For his Paris women's debut in the charmed Hotel de Ville, New York (mostly men's) designer Thom Browne wholeheartedly embraced the magical allure of the City of Light. Using little more than latex and lace, he undertook one of the more memorable collections in a while, Paris or anywhere.
In a mere 15 looks at the Russian Embassy in Paris, Comme des Garçons' Rei Kawakubo offered a glimpse of her limitless artistic universe — swirling prints collaged out of everything from the strange Mannerist portraits of 16th-century painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo to starry-eyed Japanese anime.
Rick Owens has been marveling at the beauty of the imposing Palais de Tokyo in Paris for seasons now, haunting its underground space before "caressing its exterior," he said, with his astonishing men's show last June. Today, for the female version of that collection, also called Dirt, the audience sat around the same courtyard, with its central fountain emitting mist before erupting into geyser-like, sky-high spurts that formed a geometric, brutalist aquatic block, eventually spraying the models.
At Maison Margiela for spring, John Galliano — taken under the wing by one of fashion's most self-protective houses — took his cues from the rush, the security, the mundaneness of air travel.
Dior started with a question — literally. "Why have there been no great women artists?" read the first look. Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri then traipsed through an assortment of midcentury French motifs: berets, worker denims, polka dots, mariniére stripes.
Commemorating 20 years since her brother's murder, Donatella Versace took themes directly from the archives — for the first time — specifically the iconic period between 1991 and 1995. This was Gianni's peak, when he delivered his most memorable prints and motifs, among them Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Elton John, Trésor de la Mer, Vogue covers, and Baroque.
They're intended to shock, and shock they do. Here, our WTF picks from the London spring shows...
Malaysian men's designer Moto Guo, who once famously gave his models big red dots of acne, is still clowning around for spring 2018. The playful collection, called To Kinder, is a kind of ode to childhood dress-up, with colorful wide ties, pleated schoolgirl skirts, bib-like shapes, and assorted frilly and/or lacy things.
The use of giant mixed-race doll heads at Viktor & Rolf's couture collection today was meant to convey the diversity and versatility of the clothes on display, clothes that took a second turn on the runway, only loosened from their fancier versions moments earlier to reveal their eminent wearability...
