Contemporary Cues: Parisian Party Girls, Jean Seberg and Art Deco Architecture
PARIS — Paris continues to be a fountain of inspiration for contemporary brands presenting off the runway, with inspirations this season ranging from the American in Paris to the architecture of the city’s historical greenhouses.
Rust and sepia saw a resurgence with variations at Aigle, Maison Kitsuné and Margaret Howell, while Barbie pink was still in play at Sandro and Maje.
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At Sandro, Carlo Usai is taking the men’s collection in a new direction, while Maison Kitsuné has moved on from its revolving door of creative directors to an in-house team as it looks to expand rapidly into lifestyle and hospitality.
Aigle
Since the trio of Aurélien Arbet, Jérémie Égry and José Lamali, who are also behind the Études label, have worked to refine the Aigle brand, they’ve upped the presentation game to include some of Paris’ most iconic spots — the roof of the Pompidou Center last season; inside the Jardin des Plantes’ winter garden this time around. Models made their way through trees and wandered among the tropical foliage like very chic explorers.
The trio wanted to work with prints, and created a monochrome camo cloud and a toile-type impression of the winter garden’s Art Deco architecture. The latter was a collaboration with the Jardin des Plantes using a historical print found in the archives. It was part of the trio’s desire to create a dialogue with Paris, while creating items for the traveler.
They played with details of zips and pockets on utilitarian cargo vests, jumpsuits and coats. A neutral color palette expands this season with coral and sage, and they open up trousers with a wider and cropped leg. Cozy knits added chunky texture to streamlined outerwear. It was technical and functional with detailed twists.
Claudie Pierlot
Claudie Pierlot pared it back this season to simpler shapes, sleeker lines and more structure. The brand, which often relies on beach cues and traditional French stripes, presented pencil skirts, sheath dresses and blazers.
Showing with its usual immersive experience, the brand showed a short film with popcorn and engraved Oscars available to guests. The film featured a Jean Seberg lookalike visiting unconventional corners of Paris, illustrating a pivot from the stereotypical French-girl style to a collection with a little more edge this season. Skirts were shorter, and ’70s-style argyle prints in yellow were in play.
Elsewhere the brand was on trend with lace-up ballet flats in black, red and silver, and collaborated with French brand Bensimon on a limited-edition trainer. The logo print introduced two seasons ago has expanded to shirts, skirts and ties for head-to-toe print-a-pallooza looks.
Maison Kitsuné
Maison Kitsuné was chasing the sun with its Endless Summer collection that was heavy on pastels and prints. An abstract daisy interpretation was lasered onto denim jeans and jackets for an unconventional take on the suit, while a palm tree print and a gradient sunset print appeared on T-shirts.
Patchwork merino knit cardigans were slouchy and full, while updated workwear shapes in denim kept the California skate sensibility. The house looked to unconventional colors this season, in rust and lavender, the latter appearing on a boot-cut denim with a ’70s air, doubled in other T-shirt designs that recalled the graphics and logos of that era. That vibe also carried through on terry cloth track suits. Skirts had a slimmer cut in tulip shapes and straight denim.
The brand debuted a new, baby version of its fox logo on totes and charms. After introducing handbags for the first time last season, it added two additional shapes as it looks to expand the accessories category.
Collaborations were still in play, but after a series of creative directors and guest designers, the brand is now sticking with an in-house studio model as it moves into lifestyle categories. More restaurants are coming, as well as club and hospitality concepts expanding next year.
Maje
Maje returned to its French roots this season after looking to the U.K. last season. Minidresses and truncated bombers came in classic tweed, while trenches took on chiffon pleats at the bottom.
Aside from a few traditional trench elements, including a voluminous cropped version, and striped sweaters, this collection was dominated by color. A Barbie pink skort-and-jacket combination took cues from denim jackets rendered in tweed for a liberal take on suiting, and also a dress with an off-the-shoulder twist. There was plenty here for the party set, including bias-cut slipdresses, with tops cropped and slashed in various iterations. The ’90s-meets-’70s bell bottoms were also on display in white lace and denim versions, though it remains to be seen if the trend will have staying power. But it was geared toward the influencers who will wear it in OOTD (outfit of the day) pics.
Margaret Howell
After digging through its archives, Margaret Howell brought back some of its vintage prints. The British brand worked with Liberty back in the ’70s and ‘80s and, after coming across some old swatch books, revived a classic peacock pattern in chocolate and rust. Pieces were practical and soft, such as a long boxer short with pockets, a loose shirtdress, and a pleated skirt with an elasticated waistband. Howell paired the looks with classic vests and ties for a school uniform feel.
It was emblematic of her androgynous and unisex looks of elevated utilitarian workwear that bring traditional menswear shapes into the women’s lane, with touches such as dropped shoulders and shorter arm lengths. The pieces had that borrowed-from-the-boys feel, but proportions were on point. The borrowing went both ways — a kilt-style wrap skirt has been popular with men.
She updated her popular shapes with wider, upturned cuffs on shorts and high-waisted sailor trousers. Denim pencil skirts had a wide front vent, while outerwear brought technical rain gear into the ready-to-wear realm with oversized collars. A denim jumpsuit will be on-trend with the season’s all-white dressing.
After moving from the London Fashion Week runway calendar during the pandemic, Howell has presented quietly in Paris, allowing a tactile experience of the collection of natural, undyed linen shirts, chunky knits and thick Japanese denim, to great effect.
Longchamp
As the brand’s classic bags have seen a resurgence on TikTok with sorority girls popularizing the nylon Pliage style as their “rush bags,” the company leaned in to its current social media cachet with a collection geared toward college students. Creative director Sophie Delafontaine imagined an American student in Paris — perhaps Emily’s younger sister — in sequined basketball jersey dresses, sequined wrap jackets and rainbow sequined skirts. There was a lot of sparkle.
The party vibe was palpable and a departure from the brand’s equestrian roots. It was spring break in the South of France instead of Florida, packing bikinis made from upcycled vintage scarves, sandals from the K Jacques collaboration, and a new woven palm leaf market bag. Flowers featured big with hand-crocheted appliqués on bags.
Ready-to-wear is still a small portion of the business, which does well on the U.S. East Coast and in Asia in particular. Leather goods are still the backbone of the brand, and it introduced several new shapes to its growing stable of bags, including the Roseau bucket, and cross-body bags inspired by pencil cases or artists’ notebooks. If anything, it was a study in contrasts.
Sandro
Carlo Usai has stepped into the lead role as global merchandising director on the men’s side and smartened up the collection with soft suiting, airy but substantial knits and new shapes. This season, the line moved away from its prior logo-heavy club wear to a relaxing and refined look that felt fresh and directional for the brand. His background at Givenchy should help elevate the accessible luxury line.
On the women’s side, Sandro is still mostly in party mode, with lots of sparkles, floral embellishments and Barbie pink.
The two-waistband jean has done well in coastal flagships including Beverly Drive in Los Angeles and SoHo in New York, the brand said, so it’s upping the ante with a three-waistband jean this season. Elsewhere denim was also embellished with rhinestone hearts, and crochet dresses were tipped with sparkle, too.
Linen short suits were smarter, and a capsule of sundresses in Mediterranean blue were a nod to founder and artistic director Évelyne Chetrite’s love of the South of France.
The brand continued its capsule with artist Louis Barthélemy for a second season with his bright prints on pajama-style suiting. It also debuted new handbags and embellished ballet flats. There were a lot of contrasting ideas on offer.
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