PARIS: Paris Fashion Week threw out musical performances, daring decors and lashings of color for spring-summer 2016.
Here are the highlights of the ready-to-wear shows.
CHLOE’S SUMMER
Summer was in the air at Clare Waight Keller’s show at Paris’ Grand Palais.
The British Chloe designer this season mixed up sportswear, hippy styles and lashings of color to produce a saleable collection, frothing with loose silk silhouettes.
There was more than a whiff of Seventies’ flower power.
The 44-strong show opening with billowing hippy flares with small retro print – contrasted nicely with a jogging top that might be seen on a girl running around the Tuileries Gardens. Relaxed yet chic was its statement.
Later, floppy bows at the neck, flared sleeves, billowing harem pants, and dangling tassels further evoked the boho era.
But this collection was all about color: the indigo, beige, pale yellow, vermilion red and burgundy – that all came to a climax in a cascading rainbow gown that would certainly not be for the color-shy.
SINGER CAROLINE VREELAND PERFORMS AT SWAROVSKI BIRTHDAY
Rising music star Caroline Vreeland performed to cheers at the glitziest party of Paris Fashion Week so far: Swarovksi’s 120th birthday.
The VIP-filled soiree also celebrated the release of a new book “Swarovski: Celebrating a History of Collaborations in Fashion, Jewelry, Performance and Design.”
Though blond beauty Vreeland – who’s also a model – might not be a household name, she’s already fashion royalty, being the great-granddaughter of powerful Harper’s Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland, who reigned across the magazine world from 1936 to 1962.
CARVEN’S SANITIZED CHIC
A large PVC greenhouse with white tube lights had fashionistas curious ahead of Carven’s spring-summer show, only the second so far for new designers Adrien Caillaudaud and Alexis Martial at the age-old Parisian house.
Pared-down and slightly sanitized was the style – carefully aligned with the decor. This infused the 41-piece collection with the tight, crisp silhouettes and mini-skirts of the Sixties.
Thus, delicately flared pants in dove gray mixed with colored silk shirts, and one white striped sporty-looking top with neat colored lines.
The best of the Sixties musing came with a cut-out disc motif on a burnt orange or white mini, and a crisp white mini dress that looked almost like a nurse’s uniform – stylishly evoking the sanitized feel
The collection loosened up toward the end with some layered skirts and a frothy white dress with criss-cross fabric panels. -AP
