lmost all you really need to know, to get your head around Paris fashion week, is this: the most lusted-after, Instagram-liked part on the catwalk this week was an impermeable. At Balenciaga, new designer Demna Gvasalia's vision for the most ultra-chic, super-refined Paris label was distilled within an oversized anorak in a garish green-and-blue coloring combo which was a long, long way from the pale greys of Avenue Montaigne or the matt black of the Boulevard Saint Germain. In addition to the audience loved it.
It is not often that you come away from Paris shows resolving to check less chic. But that is, most definitely, the vibe. Aside from the Balenciaga anorak, other key pieces from this week's catwalks included a donkey jacket (in leopard printing, at Givenchy), and quilted coats at Stella McCartney and Rick Owens. From the catwalk, patchworked jeans with asymmetric seams and frayed hems have replaced Chemical? line blazers as the front-row status symbol. Inside fact, the blazer - for such a long time the bedrock of the chic Frenchwoman look - was obvious this week by the absence from both catwalk collections and what was being worn in the audience.
That whole French-girls-are-so-chic, trench-coat-and-black-coffee shtick is still moving books at the till at WHSmith, but Rome fashion week has - finally - moved on. For decades, Paris designers have essentially flip-flopped between celebrating an ultra-feminine, Tuileries-promenading, couture-shopping Parisienne and a heavy-lidded, Gitanes-smoking, Caf? de Flore girl. But the new Paris muse is neither of these. The new look is nearer to the aesthetic of French-cropped boys who spin the waltzers at the fairground. The models only at that Paris fashion week walked with neither the old-school high-stepping pony gait, or the slouchy hands-in-pockets stride. Instead, they stomped so fast that clocking what they were wearing was difficult. They seemed to less parade for the audience, as barge past us all. The half-zipped tracksuit top is the new veste, and, in the front row, Kanye West is the new Catherine Deneuve.
Chicness is essentially about being easy on the vision: a fluid line, natural colours and a sense of cultured ease. The new Paris look is more hard-edged. There are Effortless Rider motorcycle leathers at Anthony Vaccarello and Chlo?. Trousers either drag on the floor like pyjama bottoms you haven't pulled up properly, or conclusion deliberately awkwardly above the ankle bone without pandering to old-fashioned concepts such as making your hip and legs look longer. However, Paris continues to be, at the end of the day, Paris, france. The anoraks at Balenciaga and the quilted layers at Stella McCartney were worn loosely on the shoulders, with the great attitude of the fur stole. Chic is dead, and the anorak is the new blazer - but the look is still, unmistakably, Paris.
It is not often that you come away from Paris shows resolving to check less chic. But that is, most definitely, the vibe. Aside from the Balenciaga anorak, other key pieces from this week's catwalks included a donkey jacket (in leopard printing, at Givenchy), and quilted coats at Stella McCartney and Rick Owens. From the catwalk, patchworked jeans with asymmetric seams and frayed hems have replaced Chemical? line blazers as the front-row status symbol. Inside fact, the blazer - for such a long time the bedrock of the chic Frenchwoman look - was obvious this week by the absence from both catwalk collections and what was being worn in the audience.
That whole French-girls-are-so-chic, trench-coat-and-black-coffee shtick is still moving books at the till at WHSmith, but Rome fashion week has - finally - moved on. For decades, Paris designers have essentially flip-flopped between celebrating an ultra-feminine, Tuileries-promenading, couture-shopping Parisienne and a heavy-lidded, Gitanes-smoking, Caf? de Flore girl. But the new Paris muse is neither of these. The new look is nearer to the aesthetic of French-cropped boys who spin the waltzers at the fairground. The models only at that Paris fashion week walked with neither the old-school high-stepping pony gait, or the slouchy hands-in-pockets stride. Instead, they stomped so fast that clocking what they were wearing was difficult. They seemed to less parade for the audience, as barge past us all. The half-zipped tracksuit top is the new veste, and, in the front row, Kanye West is the new Catherine Deneuve.
Chicness is essentially about being easy on the vision: a fluid line, natural colours and a sense of cultured ease. The new Paris look is more hard-edged. There are Effortless Rider motorcycle leathers at Anthony Vaccarello and Chlo?. Trousers either drag on the floor like pyjama bottoms you haven't pulled up properly, or conclusion deliberately awkwardly above the ankle bone without pandering to old-fashioned concepts such as making your hip and legs look longer. However, Paris continues to be, at the end of the day, Paris, france. The anoraks at Balenciaga and the quilted layers at Stella McCartney were worn loosely on the shoulders, with the great attitude of the fur stole. Chic is dead, and the anorak is the new blazer - but the look is still, unmistakably, Paris.
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