Ecology, Ukraine and nuns inspire eclectic Paris fashion

Designer Gabriela Hearst brandished her green mindedness by setting her Chloe show at Paris Fashion Week on Thursday inside a famous Parisian greenhouse. Yet in the bare sands of Parc Andre Citroen, it was stars such as Demi Moore and Maria Sharapova, instead of flowers, that seemed to bloom.

Here are some highlights of Thursday’s fall-winter 2022 ready-to-wear shows.

CHLOE'S TEXTURE-RICH ECOLOGY

The Uruguay-born Chloe designer has made ecology the front and center of her tenure of Chloe thus far. Thursday’s show was no exception set on the sand swept interiors of a Parisian greenhouse and designed in the colors of the climate crisis. Bright tangerine orange, vermilions and reds against blacks evoked a forest destroyed by fire, while pale hues in whites, creams and beiges symbolized melting glaciers and drought. The pared down silhouettes — that played on gently contrasting textures — also drew inspiration from the environment via cinema. The muse of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1973 movie “Brother Son, Sister Moon” chronicling the life of the Patron Saint of Ecologists spawned puff sleeves, simple lines, scallop motifs and body-hugging knits. There were some great moments, such as a black leather cut-away dress with ethnic discs on the torso, but the aesthetic seemed to lack energy at times. Was it perhaps because of the energy devoted — admirably — to vaunting its low eco footprint? Again, thanks to Hearst’s eco-conscious mantra, Chloe was able to proudly say that it had reached its annual target of 56% lower impact materials within the ready-to-wear show.

RICK OWENS BLOWS SMOKE

From out of perfumed mist in the Palais de Tokyo runway, models with disrupted forms, elongated shoulders and long tubular arms shuffled out for Rick Owens’ latest fashion show — one that creatively explored softness, draping and wrapping.

Crazed wild, gothic or alien-style hair set the otherworldly tone for the collection titled “Strobe.” With its billowing smoke machine at times it felt like being at a rave.

Deconstructed garments — oval shaped jackets with frayed edges, disheveled gloves that looked like they could do the washing up, and one gown constructed with shreds of cloth that evoked a hippy Mary Magdalene — gave this fall-winter collection a funky, unexpected air.

Quirks like a bubble top tube in python print looked fantastically like the model was being eaten by a boa constrictor.

At the end of the program notes, Owens left a touching message for the conflict in Ukraine, saying that he’s “always found great comfort that in the history of the world good has somehow always managed to triumph over evil.” He added: “During times of heartbreak, beauty can be one of the ways to maintain faith.”

COPERNI’S QUIRKS

At Coperni, designers Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer went to the Roman Catholic school locker room for inspiration to turn out another quirky and humorous show that ticked all the fashion-forward boxes.

Guests sat immersed in a set of wall-to-wall school lockers as looks fused preppy styles of school boarders — with a take on a Catholic nun’s habit.

Thigh-high black stockings began the show, part schoolgirl, part-nunnery novice — a tongue-in-cheek theme continued in interesting plays on a black triangular shaped habit worn with aplomb by model of the moment Bella Hadid. She wore a minimalist mini in a rebellious provocation against the imagined religious school’s strict vestimentary codes

But there were some great silhouettes in this creative cauldron — including a black belt that served as a top hem and shot out horizontally to either side.