The big Paris Fashion Week trends for autumn and winter
As the Paris Fashion Week autumn-winter shows ended in their climax, we look at the biggest womenswear trends so far on the catwalk:
Mad hatters
Paris has fallen head over heels for hats. Last week has seen an unprecedented sprouting of headwear on the runways, from turbans to Dior’s Black Panther leather berets. Wanda Nylon, too, also featured that most French of caps.
The American iconoclast Rick Owens created a whole gallery of miters, crowns and veils for the “contemporary ceremonial” of his show, making alien burqa hats from sweatshirt sleeves.
Pascal Millet went for glittery beanies, Faith Connection gaucho hats and borsalinos while Neith Nyers featured woolly elf and flowerpot numbers.
And one could only doff one’s cap to Jacquemus for their stylish riff on vaguely Spanish black felt headgear, from jaunty bicorne Picasso monteras to stovepipe 1950s numbers.
Japanese label Undercover appeared to have topped everyone with a procession of wild plumed fascinators until the Andreas Kronthaler blew them away with a punk Statue of Liberty crowned helmet that almost felt as big as the real one.
The turbocharged Austrian designer, who like his partner Vivienne Westwood is an environmental activist, also concocted a series of headdresses made from rubbish and finished with his take on a sultan-sized Ottoman turban.
Is oversized over?
Is it the end for the oversized androgynous coats, jackets and jumpers that have dominated catwalks for the last 18 months?
It appears so, as even designers who had flirted with the trend have returned to more fitted and feminine fare. With Raf Simons, the Belgium designer credited with creating the style now on the other side of the Atlantic at Calvin Klein, the moody teenager look seems to be ebbing.
It could be time to stop those gorilla sleeves at the wrists.
Shiny leather
Nothing emphasizes the new tailored trend more than the abundance of sharply-cut shiny leather on the podiums.
Very few of the main shows were without the sheen of leather or slinkily cut silks or synthetics.
Anthony Vaccarello wrapped his 1980s Saint Laurent vamps in tight rippling leather outfits and Chloe dusted off a brown patent 1970s mini dress that Mary Tyler Moore might have worn in one of her racier moments.
Lanvin, now under the classy Bouchra Jarrar, went for a full patent black suit while Olivier They-