A dive into the world before. The spring-summer 2022 women’s collections week, which continues in Paris until October 5, has clearly taken the opposite view of these eighteen months out of time by pulling out all the stops, with shows and international stars creating hysteria. On the catwalks, the creators set out to navigate between this before and this after, offering collections on the thread between past and future.
Jonathan Anderson presented his collection for Loewe in the Battesti armory of the Republican Guard. The Irishman always pushes the correlations between art and fashion a little further: “The starting point is“ The Deposition ”, a painting by Pontormo, in Florence. There is a very psychedelic, almost hysterical notion in this 16th century painting.e century. In clothes, this translates into sensuality, the idea of playing with the shadows of the drapes. I have been with Loewe for almost eight years, it is time to move into new territories. The woman of this season is looking straight into the future, but is at peace with her past. “
The trench coats are cut out and tipped backwards, sections of fabric drape over the shoulders and hips, denim jackets turn into capes… Also borrowing from surrealist codes, the designer offers dresses distorted by golden metal pieces and silvery melted into the fabric, all served by shoes with heels in the shape of candles, broken eggs or even nail polish. A cloakroom where every detail is perfectly executed.
At Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli looks at the street. Literally: it was at the Carreau du Temple, a former covered market, that he presented his spring-summer 2022 line. The models continued their procession in the street, to parade in front of the terraces of the cafes, requisitioned for the occasion. “I wanted to make a change and be more inclusive, to bring life to the parade. ” What could be more open than the street?
The modernity of the subject continues in the collection, through high-waisted jeans mixed with richly embroidered shirts or coats, shirt dresses that extend into electric-colored capes and floral prints accompanying Bermuda shorts and bras… From thin bands of tulle are encrusted in white coats and dresses or cut in colored sequins, creating a disconcerting optical effect. Looking back, Pierpaolo Piccioli chose five pieces from the archives to offer a current version, including a long striped coat – worn by model Veruschka in 1968 – who is here married to black bloomer shorts.
A deluge of accessories
Véronique Leroy recounts having found in her office an old box filled with leathers printed with kitsch flowers from the 1980s. “ I had been telling myself for a long time that I should do something with it ”, she says. She showed these relics to the illustrator Jeanne Detallante who was inspired by them for floral prints, on flowing dresses or terrycloth coats, in the middle of a frivolous and refreshing collection dominated by brown and yellow, “My favorite colors since childhood”.
Half-day at the office, half-evening sprinkled with vodka, Lutz Huelle’s new vintage mixes military pants and dresses with gold sequins, jeans, bombers and cocktail dresses with open shoulders, on women and – a first – on men . To compose it, he had his six previous collections pinned on his studio wall. “I like to have my creative past in mind to ask myself what we will want in six months, explains Lutz Huelle. I took back capes from three years ago by treating them sewing style to lighten them, a white shirt from last winter to cut it on the bias. “
Looking back is also on the program at Lanvin, where Bruno Sialelli is trying to find his feet. We can see that he has re-leafed through comic book classics in front of his Batman, Robin or Catwoman prints (a collaboration with Warner Bros). To perfect his buxom silhouettes, he adds a deluge of accessories that add to the glamor: heels à la Betty Boop, minaudières encrusted with crystals in the shape of a heart, sequined hats … Not to mention nods to Alber Elbaz, his predecessor died in April, through draped dresses of which he had made a signature.
Guillaume Henry chez Patou offers a wardrobe turned to fairy tales. “ Not fairy tales. The Patou woman doesn’t have to be a princess, she can be a musketeer! “, he specifies. An outdated starting point for an anything but dusty collection. Volumes, puss in boots and floral patterns on vaporous blouses, dresses with puffed sleeves or sportswear-inspired parkas affirm the contemporary spirit of the ensemble.
Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga hit him very hard. It was at the Théâtre du Châtelet that the guests took their seats to attend what they thought was the screening of a mini-film featuring the collection. The big screen however broadcast the red carpet installed outside and the arrival of the guests. Between two fashion editors, it was the models wearing the big evening collection who took the pose. Among them, actor Elliot Page in a loose suit worn with a new version of Crocs shoes, Isabelle Huppert in a very close-fitting black mesh dress or even rapper Devonté Hynes, with a bomber jacket from which protruded a plaid shirt. .
We also saw an electric pink and red scarf dress or these suit jackets with oversized shoulders, house signature. After this reproduction of the red carpets of yesteryear, the house screened an episode of the series “The Simpson”, featuring the famous American family taking part in a Balenciaga parade larger than life, Anna Wintour in front row included. A happy and clever moment.
Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski presented her collection for Hermès at Le Bourget airport. A line dedicated to new possibilities, articulated around yellow, color “Of the sun, of the wheat but also of the woman in Antiquity”. The leather of the dresses and pants is supple, the small jackets are zipped, the jumpsuits are loose and promote movement, the shoes are flat and comfortable. A floral motif runs through the collection. “The print comes from a scarf from the archives. I wanted to make it my own and give it a modern transcription. It is important not to be nostalgic, to understand its heritage but to place it in the present. “
Finally, Sunday October 3, Matthew Williams invited his guests to the Accor Arena performance hall in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) for what was his first public show since taking office at Givenchy in June 2020. “ I will be able to spend my days in the workshop watching the artisans at work. This is what makes me the happiest ”, he confided a few minutes before the show.
An eye on the French tradition of sewing workshops, another on the future, which is expressed through peplum skirts worn with long leather thigh high boots, evoking the Givenchy period of Alexander McQueen, boiled wool tops accentuating the shoulders, skirts embroidered with tulle or sequins, and chunky sneakers on the feet, imposing an assertive step and a silhouette… futuristic.