Gypsy chic dominates Vivienne Westwood’s great show in Paris
The Paris Fashion Week show featured designs made of sustainable fabrics by the house that puts a spotlight on the fashion industry’s responsibility to protect the environment
Austrian-british fashion duo Andreas Kronthaler and Vivienne Westwood brought a gypsy-like caravan of models wrapped in tartan and silk to the gilded corridors of Paris’ town hall to present their 2020-21 winter collection. Contrasting the opulence of the French capital’s Hôtel de Ville, models in long skirts and oversized coats looked like peasants with necklaces of garlic or pepper tresses and the occasional multicoloured feather hat to top it all off.
Perhaps in homage to the French flag, Kronthaler and Westwood gave one model a tricolour red, white and blue pompadour hairstyle to go with a puffy blue jupon and a white corset. American model Bella Hadid closed the show on Feb. 29 bearing a dagger with a wedding gown whose translucent lace heavily hinted at the gypsy bride’s figure beneath.
As for Westwood, the erstwhile queen of punk wore a long violet dress.
A singer at Vivienne Westwood’s eco-minded Paris Fashion Week show serenaded guests about fighting for the environment. Elie Saab presented a 1970’s-inspired study in the bow collar. And Agnes B. cancelled her show scheduled for later in the week in response to the coronavirus, the first such move by a French designer. Here are some highlights of fall-winter ready-to-wear shows for 2020.
The clothes, by designer Andreas Kronthaler, exuberantly mixed punk, with ethnic styles and the regal — all to dramatic effect under the sparkling crystal chandeliers of the City of Light’s historic Hotel de Ville. Then Westwood and Kronthaler posed with model-of-the-minute Bella Hadid in a voluminous sheer lace Marie Antoinette-style bustier and a garland of yellow blooms. Yet it was the live warbling at the Westwood show that seemed to provoke the most interest.
“The year is 2020. A revolution is happening. People are fighting back,” an androgynous singer, with long hair and exposed figure-hugging contour, sang at the foot of the runway. It added a further dimension to the 50 designs made of eco-minded and often-sustainable fabrics by the house that puts a spotlight on the fashion industry’s responsibility to protect the environment.
As ever, Westwood’s signature draping and period-style whooshes were used by Kronthaler in a collection with a urban, sporty edge. There were large veils, a crown of crystal-like shards, an Elizabethan ruff made up of garlic cloves. Sneakers sported princess-like multicoloured ribbons. This was Kronthaler as his most subversive. But it was also among one of his most vibrant with bright tartans, flashes of duke blue, prints and dazzling bronze gowns. Paris’ fashion federation said earlier this week that six Chinese brands cancelled planned events in Paris because of the outbreak . The absences — of Masha Ma, Shiatzy Chen, Uma Wang, Jarel Zhang, Calvin Luo and Maison Mai — produced gaps during some days’ normally back-to-back calendar shows at the Paris fashion week.