We’re halfway through SS26 Paris Fashion Week, and the creative director debuts keep on rolling out. We’ve seen Jonathan Anderson’s womenswear at Dior, we’ve gotten Glenn Martens’ first Maison Margiela ready-to-wear collection, we’ve seen the new Loewe, and now we’ve finally experienced Pierpaolo Piccioli’s take on Balenciaga. Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel will be TBC until Tuesday, and the tension’s building up.
But, even though we won’t stop yapping about it, it’s not all about debuts this season. The designers that have stayed put in their CD chairs did not disappoint. The ‘80s are back, and so are pussybows. Scroll down for the second half of Paris Fashion Week.
Balenciaga
Demna fans around the world are currently going through an identity crisis – their brutalist Balenci is no more, instead they’ve gotten a total “recalibration”, as the show notes wrote. The Italification of Balenciaga switched on. The Balenciaga woman has retired her techno days, and is now summering in the Italian Riviera. Pierpaolo Piccioli referenced all of Balenciaga’s past creative directors, merging their visions into one chic collection that caters to that tapped-in sophisticated woman who knows all about the trends, but picks what she likes.
The former Valentino CD dove deep into the Balenciaga archives – he opened with a gown which took inspiration from Cristóbal Balenciaga’s infamous 1957 sack dress, a ‘60s cape gown, grand balloon skirts and scoop necks were paired with Demna-coded crop tops, bug-eyed sunglasses and sleek low-waisted tailored pants. But, he weaved in his own aesthetic, too, with bold colours and standout eveningwear (need that sheer draped gown) – affirming what he’s there for. And just like Demna at Gucci, he brought the logo belt back.
Celine
This is Michael Rider’s first womenswear collection at Celine. The former Ralph Lauren creative director brought a natural evolution from his July runway show, with an elevated and refined collection that brought Celine to a new era, without forgetting his predecessors. Celine silk scarves were the main character, layered into outfits and upcycled into tops, the equestrian Celine logo was weaved into knits, he referenced Phoebe Philo with his florals and leopard prints, and brought a little bit of Hedi Slimane into his suiting. Models carried jackets, sleek new iterations of leather bags and leather accessories like notebooks, as well as riding helmets.
Ann Demeulemeester
Ann Demeulemeester creative director Stefano Gallici will always have our hearts. His SS26 collection titled “The Solitary One” was inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Danny Sugerman’s Wonderland Avenue, reimagined with a ‘70s, Ann D aesthetic. “One dressed in lace and social customs, the other leather and addictions, both telling tales about people trying to love without destroying each other, or themselves,” he wrote in his notes.
This translated into feathered white baby doll dresses and Napoleonic jackets styled with white feather crowns, denim layered with silks and pussybows, a luxurious pink floral silk robe over black tailoring, the same pink floral print on silk paired with hard leathers. A gothic-meets-grunge romance, delicately merging the lace with the leather, as Gallici wrote.
Comme des Garçons
“I believe in the positiveness and the value that can be born from the damaging of perfect things,” Rei Kawakubo said on her SS26 collection “After the Dust”. Trying to dissect Kawakubo’s mind is like trying to understand the universe, but we will always give it a go. Her creations were layered like cakes topped with extravagant cone hats, emerging out of an apocalypse. Kawakubo has the gift to reign supreme by creating beautiful things sculpted in the most abstract shapes, textiles biblically layered like the mattresses in Princess and the Pea.
Junya Watanabe
Avant-garde king Junya Watanabe took on a special challenge this spring/summer season: what can I make into a dress? Shoes? Sure. Spoons? Bring them on. Wine glasses? We can def try.
The designer took on a range of your typical household objects and subverted them into the most insane creations: a broderie anglaise dress made out of umbrellas, a trench coat hung on a dress, bras collaged onto a dress, armour-like shoulder pads made out of spoons and shoes. “Extraordinary art born from the everyday,” as the man himself wrote in his show notes.
Andreas Kronthaler’s Vivienne Westwood
Andreas Kronthaler continues his mission to challenge norms. His SS26 collection brought sharp tailoring, ‘80s-style pattern clashing, statement accessories and vibrant florals. His unisex collection highlighted lived-in looks made for the experimental divas of the world. There were florals paired with lace, fuzzy tailoring, silky suits, keys were dangling from gowns. An embraced chaos.
McQueen
Sean McGirr’s SS26 collection for McQueen was sexy, grunge and a little bit Victorian. The designer took McQueen’s incisive tailoring and revamped it for a night out. 19th century officer uniforms from were subverted into jackets, while the uniform fabrics were used to create slashed bustier dresses. Grungy hair and smokey eyes, micro mini-skirts, cinched waists, Victorian corsetry, fringes, ass cutouts and the comeback of the McQueen horn-shaped heel woke our desire to go clubbing in a dungeon. The eveningwear was strong: witchy, delicate, and ethereal, the final look flowing like white ship sails in the wind.
Alaïa
Alaïa is in a league of its own. It’s avant-garde, it’s unapologetic, and it doesn’t look at what everyone else is doing. It’s setting new trends and introducing new concepts that we (mere mortals) couldn’t conceive let alone execute. Creative director Pieter Mulier loves to present new realms, new possibilities of what clothing could be, in the most sophisticated fashion. Like how did you make a pantaloon-like garment without sleeves chic? His collection “Clothes That Cry” brought experimental inventions like fringed legwarmers that swish as you move, dresses tied to heels, dresses over jackets, leather jackets with the zip on the back, the most phenomenal funnel necks. Whatever he’s making, we’re buying – even if we can’t move our arms in it.
Yohji Yamamoto
Yohji Yamamoto dedicated his SS26 collection to Giorgio Armani. For his FW18 collection, Yohji produced a series of leather corsets as an homage to Azzedine Alaïa, who had died a few months earlier. For SS26 he returned to his tribute theme – this time honouring the Italian tailoring GOAT, who passed away at the start of September – with a graphic of Armani’s 50th anniversary show invite, signed by Armani himself, and two Armani campaign prints from the ’90s. The rest of the collection featured flannel elements, sheer black fabrics and the most insane hair gelled like horizontal antennas on models’ heads.
Mugler
This season, another creative director bombshell entered the villa. New CD Miguel Castro Freitas breathed a new era into the house of Mugler seeped with fringe and leather. The theme was power dressing: broad square shoulders, bold sexuality and a touch of sadomasochism. The new creative director weaved in references to Mugler’s archives throughout, like the legendary feathered dress from SS97. He nodded to the past but looked straight into the future.
Featured image Balenciaga©
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