At one with nature
It's goodbye to minimalism as bold, organic and art-inspired works take over the spring-summer catwalks at Paris Fashion Week, writes Jing Zhang
Avant-garde American designer Rick Owens gives his audience raw emotion - not for him pretty little things gliding down a catwalk. Instead of the usual thin white models, Owens dresses the curvier, stronger bodies of a predominantly black dance troupe from the United States, who stomp around the stage. Employing the group is a brave move, a powerful statement that rocks the Paris fashion elite. At the Jean Paul Gaultier show, set in the Paradis Latin cabaret theatre, supermodel Coco Rocha dances to the soundtrack and Karlie Kloss to Madonna's , to appreciative whoops from the audience. The clothes are punky but feminine.
The spring-summer 2014 shows have caught the end of France's Indian summer. The heat and sunlight glistening off the glass-dome roof of the Palais Royal show space make late September seem an appropriate time to host post-winter catwalks for once.
Not only do we bid a fond farewell this season to Marc Jacobs' 16-year Louis Vuitton tenure and to the Marco Zanini-Rochas collaboration, which lasted five years, we also say goodbye to the clean, austere minimalism of the recent past. Post recession, an air of hope and positivity fills the air, playful abundance returning to the runways.
Shine, glitter and shimmer combine to offer one of the big trends. For some it's in-keeping - as with Balmain's pastel-hued concoctions (a huge improvement from last season) - but mostly it comes as a surprisingly dominant feature; step forward Dries Van Noten, Sonia Rykiel, Christian Dior, Givenchy and Rochas, whose stunningly fresh collection has uber-light fabrics bouncing along the runway.
"It was like my love letter to Rochas," says Zanini, as we meet to talk about his new gig: creative director at the revived couture house of Schiaparelli. His parting missive is a dreamy collection, soft pastels echoing the hues at Balenciaga.
