The Highlights of Paris Fashion Week Spring 2019
Life's a beach, and Lagerfeld has his Chanel models just playing in the sand. Removing their heels before walking barefoot in front of showgoers on the faux-beach installed in Paris' Grand Palais, models trotted through real water to show Chanel's latest. While the Chanel-branded belts and tops are reminiscent of Lagerfeld's first few collections at Chanel in the 1980's, they're still such a scaled-back flavor of logomania that they're perfectly on-brand.
Image via Instagram / @ChanelOfficial
Off-White has built its reputation off of streetwear, but Creative Director Virgil Abloh elevated his usually casual collections to compete with the demi-couture of Paris Fashion Week. Chief among the track & field-themed show (in which the runway was a literal running track) was a neon-tinged wedding dress with a layered tulle skirt, almost a toned-down version of Christian Siriano's from NYFW. Perhaps a tad unconventional, it's the perfect look for the woman who has tennis at 6 PM and her wedding at 7. After all, why not get you a wedding dress that can do both?
Image via Instagram / @off____white
Demna Gvasalia seems to have finally found his balance at Balenciaga, although showgoers probably lost theirs: the show was in a massive holographic tube in which changing graphics defined the show's space. And as vertigo-inducing, as it sounds, Gvasalia was on his strongest footing. The sharp tailoring across dresses, jackets, and coats was irresistible, and this collection was not only one of his strongest at Balenciaga but one of the strongest of PFW.
Image via Youtube
Rei Kawakubo has always made pieces distinguishable by their deconstructive approach to glamour. One of her more famed collection was nicknamed Lumps 'N Bumps back in 1997, and that season's self-explanatory chief element has made its comeback. The collection also featured models in grey wigs and minimal makeup, which defined the lumpy restatement as a meditation on the changing human body as it relates to age.
Photo courtesy of Comme des Garçons
As Céline grew under Phoebe Philo, Saint Laurent did the same almost simultaneously under the stewardship of Hedi Slimane. And as Philo left Céline, which then became Celine, Slimane took over. And whether or not the rest of the world—let alone the Celine customer—needed another Saint Laurent babydoll dress from 2015, the designer's direction for the brand is controversial at best, and hotly-debated at least.
Photo courtesy of Celine
Given the saintly connotations of walking on water, it only fits that models at Saint Laurent are given such a power. The Franco-Californian set (palm trees shared the background with La Tour Eiffel) was offset by models wetting their stilettos. And while the collection itself was another in a long list of home runs for Anthony Vaccarello, it did give the brand's rock-n-roll sex appeal a beachy update, only to later be echoed by Chanel.
Image via Instagram / @micarganaraz
Marine Serre, winner of the LVMH Prize last year, has brought her upcycled materials and body-clinging athleticwear-cum-daywear to a train track. Models toted clear plastic bags labeled "Hardcore Couture," and while we're hoping this doesn't replace her inverted crescent-moon logo, it's another cool slogan we'd also like to plaster on everything we can.
Image via Instagram / @marineserre_official
Louis Vuitton's Creative Director Nicolas Ghesquière always shows the brand's next season at the Louvre, but this season's presentation dwarfs any of his past ventures. After taking over the museum's cour carré, models marched through a network of tunnels that pinballed around the courtyard and between makeshift fountains. Ghesquière went on to match such a bold choice in venue with bold prints and embellishments for the perfect wrap-up of Fashion Month.
Image via Instagram / @louisvuitton
Jacquemus achieved legend status not too long ago when he broke the internet with his oversized straw hats and his micro-top handle bags. This time around, he's taken his southern obsession with straw to toes, which he then decided to oversize and decorate with fringe. Such distortions are becoming a signature of the designer, who's got quite the following considering how new he is to Paris's design scene.
Image via Instagram / @Jacquemus
While Kaia Gerber was one of the top faces of this season across the international Fashion Weeks, Miu Miu brought back a familiar and much-missed face to the catwalk: Lindsey Wixson. While the model is considered young for self-imposed retirement, she was nonetheless willing to return to the catwalk for Miuccia Prada, and she did it in bejeweled sandals, too.
Image via Instagram / @MiuMiu
Gucci may be the quintessential Italian brand, but Creative Director Alessandro Michele is nonetheless preoccupied with France, at the moment. After holding its show at the legendary club Le Palace, Michele had his freaky-chic crew stay for a performance by perhaps the biggest emblem of the seventies in France: Jane Birkin. The British actress doesn't quite have her nightclub days behind her, after all.
Image via Instagram / @Gucci
Maria Grazia Chiuri made her name at Dior by celebrating and empowering women and femininity writ large. So, for the brand's collection for. Spring, interpretive dancers in printed bodysuits took the stage before the rest of the collection with dance studio-inspired pieces: duffel bags, ballet pointe-shoe-inspired sandals, and even tulle over redone leotards.
Image via Instagram / @Dior
