Keeping fashion new: Vogue's Anna Wintour on Paris Fashion Week

"A woman doesn't need something else in her wardrobe, but we need to seduce her again." Anna Wintour

As a blogger, I look at fashion all day it seems. Womenswear, menswear, couture, season after season. And there are so many seasons now that it's never ending. Not to mention an endless rotation of "fashion weeks." In this brief yet informed video clip, Anna Wintour speaks with Vogue  Magazine about the subject. No-one attends more runway shows than Anna and while we may want to live Chanel and Dior all day, we want (and need) something more.

I will always cover established houses and fashion labels but I also try to give emerging designers a platform. My Paris Fashion Week coverage this season focused on younger designer labels. Nothing is new. Everything's been done, so seeing a fresh perspective and a different point of view on an existing standard always breathes new life into it.

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80's GLAM at Saint Laurent Fall 2016

The 80's ruled the runway at Saint Laurent. The collection was elegant and chic, I would expect no less from Saint Laurent. Some say it was a nod to Yves Saint Laurent, the man. I see it. But I also see other 80's references like an army of Robert Palmer women. The loudest reference I see, especially with the exaggerated ruffled looks and short-short skirts that border on tacky, come from one of the biggest TV dramas in the 80's. Remember Sammy Jo Dean Carrington? Cattiness aside, it is rumored that Hedi Slimane is leaving YSL as its creative director. Could this collection serve as clue? Vogue Runway suggested Slimane might assume the YSL couture helm. I guess we'll just have to brace ourselves with those larger-than-life shoulder pads and wait.

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PARIS FASHION WEEK: MARIA ARISTIDOU FW 16/17

Maria Aristidou, for Autumn/Winter 2016-2017 collection, was inspired by the femme fatale Hitchcockian Spider Woman.  A woman of action, a safe Spy, that is ready to seduce and undertake her next project. The fashion designer, by entitling the collection "Spyder", empowers women wearing luxurious knit fabrics exclusively made with metallic yarns and patterns for sleek designs. Reversible coats and impeccable cuts are the collection's key signature to be equally elegant day or night.  "Spyder" is a heterodoxy collection that is modern, timeless and, indeed, unique.

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"Give Face" BERNARD CHANDRAN FW16/17 Paris Fashion Week

The Bernard Chandran womenswear collection for Autumn/Winter 2016 takes you on a deeper understanding of ‘Give Face’ – design inspirations and creative reinterpretations that are beyond the mythical creatures of dragon, phoenix and gold, but one that expounds the purified attitude of ‘俾面’ (Respect). ‘Give Face’ is an expression in the Chinese culture, where one would respect the other person, especially those who are older, even though he/she may agree or disagree with the person’s opinion.

Drawing on a mixed oriental cultural heritage, perhaps no other designer could avidly interpret the cultures of the Far East than one who is born and practicing it.  As Chandran is best known for his skill and craftsmanship in revolutionizing the luxury traditional designs that are befitting for the Royals, he has cleverly arbitrated the oriental aesthetics with modern interventions fit for prêt-couture.

Whether Chinese Opera references or Chinois sunflower motifs, royal jade embellishments and brocade refinements, ‘俾面’ in cheeky prints or dramatic 70s reveries, they’ve all made their way into Chandran’s men’s and women’s collections. We can see the diversity of the different eras and the quirky mix of styles blended with ‘the now, the former and the future’ in one unified theme. 

A modern sequence of rich oriental colors - emerald green, gold purple, maroon, black, blue & red clicked poetically with luxurious textures – brocade, silk lamè, organza and fur to depict a sense of luxury and richness that accompanies with the wintery moods. 

The outlines - extra wing cuffs, boxed-pleats, Chinese bustier corset, Oriental opera sleeves, batwing sleeves and boot cut overlap trousers are groomed into a luxury vision of mind-blowing modern elegance.

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FEE DAN Paris Fashion Week 2016

Fee Dan has combined everything women like in their daily lives one collection. Fee Dan is not afraid of color and her graceful character caters her collection to women who exhibit their fun yet sophisticated side. She harmonizes "oriental breezes" with clear lines and forms a modern touch.

The young designer of the brand, Fidan Alakbarli, has come forward with her love of pattern yet again for Fall 16/17 collection which is titled Oriental Breezes. The far east hand fan patterns in her designs are key elements to the collection. The main colors are lively hues of green and violet paired with somber tones of camel. For the first time, Fee Dan has designed fur coats and the rich fur is also featured on the cuffs of blouses and pockets of wool coats. There is an edgy use of green leather across the bodice of a black jumpsuit and there's a slight rocker vibe when the leather resurfaces in a bike jacket.

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ELENAREVA FALL-WINTER 2016-2017 Ready to Wear Collection PFW

The leitmotif of ELENAREVA winter collection is time, expressed in terms of the life cycle. Expanding the idea of transience of time, ElenaReva offers its own formula of reality: the value of time and attention to important life.

The topic subtly traces by the familiar ELENAREVA decorative methods - in embroidery and art prints. Flowers, as a symbol of inexhaustible source of life, symbolically combined with sharp cutting lines and graphical grids, creating exquisite patterns on silk and lace. Embroidery on clothing scatters in the wind and we only see snatches of conversation from Ecclesiastes – “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Every outfit creates its own semantic field, where everything looks like a concrete statement, moments and eternal love.

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"A Bloody Love Story" COPPELIA PIQUE RTW FW2016/17 Paris Fashion Week

The Coppélia Pique ready-to-wear Fall/Winter 2016/17 collection celebrates the universal myth of unrequited love in a modern Renaissance. The lines are inspired by the uniforms and ceremonial outfits of the Officers.  Asymmetries of forms are combined with a strong contrast between bright colors like vermilion, indigo, golden green with more classical colors, midnight blue, grey and black. This colorful palette is highlighted by a tinge of gold. The contemporary, almost sportswear-like looks throughout the show, transformed into dramatic and theatrical gowns of rich, draped satin and sculpted textile. This collection epitomizes Baudelaire's poem "The Death of Lovers" and reveals the existing contradiction of the modern woman, torn in a world of passion, light games and mirror effects, between androgyny and femininity.

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