PFWSS23: Schiaparelli, Chloé, Roger Vivier, and More

Schiaparelli took into consideration the practical necessity of ready-to-wear for its Spring/Summer 2023 collection “The Extra Ordinary.” Detesting the descriptor “everyday,” it recognized that its wearers do, indeed, need clothing to wear every day. Taking advantage of the opportunity to combine notions of daily wear with that which is extraordinary, the house’s lean toward the avant-garde appeared in a more accessible iteration, embracing the same exquisite notions of couture (gorgeous fabrications, exquisite tailoring, and noteworthy details) in suiting, daywear, swimsuits, and cocktail attire. This approach culminated in styles like dresses with coned breasts and bellybuttons marked by gold details, sleek black sets with ornate gold buttons and buckles, bubbled ruffles added to sleeve cuffs and hemlines, and anatomical explorations painted as graphics (like a column gown in blue silk with a gold painted torso) and appearing as sculpted jewelry and hardware.

Helmed by Creative Director Gabriela Hearst, maison Chloé has taken on the task of spreading awareness and searching for solutions to climate change with its fashion collections. Following its Fall/Winter 2022 collection focused on rewilding, this second chapter of research unfolds around sustainable plans for fusion energy—a quest that saw the house joining in partnership with fusion-centered energy institutions Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helion Energy, and ITER. The tokamak reactor (a construction meant to one day provide fusion energy on a large scale) and energy-related concepts like plasma fusion and isotopes become focal points in both clothing and presentation, informing elements like a light installation by Paolo Montiel-Coppa, which laid the way for designs created from conscious materials and techniques. A few of our favorite designs included a long tank dress in metallic fishnet knit, an all-denim look featuring metal studs and eyelet details, worn by Quannah Chasinghorse, and a biker-trench silhouette in different shades of red leather, stitched together with opposing seams.

Looks with a versatile, urban attitude walked the runway of Isabel Marant’s Spring/Summer 2023 presentation, which recalled the house’s inception in the 1990s. Toughness and fragility were treated as complementing qualities, pairing flirty cuts and fabrications like silk, crochets, and chiffon with leather pieces, cargo pants, and a faded camouflage print. Touching on the softer side of things were effeminate bohemian dresses with thin straps and embroidery, floaty blouses with sheer details and sections of lace, and handkerchief skirts that fell softly around the thighs. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we saw sporty racerback dresses embellished with ornate studs, sequins, and beading, biker skirts with zippers and pockets, and oversized military jackets covered in cargo pockets. Looks were styled effortlessly with no makeup, natural hair, thin, strappy heels, and the occasional handbag—like a macrame shoulder bag in black or a white leather style with metal details.

Concepts of passing time and constant renewal graced the Spring/Summer 2023 runway of Courrèges, leaning into themes of an oceanic origin. A circular beach installation by the French artist Theo Mercier completed a collection built from ideas like the crashing of tidal waves, continued erosion, and the sun-bleached nature of things left outdoors near the sea, employing details rooted in scuba fabrications, the internal structures of seashells, and coral habitats formed over centuries. Conscious of highlighting the bodies on which they are to be worn, garments were centered in reworked silhouettes like pieces featuring buttons that fastened from the side of the waist to the opposite shoulder, vests worn open and made with tactile Sea-Urchin fuzz, skirts that appeared to be dresses slung low around the waist, and barely-there garments embracing the freedom of beachwear.

Roland Mouret’s debuts for the Spring/Summer 2023 season were dignified and simple, imagined in single shades that allowed the eye to focus on their silhouettes. Soft drapery and a more chiseled, sculptural approach encompassed the collection’s two approaches, seen on dresses, gowns, and the occasional jumpsuit. There were cocktail shapes with single, sharp, circular sleeves, soft, gathered flounces that trailed the fronts of midi-dresses, structured shoulders on long sleeves, and dramatic cowls on gowns with thigh-high splits. A few standout designs included a dress in aqua that zipped up the front and suggested an easy transition from day to night, a take on a sweetheart neckline on a red mini silhouette with capped sleeves, and a sleek fit-and-flair shape in cobalt blue, styled with chunky leather boots.

Titled “In the Heart of a Visionary Dream,” the latest from Roger Vivier divulged the codes of the brand’s own making in a collection exploring the house’s archival legacy. Selecting pieces of the past with the most relevance today, the accessories house presented classic styles with a flair for the dramatic, like an evolution of the 1963 Virgule Flowers Bow Sling Back in pink and green, jewel-adorned clutches, pumps with bows, and a block-style heel slip-on with a square toe and buckle detail. While the new styles were absolutely sumptuous, it was the way in which they were presented that really stuck in our minds. A multi-part installation spread across six rooms encompassed spaces like a display of floating three-dimensional flowers and handbags, a satiny pink and red room with an ornate chandelier, where hearts cut out in the walls held pairs of shoes, and an installation of a giant wooden shoe sculpture that looked to a 1987 retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.