Paris Fashion Week FW22: Hermès, Givenchy, Schiaparelli, and More

The Hermès fall/winter 2022 collection paid homage to the women of the Paris Rive Gauche in the early 1950s—a group known as the "voyelles" who represented femininity and freedom. It was all about the line, whether drawing or crossing it, seen in stripes, pleats, strips, straps, piping, ribbing—from the scenography all the way down to the socks. Mostly vertical with moments of horizontal highlights, they were emphasized structure and texture. The palette moved from all black to cream, to a suite of greens in seafoam, teal, and moss. Rich chocolates, caramels, and khaki ended the collection, see in short hems of skirts, shorts, and dresses, paired with over-the-knee socks and knee-high boots. Waists were emphasized with belts—and there were nods to the house's equestrian roots, in saddle-like closures and leather details in much of the outerwear.

Givenchy presented its women's and men's ready-to-wear fall/winter 2022 collection on a translucent, X-shaped staged, lit from below. The house's haute couture roots were mixed with sporty silhouettes and nonchalant materials. Head-to-toe black marked the season, but in a variety of layers and materials. Masculine shapes were paired with feminine embellishments, like pearls on collars, jeans, bags, and hems. Another motif was the thistle, embroidered in black and featured in prints, jewelry, and shoes. “I really wanted to create a synthesis of powerful, sophisticated femininity, with an interplay of multiple American and Parisian influences, sports and craftsmanship. Next to her stands a contemporary man with an instinct for chic nonchalance. On the runway, both are grounded by a sense of reality,” said Creative Director Matthew M. Williams.

For two days, from March 5-6, Marine Serre presented "Hard Drive" over three floors of Lafayette Anticipations in Paris. The fall/winter 2022 collection show moved throughout the space, along a runway that weaved past original paintings and dioramas of Marine Serre's ethos—from its pioneering creations to its upcycling processes. Its signature House Moon Diamant motif was found on puffers, oversized pants, well-fitted blazers, and throughout the exhibition. Knits were brilliantly mixed in single garments, as were multiple washes of denim, face-covering crushed velvet, and quilts reimagined as inventive outerwear. Hard Drive aimed to "re-invent the art of living on a damaged planet," not as a dream or escape, but a chance "to reunite ourselves with the here-and-now with empathy, awareness, and joy."

Schiaparelli's fall/winter 2022 collection began with a 40-foot-long drop cloth, which over the course of nine hours, Daniel Roseberry painted with codes of the house: padlocks, keyholes, body parts, measuring tapes, and bijoux. It served as a tablecloth for a dinner celebrating the brand's first permanent shop at Bergdorf Goodman, it also marked the starting point for what was next in ready-too-wear. Mirroring the couture palette of black, bone white, and gold, Roseberry searched for perfection—found in a bias-cut satin slip dress with plisse soleil bust, or a satin minidress with hammered gold piercings and black leather lacing. "Every day I go out in the world in my own version of socially distanced armor; but beneath that armor is a real desire to touch, to feel, to be tender, to be vulnerable," writes Roseberry. "I want to give women clothes to run the world in, yes—but, equally, clothes to fall in love in. Can’t we have both? Can’t we want both? Can’t we be both? On Planet Schiaparelli, at least, we can: Nothing here is impossible.