From the runways of Paris Fashion Week – Here are the highlights of Monday’s fall-winter 2015 ready-to-wear collections.
GIAMBATTISTA VALLI’S INTENTIONAL CONTRASTS
Giambattista Valli combined the sweet scent of the 60s with a play on wildly contrasting patterns for a vibrant and highly original ready-to-wear display.
Starting off with A-line mini-dresses – one with bell (bishop’s) sleeves and blocked monochrome, and another with black knee-high lace up boots – the collection blossomed into floral motifs, retro zigzag and check prints on pants and the odd peplum.
Clothes were light, airy with flashes of vivid colour and prints.
But the creative fun really went full throttle on looks that combined contrasting patterns. A monochrome check fitted sleeveless top and pants were worn with an undergarment that peeped out like a peplum in a vivid floral print in black, pink and yellow.
What made the ensemble work was that the diagonal movement in the check was also reflected in a subtle diagonal movement in the floral print. Detail like this is the sign of a true fashion artist, as Valli is.
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HERMES’ DESIGNER UNVEILS DEBUT COLLECTION
For her debut collection at powerhouse Hermes, new designer Nadege Vanhee-Cybulski pared down the house esthetic, to subtle, yet powerful, results.
Narrowing down the palette to navy, cobalt blue, ivory, carmine red and flashes of sunshine yellow, the 36-year-old French designer used simple minimalist shapes that drew from Oriental styles to bold effect.
The collection was all about gentle contradictions. The austerity of shiny navy leather coats was broken up with a disc panel, or a large soft leather collar.
Elsewhere, a Western-looking sweater sported a Siamese-style split skirt with colored panels, or a shirt in carmine red – associated with the Far East – came on a button-up shirt and was twinned with high sartorial pants. It was a nice mix.
There were also cavalry or equestrian references fused with this creative musing, like a quilted leather coat with large saddle pockets that cleverly resembled a sort of peplum.
Other looks were simply beautiful like an ivory silk split dress with a band on the midriff, that gently swayed as the model walked.
It was a promising start.
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