interrupted the classical flow.

And the clothes in some way mirrored the two worlds. There was at first black, black and more black peppered with patchwork pockets on a jacket in soft orange wool or a Tartan style material used for a flowing pleated skirt worn with a white blouse. And more iterations on the form. Think the soft heathers of Scotland given a romantic twist, like a rich woolen skirt in orange and black dogtooth pattern flowing to the floor.

There was also innovation, like a floor length skirt starched out into a wide hoop around the ankles representing an innovative play on traditional crinoline extended skirt forms.

And there was leather and a touch of S&M in a top that twisted across a models torso revealing white flesh beneath.

It was a beautiful, original collection drawing on romantic womanly styles of old, jazzed up with beautiful rich textiles and relying on a play with form using avant garde and sometimes mannish touches mixed with the romantic and the siren and bright pops of eye-catching colors to bring Branquinho into a design world of her own making.

FrontRow: Olympia Le-Tan Fall/Winter 2015

FrontRow: Olympia Le-Tan Fall/Winter 2015: By Liza Foreman Olympia Le-Tan Fall/Winter 2015 PARIS Wearing a silvery shoe with a slither of a high heel that elevated the arch of...