UK designers in the spotlight at Paris Fashion Week
loading...
Fashion
London - Not every UK or London-based designer feels obliged to show during London Fashion Week. For example, singer turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham hosted her Spring/Summer 2017 fashion show in New York during NYFW. So it comes as little surprised that a slew of British designers and creative directors chose to present their collections at Paris Fashion Week. But four female British designers managed to steal the spotlight away from their French counterparts with their presentation of four unique collections - Clare Waight Keller for Chloé, Phoebe Philo at Céline, Stella McCartney and Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.
Some of them managed to reflect the discussions kick off by Vogue against the rise of influencers with by showing how fashion can be fun, others took their viewers off an exquisitely crafted a dream, while others tried to showcase the uncertainty women feel towards fashion and readdress dress codes.
Clare Waight Keller, Chloé
Clare Waight Keller has spent the last 5 years living in Paris as the creative director of French fashion house Chloé and felt it was time to re-examine the Parisian dress codes of the city. 'Parisian chic' has long since become a celebrated way of dressing in numerous fashion guides and for Spring/Summer 2017, Keller aimed to capture the breezy, simple, yet stylish French essence into her collection. This resulted in a collection with clear silhouettes in a toned down, simple palette of navy, beige, cream, black and white. Billowing pleated dresses with colour blocking, high waisted black trousers cinched in at ankle and an apron-front suede dresses with large utility pockets all look sharp and modern, yet effortless Parisian chic at the same time.
Phoebe Philo, Céline
Phoebe Philo has become almost synonymous with Céline, where she has served as its creative director for 8 years. Unlike other designers who prefer to create their designs around a conceptual idea, or theme, Philo bases her designs on feelings that are linked to women’s day to day life. Therefore it can be difficult to nail down her design aesthetic or inspirations, but for Spring/Summer 2017 the collection was filled with incendiary touches, such as a white dress with a bustier in a spiderweb crochet mimicking angular breasts or a dresses featuring an Yves Klein-inspired body splotch across the front. Sandals were paired with thin, denier socks and different coloured shoes paired together. Silhouettes were loose, yet slightly exposing at the the same time showing the models figures underneath.
Stella McCartney, Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney certainly broke form this season at Paris Fashion Week by sending down an army of models down the catwalk flash mob style. The models began dancing all in line before breaking in two groups and dancing together in a fun and silly dance created for the show the night before. “I wanted to have a more emotional connection this season,” said McCartney backstage to the Guardian. She added that as a British label showing in Paris, she was keen to make sure her debut show following the UK referendum showed “love, throw our arms around everyone, make people happy”. At the same time, the dance also showcased the wearability and comfortness of her collection, which included baggy trousers, loose shirt dresses and easy jumpsuits. She also reinforced her ethical standpoint by including several animal free slogans on the back of some designs.
Sarah Burton, Alexander McQueen
Sarah Burton has been credited for remaining true to the design aesthetics of Alexander McQueen, no matter what other fashion houses or designers create. Inspired by the landscapes of the Shetland Islands, the shows venue was digitally transformed into a memory of the islands landscapes. The resulting collections featured designs influenced by the islands knitwear, Fair Isle, romantic Shetland lace, and floral motifs. However Burton and her team took these inspirations and deconstructed them for Spring/Summer 2017, presenting cropped Fair Isle sweaters whipstitched together and lace dresses with leather corsets or belts and puffy sleeves, which seemed to reference medieval gowns.
Photos: Catwalkpictures.com