Paris - Last week in Paris, at times it seemed that time had
stopped for a year and a half, and that everything was as before. However, it
has not been a Fashion Week like any other.
In the French capital, Fashion Week ended on Tuesday night
with the Chanel and Louis Vuitton shows and the emotional tribute of more than
forty designers to their colleague Alber Elbaz, who passed away on April 24.
After Haute Couture week at half gas in July, this has been the first Fashion
Week since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with many shows. Some big
names were still missing from the calendar, such as Dries Van Noten, Sacai,
Celine and Comme des Garçons. But Stella McCartney, for example, decided to
walk in extremis on Monday morning. The official calendar was quickly
reorganized and Shang Xia, who was debuting a new artistic director, Yang Li,
had to parade half an hour earlier.
Six thousand spectators at Balmain, twenty at Paul Smith
At times in Paris everything seemed the same. As
demonstrated in Balmain, where designer Olivier Rousteing celebrated his 10th
anniversary as artistic director, with a spectacular music festival on an
island in the Seine just outside the city. Franz Ferdinand and Doja Cat played
for hundreds of journalists and six thousand fans. Beyoncé read a prerecorded
letter to Rousteing, and Naomi Campbell and Carla Bruni, among others, walked
by. We saw them in the foreground, on screens as big as skyscrapers. It is
surprising that a designer who designs princess dresses at astronomical prices
is at the same time so close to "the people."
Balmain lived Fashion Week on a large scale, while for
example Paul Smith, bet on the small.
In a room at his Paris headquarters, a 17th-century mansion
in the Marais, the ever-cheerful Briton personally commented on a dozen looks,
each of them to groups of about 20 onlookers. "I liked doing a
face-to-face presentation after the horror of Covid," he said
nonchalantly, "we haven't seen each other in a long time." Smith
showed off tailored garments, stripes, tops made from cycling jersey material
and colors inspired by his Tuscan home. For the presentation, Londoner Anaiis
sang three songs under Smith's approving gaze.
Let the party begin
As in the last two seasons, the Belgian designer Dries Van
Noten limited himself to showing an online video, directed by Albert Moya, and
a photo shoot, carried out by Rafael Pavarotti. The vivid color collection is
inspired by the Holi festival in India. "The collective energy and joy of
a noisy crowd, the fireworks, the rock and pop concerts, the Burning Man,"
reflected Van Noten in his collection notes. "Bring the passion and joy!
Let the party begin." But a virtual party is less party than a real party.
Another Belgian designer, Christian Wijnants also decided to
leave the catwalk for the time being. "I still didn't feel ready," he
told FashionUnited. "The Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la mode
insisted, but we had to make the decision in the summer, and at that time the
situation was still too uncertain to take such a great financial risk."
Wijnants, who screened her film in Ibiza last week and released a section of
her greatest hits in Paris, hopes to organize another show next season.
Van Noten is usually a fixture during Fashion Week. Their
shows have always been well attended, especially for a brand that never
advertises and was, until recently, completely independent. Last year he was
one of the initiators of a movement of designers and other fashion
professionals who aspired to a less rigid system.
Now that the "real" shows are back, and everything
seems as hectic as before, it remains the question of whether there is much
enthusiasm left for presentations and other digital activations, and for
"slow fashion" in general. We will have to wait for the concluding
figures from YouTube, Instagram and Chinese social networks to see if the
absentees were right or not, and if the virtual shows and videos still have a
future.
Because, there is no doubt, that it has been an
unconventional Fashion Week. There were hardly any Asian viewers, except for
European correspondents. But even from Europe, the delegations seemed smaller.
So there were fewer Belgian and Dutch journalists than in the past. This is
certainly due, as far as the Netherlands is concerned, also due to the limited
media landscape, but generally also due to restricted budgets. Vogue editions
managed directly by US publisher Condé Nast no longer send separate outfits to
fashion weeks.
