Fashion Month: All you need to know about the standout trends and shows
Olivia Petter reports on the shift away from millennials and Celine's return to its traditional roots
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Your support makes all the difference.After a four-week-long sartorial spectacle, fashion month officially came to a close this week.
And what a season it’s been, with surprise celebrity models, on-runway protests and, of course, the sudden death of one of the industry’s most revered figureheads: Karl Lagerfeld.
Then there were the clothes themselves, which offered an insight into what we’ll be wearing in six months’ time, when the standout trends will trickle down into high street stores.
From Celine’s highly-anticipated renaissance to the rise of grown-up dressing, there was plenty to discuss.
We spoke to fashion experts to find out what were the key talking points and trends of the autumn/winter 2019 shows.
Outerwear became a mollycoddling barometer of the times
According to Emily Gordon-Smith, of trends intelligence company Stylus, this season’s shows were all about rich and eclectic textures designed to make us feel warm and cosy inside.
We saw this at Chanel with bright fluorescent puffer jackets, while JW Anderson draped his models in heavy, full-cover capes and Marc Jacobs splashed fun leopard prints and stripes across oversized wool coats. Elsewhere, we saw slick belted vinyl trench coats at Alexachung and waterproof-looking jackets at Louis Vuitton.
“The feeling of wanting to be protected is an instinctive one at the moment and this was reflected through the elevation of protective fabrics and outer coatings, such as leather and quilting, feeding into this idea of wanting to feel safe and secure,” Gordon-Smith tells The Independent.
“We also saw a plethora of cocooning and softer fabrics, offering cosy and secure sentiments,” she adds.
“As a result, knitwear will be huge for next winter.”
Celine paid homage to its minimalistic Phoebe Philo-era roots
One of the most controversial shows of last season was Celine, due to newly appointed creative director Hedi Slimane’s drastic rebranding of the beloved French brand.
Sexy, skin-tight, thigh-skimming dresses hijacked the brand’s loose, comfortable, minimalistic cuts and neutral palettes that had liberated the female form under the leadership of Phoebe Philo.
But, much to the delight of “old Celine” fans, who named themselves as such to unite themselves in a post-Philo era mourning period, Slimane switched things up this season. Instead of sticking to the subversive aesthetic, he harked back to his time at Saint Laurent. For Celine’s autumn/winter 2019 collection, the designer delved into the label’s archives, focusing on retro patterns and modest hemlines.
“The collection also harnessed the lady-like, 1970s bourgeoisie theme that we saw come through strongly for the season,” says Gordon-Smith, “along with the feeling for heritage fabrics, including corduroy and tweed. All-in-all it was a really wearable, commercial collection, and a return to form for the house.”
Fashion, celebrity and personal stylist Marika Page concurred, telling The Independent that the prevailing theme of Slimane’s latest collection was femininity.
Data from global fashion search platform Lyst also reveals that the brand benefited from a 19 per cent increase in online searches following its show.
Millennial-focused collections were usurped
In recent seasons, designers have been going above and beyond to appeal to millennials i.e. those aged between 18 and 34.
This season, it finally felt as if older consumers were being targeted, says Gordon-Smith.
We saw this at shows such as Carolina Herrera, Erdem and Tory Burch, all of whom eschewed voluminous and androgynous ensembles for a new kind of sophisticated femininity via loose-fitting maxi dresses, elegant tailoring and tulle-skirted gowns.
“Feminine, lady-like styles, and 1970s influences shone through this season,” she explains – along with a resurgence of modest, pragmatic and flattering looks.
“This kind of push back and reaction to fast fashion is really interesting and the result is a far more timeless, classic look.”
Back to black
For years, wearing all black has been ciphered to one of two meanings. Either you consider yourself too cool for colour and find all black ensembles devastatingly chic, or you’re a spy.
But that’s all set to change next season, says Gordon-Smith.
“Designers demonstrated a real feeling for black for the season, in places marrying that with gothic and almost fetish influences offering something that felt really new,” she explains.
Indeed, the colour – or lack thereof – was a prevailing aesthetic force at Alexachung, The Row and Jasper Conran, to name but a few.
Chanel paid homage to its late creative director, Karl Lagerfeld, in an emotional show
Amid all of the fashion and additional fanfare, the undisputed highlight of this season was the Chanel show. The show took place just two weeks after the death of Karl Lagerfeld, the revered designer who had been at the helm of the French luxury label for more than three decades.
Following his death, searches into Chanel increased by 26 per cent on Lyst, with the fashion platform singling out the show as one of the key search moments of the season.
The show took place, as usual, in the Grand Palais on the final day of Paris Fashion Week – Tuesday 5 March – in what can only be described as a chic winter wonderland that came complete with wooden chalets and a snow-covered runway.
There were some notable celebrity appearances too, with Kristen Stewart and Monica Bellucci on the frow (front row) while Penelope Cruz made her catwalk debut by walking the runway in a feathery snow-princess skirt and a long-sleeves ruffled blouse.
Longtime Chanel muse Cara Delevingne led the finale, holding hands with her fellow models, some of whom shed a tear, while the uplifting sounds of David Bowie’s “Heroes” filled the room.
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