Style Icon’s The Fashion Word: Highlights of Paris Fashion Week SS16
New life has been injected into the John Galliano fashion brand with Bill Gaytten, now creative director, adding a more contemporary, youthful flavour to the collection. As The Beatles’ upbeat “Twist and Shout” played through out the show, models paraded along the catwalk in lace dresses, khaki mesh parkas next to ruffled skirts. Transparency is the key trend for spring summer 2016 as Gaytten played homage to see-through ensembles with cute bustiers. The theme of lingerie seemed to add to elements of girly, party attire which gave the collection such a fresh feel. Gaytten seemed to avoid embellishments opting for a series of feathered Bobby helmets created by Stephen Jones for the show. This marks an exciting new beginning for the John Galliano fashion brand.
The Leonard SS16 fashion collection by Yiqing Yin was so refreshing to watch. Imagine a fireworks display or a collage with bursts of colour or simply a colourful painting. Yiqing translates the Leonard collection “into a playful expression of colour and words” Yiqing continued with the historic Leonard Paris house prints unveiling them under a silk and nylon organza. The collection is precise in cut, and in the quality of its finish. A beautiful, sophisticated collection showcasing an array of colour making it stand out from the usual colour palette of monochrome or more subdued colours often used for the runway. Many silhouettes graced the catwalk: flowing jumpsuits, and dresses with appended words, and motifs. Structured jacquards, and skirts paired with cropped tops. Yiqing plays with fun prints such as scribbles, graffiti-like imagery and florals. The collection oozes a special confidence to match a confident lady who dares to be different and innovative.
Kym Ellery’s spring summer 2016 collection played homage to volume; a necessary factor in adopting a comfortable, effortless style. Various silhouettes dominated the catwalk in the form of ample dresses, voluminous catsuits, jackets and tops with bell-shaped sleeves, and bell-bottom trousers. There was a 70s feel to the collection but with a modern twist added in terms of a contemporary colour palette of monochrome and luxurious fabrics such as silk, crepe and cotton with an ultra-luxe hand. A beautiful and carefully executed craftsmanship evolved on the catwalk through exquisite draping on fabrics, and crinkly metallic fabric and accessories used in some of Ellery’s looks. Overall, a stunning fashion collection which shows a glamorous maturity needed in every lady’s wardrobe.
The Shiatzy Chen spring summer 2016 collection is the perfect confluence of Eastern and Western influences. According to the show’s press release, in the journey to the West, one of the four wondrous books in Chinese Literature, the protagonist, Sun Wukong led a team to the West obtaining scriptures. The feel of the collection is one of retro contour and cutting. Various materials are used in the collection, as well as attention paid to layering different looks. The key looks used were cinched waist maxi and short dresses. Fabrics were also integrated with embroidered lace and imitation silk. A unique technique was adopted in the form of combining lise charmer and printing so that the fabric carried a 3D effect and naturalistic prints. The colour palette was rich in white, gold, yellow, warm orange and blue tones. Overall, a contemporary, fashion and youthful collection; very grand in style.
Junko Shimada invited the graffiti artist Hugo Cesto to collaborate on the decor of the presentation as well as the collection itself. There was a retro-feel present coupled with classic prints – stripes and ruffle details. The colour palette was strong including bright red, white and blue. Shimada’s fashion collection echoed the 60s and 70s era with bright white linens and ‘broderie anglaise’ combined with juponnees dresses. Tunics and overcoats were the dominant styles along with a linen trench. Junk Shimada is always a delight to watch for its vibrant colour palette and modern reinterpretation of different fashion eras. The models contributed to the quirky elements of the collection by wearing colourful wigs. Watch out for statement accessories next season in form of big sun hats and straw bags.
Written by Natalie Robinson | Photography by FunkyForty | John Galliano & Leonard Paris Fashion Images sourced from Indigital
