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Kenzo
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Kenzo label, current designer Antonio Marras opened with his summer 2011 collection, which focused on Japanese-influenced layering and signature prints before closing with a finale of heritage Kenzo pieces.
The look: Breezy summer dressing
Silhouette: Draped layers
Key items: Layering was the motif for dressing, with tiered tunic tops, baggy pyjama pants and unstructured bed jackets a key combination. Elsewhere there were trapeze-line tent dresses in maxi and midi-lengths, vest tops with low-scooping necklines exposing satin bra tops, panelled long-line sleeveless coats, cropped knit tops, cardigans and sarouel shorts
Colour: Salmon pink, aqua, lilac, cream and white, with a final passage of Japanese indigo blues
Fabric & knit: Silk, cotton, linen, satin, jersey, chiffon, denim, drapey knits, Fair Isle
Print & pattern: A key part of any Kenzo collection, this season saw a typical patchworking of prints, including micro freehand stripes, a mosaic-tile geometric, linear cross-hatching, informal gingham checks, a Hokusai wave motif and an abundance of florals - stylised all-over florals, sparse ditsy florals, a chintzy wild-rose bloom, silhouette florals, and signature Kenzo-style forals
Details & trims: Drawcord ruching with aglet-tipped trainer (US: sneaker) laces as the strings, floral appliqués on sheers, floral beadwork and embroideries, baseball jacket-style collars, unbuttoned henleys
Footwear: Platform geta-style sandals with padded strap
Valentino
Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri have proved themselves to be the assured custodians of the Valentino legacy, magically managing to encapsulate the master's light tough in a collection full of barely there ethereal dresses and ladylike suits, which had a new youthful feel to them.
The look: Chic ingenue
Silhouette: Short, youthful and weightless
Key items: A slightly higher waistline transformed chic little dresses and tailleurs into a new youthful silhouette, worked with undulating bias ruffles everywhere, from tracing the front of a shirtdress, to a shoulder flounce, or skimming the front of a shorts suit. Lace blouses, organza tunics and lace skirts only added to the lighthearted feel
Colour: Black and white with smoke grey, a whisper-light pale cappuccino, sand, watermelon and a shot of signature Valentino red
Fabric & knit: Weightless silk chiffons and organzas, delicate lace, ribbon lace, embroidered lace, satin, leather, cotton, denim, spotted organza
Details & trims: Contrast piping, self ruffles, gold embroidery, sequins
Footwear: Ankle-chain flats and low-heeled courts
Accessories: Long strapped envelope bags, rouleau ties as necklaces, whippet-thin belts or narrow ribbon ties at the waist
Alexander McQueen
Having worked with Alexander McQueen for 15 years, Sarah Burton's design style must be intrinsically fused with the late designer's specific aesthetic. That symbiotic work undoubtedly led Burton to this collection, which read like a scrapbook of individual Alexander-infused pieces, instead of a cohesive story. Exquisite and couture-like, yes, but new and forward-looking? Not really.
The look: A medley of exquisitely worked McQueen signatures
Silhouette: Fit-and-flare, hourglass
Key items: Signature pieces formed a medley of McQueen motifs, including the tailored frock coat worn with ruffle-neck blouses, panniered dresses with high funnel necks, and even a reworking of the skirt suit from the designer's famous Plato's Atlantis collection, with its folded collar and elliptical sleeve. Elsewhere, high-collared band jackets were worn with skater skirts with ruffled godet inserts, hipster fly-front pants were cropped and flared, jackets and gilets were cropped with cutaway closures revealing the midriff, and there was a pastoral section with a corn-dolly dress and a bucolic off-the-shoulder milkmaid dress in white broderie
Colour: Onyx, chalky white, antique gold
Fabric & knit: Silk, silk chiffon, gabardine, metallic jacquard, open-stitch mesh knits, tulle, broderie anglaise, embroidered sheers, laser-cut and tooled leather, snakeskin, suede, printed and clipped feathers, long pheasant feathers, soft marabou
Print & pattern: A detailed medieval floral in red and gold on black ground, a shaded yellow-gold printed sheer, a grey-black degradé
Details & trims: Exquisite and intricate embellishments including tooled leather leaf appliqués, gold fern-leaf embroideries, beetle-black micro-bead embroidery, gold bugle bead, and braided embroideries resembling corn, buttons used as beads, silk fringing, millefeuille chiffon, and printed feathers made to look like Monarch butterfly wings. Other details include oversized godets, peaked and slashed shoulders, slashed midriffs, high collars, whip-stitching and raw unfinished hems
Footwear: Studded sandal boots with ski-hook style lacings, square toe-capped buckled ankle boots, peep-toe T-bar sandals
Accessories: Waspies and wide waist-cinching belts in tooled leather with Western metal-tip buckled straps
Chanel
Karl Lagerfeld was in fine fettle on the penultimate day of the Paris shows, presenting ever-evolving variations on the classic Chanel suit, which this season took on a weightless aesthetic thanks to the designer's preoccupation with new fabrications. New proportions were also brought into play, helping make this a rejuvenated showing.
The look: Last Year at Marienbad, which was the inspiration for the collection
Silhouette: Softly unstructured, longer skirt and dress shapes created new proportions
Key items: The Chanel suit manifested itself in new variations, including tiny short and jacket combinations that brought a new youthfulness to the house. Subtle A-line jackets looked new, along with wrapped silhouettes and a longer, fuller skirt proportion, which came teamed with jackets or as a soft smock-dress silhouette. Narrow jeans, boxy tee-shaped tops and soft dirndls, easy bath-wrap coats and knitted two-piece dressing were other new looks, while for evening it was all about a longer, fuller dress shape falling from a raised waistline.
Colour: Black and white formed the crux of the palette, highlighted with dabs of soft red, palest pastel pink, baby blue, aqua and lemon. Flashes of purple and brighter pink in prints
Fabric & knit: Weightless summer tweeds came with raw, ravaged edges, distressed, hole-pitted denims and drills, degradé or burn-out effects, delicate lace, silk chiffon, feathers
Print & pattern: A boldly coloured floral worked on a black ground, a diffused random abstract on muted brights on a white ground, a black and white floral all-over
Details & trims: Raw edges and fringed effects , tweed appliqués, braid trims, feathered hemlines, beading
Footwear: Low wedged sandals with laced details, cut-out shooties, flat unstructured tweed ankle boots
Accessories: Necklaces composed of multiple chains, long tasselled earrings, signature fingerless gloves, leather stocking boots, large squashy quilted envelope bags, small-scale chain-handle bags, fringed bags and fringed necklaces, jewelled cuffs
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