Paris Fashions Feel the Recession
In March the designers in Paris began to unveil their latest fashions and the thing that was noted by just about every fashion writer is that the recession seems to have taken some of the oomph out the styles.
In the recent past (before the recession hit) Paris fashions were known for their opunelnce, high concepts and futuristic designs. This year the theatrics are all gone as it seems that even the Paris fashion houses have woken up to the grim reality of what the recession could mean for them.
For instance this Spring the House of Chanel, notorious for pink frills and chains, concentrated on showing mainly a collection of little black dresses with the only real decoration being tiny flowers like camellias affixed to the collars and cuffs of the outfits.
At the house of Lanvin nothing was shown but black clothing with jet beads. Yes there were fur coats and wraps on the runway but there was nothing too glamorous or trendy. The Lanvin offerings for spring were all about making an investment in clothing that could last for years. The sex factor was also not as overt as it has been in recent years with higher cut shoulders, decollates and backs. The effect was very sombre.
For the most part designers took no risks. Stella McCartney’s collection played it safe with silk dresses and oversized jackets. The collection was more about comfort than glamour.
Whether it was purposeful or not the House of Balenciaga was reminiscent of clothing that was popular during the Great Depression. Flapper outfits complimented by intricate beads and shimmery fabrics took the center stage on the Paris runways. Extraordinary beading and pleating were very much a part of these labor intensive creations which were all about the craftmenship of embroidery and other dressmaker crafts.
The designs of Dries Van Noten were a little less blasé and conservative. His collection included all kinds of dizzying geometric prints and photographic prints. Along with the black and white colors he also mixed in unusual colors like sepia, cantaloupe, aubergine and butterscotch. Pale pink and orange were also thrown in the mix to create a more psychedelic color palette that was a bit of a spit in the face to the sombreness of the other designer’s offerings.
The wildest designer on the runways this Spring was Jean Paul Gaulthier who presented fish nets on all of him models and also fishnet stocking as a print, a fabric for jackets and a casing for a full length fur coat. Gaulthier’s models also had outrageous make up and up dos that were compared by fashion reviewers to the worst sort of sexist sideshow in a circus.