Fashion is not an art, but it likes artists capable of densifying or embellishing its message. We saw it again during this spring-summer 2023 fashion week, which took place from September 26 to October 4, in Paris.
In the tunnel of one hundred and five parades, that of Balenciaga always manages to stand out, and the scenography has something to do with it. Last season, when the war in Ukraine had just broken out, artistic director Demna [Gvasalia, qui se fait appeler par son prénom] had imagined a transparent carousel in which the models faced a snowstorm, evoking the fate of displaced populations. This time, he asked the artist Santiago Sierra – known for the radicalism of his often controversial works – to create a giant pit of two hundred and seventy-five cubic meters of mud at the Villepinte exhibition center.
In the humus vapours, the male and female models dragged their gaiters through the slush, the “podium” standing out from the rest of the decor by its particularly soggy side. Some of them had facial injuries (including Kanye West, who opened the show), others had piercings and spiky spikes on their heads, a few of the infants (in very realistic plastic) in carriers babies propped up on their stomachs.
The locker room pulled off the same split, with hoodies looking covered in (fake) grime, baggy moth-eaten jeans, patched joggers; as a counterpoint, dresses with cape backs of Balenciaguesque purity, sequined ivory sheaths; but also sculpted sweaters that give a strange shape to the bodies. Nerds, stars, punks, Mr. and Mr.me Everybody is in the same boat, drowning their luxury effects in the mire – because the dilapidated pieces are particularly complex to produce and require more effort than “normal”, explains Demna.
Should we see a reflection on fashion, on luxury or on the state of the world? Demna assures that it is a metaphor for his state of mind today, at 41 years old. “I dig into myself in search of the truth, of who I am as a designer. » Failing to provide answers, Demna has the merit of asking the right questions.
The giant hourglass of Courrèges
In a lighter genre, Stella McCartney set up her parade on the forecourt of the Center Pompidou, with strips of primary colors deployed on the cobblestones, reminiscent of the architecture of Renzo Piano, as a podium. The collection is called “Changing History”a slogan borrowed from the Japanese painter Yoshitomo Nara, with whom the designer collaborated for this collection. “We are aligned in our approach to the world in harmony with nature and animals, and we seek to deliver a message in our work”explains the one who is pleased to have succeeded in working with 87% eco-responsible fabrics this season, the highest level she has ever reached.
The cartoonish characters, both cute and grumpy, that made Yoshitomo Nara famous are printed on close-fitting T-shirts or knitted on knitted dresses. They bring a touch of whimsy to a simple and sexy wardrobe – this jumpsuit is definitely the heavy trend of the season. Loose-fitting suits, low-waisted pants, grenadine or lemon-toned dresses cut on the bias evoke Stella McCartney’s archives, sometimes even from the time when she designed for Chloé. “Since changing history is the theme of this show, I wanted to dive back into mine, to think about who I am today and where I am taking my brand. »
The passage of time is also at the center of Nicolas di Felice’s remarks. The Courrèges designer called on visual artist Théo Mercier to design, in the Landy studios, in Saint-Denis, a giant hourglass around which the models gravitate. “The hourglass expresses my daily concerns, which are to take over a house with such a beautiful heritage and make it dialogue with the future to better reflect on the present”, he explains. While borrowing the shape of a 1974 zipped dress or a 1981 diving suit from the archives, Nicolas di Felice is experimenting with new technologies with 3D printing, silicone molding, 3D embroidery… The wardrobe manages to be both very wearable and singular, with beautiful navy jumpsuits, flattering high cut dresses.
Chanel, this year at Marienbad
Chanel also mixes past and present by drawing inspiration from cinema. On the one hand, the artistic director Virginie Viard relies on the film Last year in Marienbad (1961), directed by Alain Resnais, for which Gabrielle Chanel designed the dresses worn by Delphine Seyrig. On the other, she feeds on her closeness to the 30-year-old actress Kristen Stewart, muse of the brand for almost ten years, whose career oscillates between blockbusters and independent films. « Kristen is the person who reminds me the most of Gabrielle Chanel. (…) She also has a New Wave side that I really like. I imagine her very well in an Agnès Varda film”says Virginie Viard.
The chanelesque fusion between the 1960s and the present takes place on the walls of the ephemeral Grand Palais where, in introduction to the parade, a short black and white film is shown showing Kristen Stewart strolling in the Latin Quarter, then images of Delphine Seyrig in Marienbad. Once the aesthetic framework has been set, it’s time for the parade! Virginie Viard, who “likes when things mix”, offers a varied wardrobe, made of bows, boas, rhinestone ankle boots, jerseys worked like scales, sequined jackets and pastel tweeds. There’s crisp black and white tailoring, metallic pink versions to shine in the summer sun. But also a few remarkably effective little black dresses, all in light veils that hint at the flesh, a transparent shirt worn with a skirt trimmed with feathers, a golden dress in crushed velvet split on the side, flowing over the body. The fluidity of the dresses, the lightness of the fabrics dominate this collection, which measures opulence with precision.
“I always wanted Miu Miu to open up to other worlds, through collaborations with artists”, says Miuccia Prada. The lucky winner this season is Shuang Li, who wanted to represent, in the Palais d’Iéna, the underwater infrastructures that make our instant communications possible via the Internet. Visually, the result is quite conceptual, with big winding tubes serving as seats for guests and giant screens showing rain images of shooting stars or moving wind turbines, but it’s beautiful to look at.
“It’s not an easy time to create fashion, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create. You just have to make sure that each item of clothing has a purpose, now is not the time to be superficial”, still assures Miuccia Prada. She therefore imagined a functional wardrobe, where the pocket is omnipresent. In a square and puffy version, it punctuates leather jackets or decorates shorts; its flat version marks Nylon windbreakers; hybrid belt-belts with double pockets encircle the waist.
Fashion also has a decorative duty, we come across some very pretty silhouettes made of cotton, silk and cashmere knits stacked on top of each other, the lamination of fabrics creating plays of colors and not completely covering the body. A few details with a 2000s flavor – the shorts so short that you can see the buttocks, the logo briefs that protrude from the pants – should ensure this rational collection the virality it deserves.
Vuitton is used to thinking big. This season, the brand sees them on a very large scale and has installed in the Cour Carrée du Louvre a “monster flower” fifty meters in diameter bristling with petals in red canvas and whose heart is connected by footbridges to a Plexiglas pergola equipped with chandeliers and moving mirrors. This incredible installation is signed Philippe Parreno. “We’ve known each other for a long time and we wanted to work together”explains artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière.
The giant flower gives “a dangerous, almost carnivorous idea of beauty”which can be found in the collection, where the designer wanted to play with “the pretty, the clichés of femininity often conveyed by the male gaze”, and reworked the pleated skirts, the apron dresses, the baskets of the crinoline dresses. In her hands, these clothes are unrecognizable: kinds of soft donuts grow on the collar of a dress whose fabric undulates around a circular cord; leather knots cling to the bustier of a patchwork dress closed by a zip the size of a hand. Because that is the other key idea of the show: playing with proportions.
The press studs of a jacket are as big as an apple, purses become travel bags, embroidery reproduces zoomed tweed threads… The loss of bearings continues with work on trompe-l’ eye, like these dresses in lacquered and perforated gum printed with belts and zips. The collection may be very cerebral, but it can be appreciated with pleasure in its playful decor: a sign that the fusion between art and craftsmanship has taken hold.