Paris Fashion Week has come to a close, and in a grand finale Whitewall brings you the Spring/Summer 2023 collections of Chanel and Hermès.
Courtesy of Chanel.
Chanel’s Creative Director Virginie Viard, invoked the brand’s contemporary muse, actress Kristen Stewart, and paid the ultimate homage to classic film, the Nouvelle Vague, Karl Lagerfeld, and Gabrielle Chanel for the house’s lustrous Spring/Summer 2023 ready-to-wear collection. Juxtaposed with French director Alan Resnais’ haunting film Last Year in Marienbad (1961), models walked the runway in shimmering pastel tweeds, collage-like black and white prints, elegant sheer-paneled sets, and layers of cool, shining jewels. Exquisite fine details like ruffles, flowers, lace, and bows were set upon monogrammed slip dresses, figure-hugging belts, elbow-length leather gloves, and woven cuffs. Dresses had freedom of movement in light chiffon, panne velvet, and slits in all the right places. Rhinestone boots, knee-high tights, and petite handbags rounded out every look of timeless, cosmopolitan allure.
Photo by Filippo Fior, courtesy of Hermès.
Californian enchantment and the hymns of a desert rave provided rich inspiration for the Hermès Spring/Summer 2023 collection. Colors of a mystic mountain landscape—ebony, dawn pink, sunbaked red, hazy orange, sandy beige, and blue mirage—seeped onto languid and deconstructed pieces. Fabrics were reminiscent of netting, a hammock, or a parachute, caressing the body in airiness and sleek protection. Fine ropes, buckles, and zippers gave way to flowing jumpsuits, leather pants, and sculpted sandals. An evening dancing under the stars was realized in a dynamic, 3D-printed dress, stretching and forming to the body’s will. A shimmering white mini dress with matching robe echoed the undulations of the human heart and a transformative desert breeze.
