Marant’s tribute to the decade that style forgot

WITH stonewashed denim, power shoulders and lamé amongst its fashion signatures, the Eighties has earned a reputation as the decade that style forgot. But at Paris fashion week on Thursday night, Isabel Marant sought to reframe those wrongs with a collection which will have cool Parisian women of today wearing classic Eighties tropes with easy insouciance.

In a marquee decked out in tinsel streamers to look like a disco, Marant’s 50-look collection was shown to a soundtrack which included Donna Summer’s Bad Girls. Shamelessly faithful iterations of pieces that usually prompt noses to wrinkle came out one by one, or sometimes all in a single outfit; an oversized patchworked and distressed denim jacket was slouched over a lamé playsuit, a starched white wideshouldered denim gilet was worn with a coordinating boiler suit (very Bonnie Barstow in Knight Rider) and harem trousers with crop tops had something of the Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan about them.

The simple outfit equation of jeans and a nice top was also given a revamp in the spirit of bad taste made cool as carrot-legged, high-waisted “mom” styles were paired with disco-ball batwing tops. Meanwhile, the slouchy white leather knee boots worn by Kaia Gerber with a glittery jumper dress look set to be a key buy.

The new take on Eighties dressing comes with a more relaxed finish than the era of perms and blue eye shadow.

Isabel Marant, who is known for her effortless Parisian style, took her bow in one of her slouchy denim jackets and a pair of skintight silver leggings, but she was barefaced with her hair in a elegantly scruffy bun. A poster woman for Eighties style the 2019 way.