Paris Fashion Week: Zoolander steals the show
Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson take to the runway as Derek Zoolander and Hansel as the finale of Valentino’s show at Paris Fashion Week (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
A surprise turn by Ben Stiller’s “really, really good looking” character got much more media attention than the clothes at Paris Fashion Week. But there was plenty of fun in the collections themselves, writes Susie Lau.
In the final three days of Paris Fashion Week, it always feels like every show has to count somehow and become a ‘moment’ because there are fewer shows and every one of them is a biggie. You go into every one of them with high expectations expecting a season-shifting collection, one to remember.
Autumn/Winter 15-16 has –given us plenty of inspiring ideas for editors to shoot, for buyers to snap up and for High Street retailers to filter down to the masses. But the biggest takeaway this season has been the anything-goes approach towards collections. You want it? You got it. Choices, choices, choices. When the stakes are so high at these big big houses, a sweeping seasonal statement will certainly be sacrificed in favour of options and a mix and match garderobe.
Walk on, walk off
Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli’s collection for Valentino evoked a sense of timeless beauty (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Who knew that the announcement of a sequel to a film would steal the moment of the fashion month? Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson staged a ‘walk off’ as the finale to a superb Valentino collection and pushed social media into overdrive.
That puts fashion into perspective for you: dissection and analysis of the collections don’t have nearly as much impact as the Blue Steel pose. And yet, Zoolander is a film about fashion, poking fun at its cliches – petulant malnourished models, tantrum-throwing designers and corporate capitalism. The industry loves it because fashion can poke fun at itself too. Valentino promotes beautiful craftsmanship, exquisite clothes and timeless beauty – and with these solid foundations designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli can have a laugh too. “Why not?” was Chiuri’s answer when asked why they decided to announce the film in their show.
It turns out the filming of Zoolander 2 is taking place in Rome, where Valentino is based. The connection will seem tenuous to most, but as a hilarious counter balance to the serious and studied demi-couture of this Italian house, the LOL-inducing finale worked.
Fun in fashion
There was a strong ‘80s tinge to Miuccia Prada’s collection for Miu Miu (Jacques Brinon/AP Photo)
Valentino weren’t the only ones having a giggle at fashion week. Other designers have relaxed on the idea that their collection should be a profound intellectual statement. Instead they turn to desirable clothes that shimmer (literally and metaphorically), catch your eye and speak to your desires. Nicolas Ghesquière might have placed us in futuristic pods built on the grounds of the Louis Vuitton Foundation, rigged up with surveillance screens and a drone flying overhead. But the clothes had nothing to do with being watched by Big Brother.
Giant fluffy coats, jellyfish chinoiserie embroidery, sequinned minis, lace slips, shiny suits and puff-sleeved blouses made up a heady pick ‘n’ mix. This was punctuated by monogrammed vanity cases and pointy flat boots. Ghesquière seemed to be offering this magpie mix as a way of saying “Choose what you like!” Miuccia Prada was doing the same with her Miu Miu show, which closed the season on the last day.
“Fun and FASHION,” were her key words after the show. The ‘80s tinges spoke of an era when FASHION was dubious to some, but the fun was there at least in the ruffles, puffs and zany prints. Mrs Prada mixed these up with ‘50s wiggle skirts and little kittenish heels with ‘60s mock-croc coats. The combination was delicious and again, invited customers in to ask for “One of those, and one of those please.” The good-time girl is always present at Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent. She stays out all night in ripped fishnets, biker jackets, mini crinis and asymmetrical leather dresses from which a breast might accidentally pop out.
She hangs out with bands or she’s in the band and while the clothes don’t push fashion forward, they do chime in with a specific spirit that certain women will always find evocative.
Designer Karl Lagerfeld appears on the runway during the Chanel show, staged in a brasserie constructed in the Grand Palais (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Karl Lagerfeld has shown a fascination with French ritual in his last few collections for Chanel, from his hyper-hypermarche to the controversial faux protest of last season. We were in for a gentler treat though where clothing took centre stage as Lagerfeld welcomed us to Brasserie Gabrielle – an ode to the thoroughly French eatery that graces every street corner in Paris, from Lipp to La Coupole. His models milled around this giant French restaurant, perusing newspapers and quaffing coffees and orange juice.
A smorgasbord of tweed appeared bien sûr but mashed up with futuristic textiles like bow-studded quilted puffer jackets and the odd kitsch entity like plate-shaped clutches and apron skirts to mimic waiter garçons.
The models lingered at their tables long after Lagerfeld had taken his bow, giving the audience the opportunity to get up close with the clothes. They’re fine and beautiful as always, but in this ‘intimate’ setting (well as intimate as a brasserie in Grand Palais can get), we got to grips with the ingredients of Lagerfeld’s Chanel. Julie de Libran is finding her feet at Sonia Rykiel with a Parisian trope and one closely associated with the house – the Left Bank intellectual.
She dressed this Rive Gauche wild child in mirrored leathers, cosy knits and bohemian velvet. An eclectic casting that included the likes of Georgia May Jagger, Lottie Moss (half sister of Kate) and Ella Richards, who strutted about with a je ne sais quoi attitude, was a reminder that French style need not be reserved just for the French.
