Paris Fashion Week is nearing its end, so we’re diving into some of the new collections introduced for Fall/Winter 2023. Here, you’ll find what’s new from Alexander McQueen, Schiaparelli, Rick Owens, Lanvin, Comme des Garçons, Akris, and Ann Demeulemeester.
Courtesy of Alexander McQueen.
The inner workings of humans, clothing, and flowers were at the forefront of Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2023 debuts, offering clothing focused on beauty and power. Foundational elements of fashion were explored alongside subverted classics, turning inside-out recognizable pieces to reveal strong, elegant designs including sculptural knits, reconfigured tailoring, beautiful gowns, and statuesque shapes that often reminded us of armor. The form of the orchid (at once captivatingly beautiful and slightly threatening) was explored through graphics, patterned knits, and details like protective shoulder embellishments and careful folds of fabric reminiscent of petals. In a regal palette of black, white, red, deep purple, and steel gray were looks like a silver tulle and beaded orchid gown accompanied by a single statement earring that fell below the collar bone, a take on suiting where a double-breasted blazer was turned into a sleeveless bodice layered over a white poplin button-up and a leather tie, and a knit dress in red with intricate openings and configurations suggestive of anatomy, paired with pointy-toed boots in red leather with zippers and buckles that reminded us of biker jacket hardware.
Courtesy of Schiaparelli.
Entitled “Now and Forever,” Schiaparelli’s Fall/Winter 2023 ready-to-wear collection offered an entire wardrobe born from the enduring art-inspired legacy of founder Elsa Schiaparelli. House codes like the keyhole, anatomical references, tape measurer details, creative knits, and rounded, chiseled shapes live on in luxurious and compelling garments made for day-to-day wear. Slightly more classic or archetypal styles like blazer dresses, skirt sets, suiting, and puffer jackets were elevated through the inclusion of gold details born from the aforementioned codes, along with lush fabrications like black velvet, patent leather, feathers, and silk quilting. Meanwhile, the maison’s expected avant-garde shone through in an abstract print of organic shapes, statement jewelry like large gold earrings and a necklace made of golden shells, and structural elements like skirts, sleeves, and bodices with sculpted integrity. In addition to the jewelry, looks were styled with chic footwear with signature details (like outlined toes and keyhole embellishments) and a suite of headwear including turban wraps, balaclavas, and thick headbands.
Courtesy of Rick Owens.
Rick Owens continued with the thematic title “Luxor” explored in its recent menswear debuts for the Fall/Winter 2023 womenswear collection, once again looking to the city in Egypt and the film The Ten Commandments for a point of departure. Merging fantasy and reality were garments in reduced shapes—though the reductions were strictly pertaining details and not the shapes and volumes themselves. Large duvet pieces encircled torsos and made up puffy robe-like coats and sashes and strong shoulders reached new heights sometimes so tall that they hovered behind the wearer’s head. There were pieces with an alien sensuality, like knit dresses with slashed single-shoulder silhouettes and trains that dragged the ground. The house’s platform footwear appeared in new iterations, including an encompassing style almost like a pants leg and a version with straps like leg splints. The collection was imagined in tasseled fringes, textured leather, distressed fabrications, in a suite of metallics in pink, silver, and gold.
Courtesy of Lanvin.
Upon first glance, Lanvin’s latest collection appeared to feature classics and archetypes, though further examination revealed a sprinkling of ingredients and thoughtful details that made each piece special. At the foundation, there were suiting staples, knitwear pieces, button-up shirts, fluid elegant dresses, and leather styles in dark hues and shades of pink, green, yellow, teal, and purple. These designs became new through elements like doubled layers on blazers, two-toned collars and lapels, textural beading and crinkled fabrications, understated updates to form, and styling choices. Looks we’re still thinking about include a knitted romper with a built-in balaclava, paired with a leather overcoat, studded heels, a matching slouchy leather bag, and bug-eyed sunglasses; a blazer seen underneath a skirt held up with a strap across one shoulder; and a black gown that played with elements of coverage and concealment through a layered skirt, textural details, a sheer top, and a fitted hood that covered the wearer’s neck and head.
Courtesy of Comme des Garçons.
Comme des Garçons introduced a collection of garments that we’d deem more art than clothing. While wearability was lacking—many of the styles featured sizeable frameworks or shapes that enclosed the models’ arms completely—creativity was at an all-time high. There were boxy tops with sleeves that stuck out by a foot on either side, accompanied by skirts with oversized, exaggerated fringes and three-dimensional swirls; bulbous shapes that covered the wearer’s arms and shoulders, cinched in at the waist and resembling upholstery; styles covered with knotted bulbs of fabric; and dresses enclosed by three-dimensional fabric sculptures. Each look was accompanied by a memorable wig or headpiece, like a white curly style shaped like an enlarged captain’s hat, and a riff on a party hat that was made of multicolored pipe cleaners.
Courtesy of Akris.
Echoes of 1970s London whispered softly in the new debuts from Akris. The Fall/Winter 2023 collection was full of warm tones, studious plaids, fit-and-flare cuts, and shearling-trimmed coats and vests á la Penny Lane. The designs were reconceptualized in a fully modern fashion through slight changes in silhouettes, updated hardware, geometric graphic prints, and contemporary footwear. There were houndstooth sets with button-up tops, monochrome blouses and pants that featured geometric belt buckles, miniature dresses with pleats and mock necks, all-over printed suits, and flowy sheer dresses with bohemian outerwear. Looks were styled with a simple middle-parted updo, matching purses in leather and shearling, and footwear styles like leather work boots with laces, over-the-knee leather boots with thick soles, or velvet heeled booties.
Courtesy of Ann Demeulemeester.
Ann Demeulemeester’s Creative Director Ludovic de Saint Sernin treated the maison’s latest collection as one might a letter—an exchange between the sender and recipient—as a means of keeping in tune with the esteemed founder. Intimacy and respect played out through a series of 36 looks in mostly black, where translucent fabrications, leather, silks, furs, and Demeulemeester’s beloved motif of the feather were employed in the making of clean, simplistic ensembles that highlighted the wearer’s figure and sensuality. Encompassing looks for men and women, the collection had pieces like gauzy slip skirts, lean suiting shapes (updated in leather or with tie fastens at the front), knit bodysuits and dresses, and gowns with twisted details. Throughout the collection, chests were revealed under single layers of sheer mesh, jackets left unfastened, barely covered by single feathers worn horizontally across the breasts, or left completely bare and concealed under models’ crossed hands—which were often covered in long sheer gloves.
