I was going to avoid dedicating blogs to spring fashion weeks after I gave a lengthy description of NYFW, but the styles and celeb oddities at Paris Fashion Week are too juicy to ignore.
Firstly, Vivienne Westwood styled her models to resemble the characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Moving on from the morbid, Florence Welch was the closing act at Chanel and walked the runway holding hands with the ever-self-indulgent Karl Lagerfeld (he recently claimed to have invented the coaster which he calls a coupette, courtesy of Refinery29). The most noteworthy things that were actually designs were Valentino’s prints, which were feminine, modern and lovely, and, of course, Kanye West’s GIANT furry backpack (where was that when I wrote about backpacks in August…)
You might be wondering how invention-of-a-lifetime coupettes and oversized, overpriced furry backpacks relate to you. Here is how: The strange and beautiful trends showcases in Paris not only forecast the upcoming trends, but also illustrate the struggle of the fashion industry as a whole. The grand gestures of Paris Fashion Week show an industry masking financial woes with overindulgence. There is a reason Missoni agreed to do a line for Target and Vera Wang for Kohl’s, because high-fashion does not pay like it used to. These “demotions” are actually helpful to you because it makes those styles more accessible to you and this industry. I, for one, am waiting for the day Marc Jacobs does a line of promotional apparel (imprinted kilts anyone?).
P.S. Jason Wu is the next designer to make a line for Target. Let’s hope the site doesn’t crash this time. Here’s a glimpse at his first design.
