DUBAI: British Moroccan model Nora Attal was on hand to show off French luxury label Lanvin’s latest collection at Paris Fashion Week.
References to the 1940s, 1980s, the 18th century, the medieval and the Renaissance mingled together inside the historic arches of Paris’ thirteenth century College of Bernardins. Yet despite these myriad styles, Lanvin’s fall-winter collection remained a pared down affair — simply chic, and intentionally lacking in adornments and embellishments, according to The Associated Press.
There were some nice touches — stud-like polka-dots adorning shirts, slit skirt-suits and coats provided a lift. Elsewhere, a pink 1940s coat with sloping shoulders became a statement piece in textured pink. A black satine gown featured a diagonal dynamic cleverly matching the angle of the stone arches in the decor behind.
The show's simplicity belied the inner passion of Lanvin’s designer Bruno Sialelli. The house quoted the Swedish American Sculptor Claes Oldenburg, who died last year, as saying: “Making things What fun! And things being made, Go away!”
For her part, Attal showed off a black coat complete with subtly sloping shoulders paired with a black button shirt and floor-grazing trousers.
Stars such as US singer Avril Lavigne sat beneath the Gothic-style arches to view the oldest couture house’s latest designs, which subtly evoked history.
Elsewhere at Paris Fashion Week on Sunday, cars snaked for blocks dropping off countless VIPs for Valentino’s “black tie” show as the evening Paris lights bathed the nearby Arc de Triomphe. Designer Pierpaolo Piccioli put on a star-studded collection that deconstructed the suit amid androgyny and sartorial plays.
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicole Peltz soaked up photographers’ flashes inside the ornate Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in the moment of calm before the storm. Then as 8pm approached, hordes of fashion insiders wrestled for their places at one of the Paris season’s hotly anticipated shows.
Sheer black blouses sported big white polka dots. A white shirt and black tie became an all-enveloping floor sweeping gown. Myriad plumes poked out deftly from a statement black and white striped feather coat.
Thin black ties — the theme of the show — were abundant, as were takes on the white shirt, which at times caught echoes of Celine’s creative head Hedi Slimane.
However, the monochromatic musing was handled with subtlety and balanced with bursts of on-trend eye-popping color, such as a long wool citrine coat or an emerald green leather poncho-jacket.
