With Paris Fashion Week having come to a close, fashion month is officially over. Never mind the celebrity cameos in New York, or the cooler-than-though vibe in London, Paris Fashion Week has been and remains the leading, most creative of the major bi-annual fashion showcases. We remember the just-closed Fall/Winter 2015 event through a selection of our 5 most memorable shows.
1. Maison Margiela
This show was everything one would expect from John Galliano’s debut for Maison Margiela, and then some: it was wacky, creative, it had drama, hunchbacked models, performance art, and it oozed plenty of charisma and playful irreverence.
2. Comme des Garcons
Seattle noise metal band Sunn O))) provided the aural backdrop to Rei Kawakubo’s brave, dark and affecting presentation: a mostly grey to black palette featured ornate, dream-like looks of heavy cloaks, structural trousers and liberally gathered dresses that captured and mesmerized. It was dark, but it didn’t feel quite so.
3. Saint Laurent
Hedi Slimane delved into the past to deliver a collection that was anything but old. Skinny jeans, faded t-shirts, leather jackets, fur coats and shiny leather accessories reminded us of the 70s punk scene in the best ways possible. Pundits, however, rebutted by wondering if it’s just too edgy. Which is a pointless question, because this was one of the most viscerally beautiful collections we have seen in Paris this year.
4. Jacquemus
Jacquemus presentation was a bold and triumphant reminder that fashion doesn’t have to take itself so seriously, and when it doesn’t, great things can happen.
5. Givenchy
Riccardo Tisci enlisted the help of makeup master Pat McGrath to create ornamental facial jewelry looks, including bejeweled nose rings and dramatic earrings that hung from ears—and nose septa. The ornate facial jewelry accompanied the exquisite tailoring of the garments—at once opulent and restrained. It was a beautiful, accomplished collection from a fashion house at its peak.
Honorable mentions: Manish Arora, Junya Watanabe