Highlights from the Paris Fashion Week Spring Summer 2019

The big daddy of fashion events, Paris Fashion Week is here and we’ve got our sartorial glasses on. The fashion event is one of the most prestigious events that ever take place and only the best of the best fashion houses and designers get to display at event. This season is no different! Even with the Dolce & Gabbana controversy looming, the fashion event started with much aplomb. Here’s a list of some of our favourites from this season.

Julien Dossena’s superb collection for Paco Rabanne would make an exemplary study of climate on creative fashion intelligence. It was an amazing composite of slip dresses, narrow sarongs, fine Lurex T-shirts, dresses over skinny trousers, and checked tailoring. It was obvious that Dossena did not spend all summer lounging on a beach, because there was so much sophisticated work, thought, and variety in the long, slim, deftly layered silhouettes.

For a person who likes to express themselves with fashion, what could be better than slogan t-shirts? Slogan gowns! Yes, you read that right. You could read that again though! The debut at the fashion week was their collection, aptly named, “Fashion Statement” as the models strutted the ramp donning meme-inspired gowns. Although a bit cheeky for our taste, but we’re sure the collection hit the right chord with their millennial demo graph.

Clare Waight Keller’s third haute couture collection for Givenchy was a modern approach to everything possible. It was filled with more than few novel elements. Latex, an oversize bow, an oversize bow that also happens to be a branded backpack has both. Pairing it with floor-sweeping dresses and showing it now rather than saving it to debut during ready-to-wear might not have been the show’s main takeaway, but this felt like a significant development.

Like Ellie Saab, Zuhair Murad was also quite inspired by the underwater creatures and mermaids. Can we blame the two? It’s the easiest, first-degree inspiration for any summer collection. Zuhair Murad’s collection was a blend of opulence and a modern flair on ’80s-inspired silhouettes. The designer kept the theme rather controlled, without any too-literal translations.

If the success of a couture show can be measured by the number of “wow”s we hear, Valentino certainly hit it off the park. Cuz apart from the numerous “wow’’s, Celine Dion even shed a tear or two looking at the beauty, the latest offering from Valentino was. Giant ruffles, florals and a lot of colours, Pierpaolo Piccioli took ‘florals for spring’ to a whole new level.

Ellie Saab’s first shot to fame was when Halle Berry descended the Oscar stage to claim her Best Actress trophy clad in an Ellie Saab number, and since then there has been no looking back for the Lebanese designer. “I wanted to celebrate the magic of femininity,” (read: mermaids!) said Elie Saab backstage before the show. The collection indeed had a liquid quality, with sinuous silhouettes dripping in silvery ocean-blue sequins.

Oliver Rousteing ‘s first couture show for Balmain opened with mixed reviews, but we honestly don’t have no complains. He whipped up a perfect concoction of metal chains, feather and leather. With an inspiration for new-age couture and with an idea to re-imagine ‘high fashion’ beyond traditional silhouettes, Rousteing presented an edgy line of robe-inspired, power shouldered gowns, tops with exaggerated bows and dresses with architectural attachments.

Even though Karl Lagerfeld missed the final bow for the show, the Chanel collection caught our fancy. Here’s why. In their usual fashion, the catwalk was transformed into a larger than life scenario. For this season, the Grand Palais was transformed once again into a fantastical setting. The collection featured midi length dresses and skirts that were bedazzled, form fitting and bouffant, all the while managing to keep their classic French aesthetics intact. Basically, it was like a tea party gone rouge.

A favourite among our B-town divas, Ralph & Russo put up a fun, colourful, feathery show without losing their trademark elegance. The season’s collection was said to be inspired by Mexican actress María Félix, who shot to fame in the 1940s. Her flamboyant Latin-American style took the form of colourful suits, oversized headwear and enormous skirts, that took our breath away, right away!