Paris Fashion Week SS22: Stella McCartney, Maitrepierre, Coperni, and More

Stella McCartney’s career-defining obsession with finding sustainable solutions to lower fashion’s carbon footprint problem continued for her Spring 2022 ready-to-wear show at Espace Niemeyer in Paris. The collection included pleated jumpsuits and trousers with psychedelic prints, fringe bodices, piped tops with corset illusions, and boyfriend blazers and parachute jackets that gave way to disco-ball suits. There was a 1970’s groove throughout, made more apparent with playful cutouts in bodysuits. Meanwhile, McCartney’s eco-friendly approach to getting dressed appeared in zero-deforestation viscose fabric and the first of its kind Frayme Mylo™️ bag, a new Stella icon made from Bolt Thread’s Mylo™️, a completely mushroom derived leather alternative. McCartney is optimistic for the future of fashion but maintains understated techniques that get people on board.

A return to nature continued for the Antwerp-based designer, CHRISTIAN WIJNANTS’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection with simple, drapey pieces that provided function in neutral colors that looked to Mother Earth for a sense of grounding. Crochet dresses in breathtaking cobalt blues, coordinating suits in shades of green, and free-flowing tops and dresses, many of which twisted at the neck, emphasized the brand’s desire for purity, using our environment for inspiration. A standout was multicolored dappled print that mimicked the sight of wildflowers from afar. Billowy, organic fabric kept the collection refined and encouraged minimalism in a time where excess seems never ending.

Maitrepierre’s ultra-feminine Spring/Summer 2022 collection was a tribute to classic silhouettes, but transformed by eco-friendly means of production. In the way that technology is constantly hybridizing our lives, prints were generated by randomly compressing fabrics and materials through an algorithm, using a program developed by Adem Elahel. Collared necklines and shapes that fanned outward dominated. Slip dresses in bright yellows, pinks, and reds and sets in multicolored abstract floral prints complemented the neutral tones that opened and closed the show. Cropped shirts paired with tailored trousers were tied around the waist, and appeared several times in blacks, beiges, and blues. The entire collection, made in France, was put together with recycled fibers, non-polluting inks, and natural dye.

Coperni’s newest collection was limitless in its interpretation of 21^st-century trends. A maxi-bodycon dress had an all-over square print, each tile with a different 1990s-style symbol—a smiley face, yin and yang, Beavis and Butt-Head—that reflected the breadth of where we draw our influence. Navy trousers that looked like jeans at first glance were decorated with rhinestones in a celestial pattern, taking from a popular interest in star signs. A brilliant white blazer had cutouts at the tops of the arms and a plunging neckline with fabric wrapping around the neck in lieu of a collar. This was all worn without pants, but with blue bikinis, and along for the ride, a brown bucket bag with petal shapes. An eye-catching bralette with large sequins that reflects light the way mother of pearl does was matched with metallic sheer pants adorned with a leafy paisley print. Coperni’s looks reflected our ecosystem, surreal and futuristic, but never without reference.