Paris Fashion Week kicked off two weeks ago with a week dedicated to men’s fashion and a second week dedicated to women’s haute couture that will be surely seen at red carpet events for the fall and winter season.
While men’s fashion is typically less scoped out, this year’s collections were at least something worth talking about. The men’s Givenchy collection was dominated by blues, blacks and reds, mainly comprising geometrical designs and stripes.
Some of the styles displayed can be considered “unwearable” by American men's standards, but it is important to remember that fashion shows are meant to be weird and displayed in an exotic manner, ranging from kilts to striped leggings and to instead take into account the colors, shapes and textures when thinking about buying clothes and not literally going in search of that lovely striped kilt.
The men’s Dior show went a little risque this year and decided to significantly raise the hemline on men’s shorts, pairing them with tailored coats and dress shoes making ensembles a bit more formal. Out of all the fashion houses, Dior was probably the one that was a bit more subdued.
Givenchy’s Ricardo Tisci gave Paris a really good quote regarding the femininity that comes into question at men’s fashion shows. He said, “Masculinity is about a sense of security. ... For me, whether they are men or women, what is important is that people are free to express themselves as they want."
The second week was followed by women’s haute couture fashion, which displayed everything from bridal gowns to jumpsuits.
While Dior was a lot more restrained when it came to men’s fashion, it was not nearly the case for women’s. Displaying what would be considered frontal nudity by American standards, Raf Simons decided to take a different route to his seventh collection and third haute couture collection for the house.
In multiple tweets sent out by British model, Jourdan Dunn, she expresses her relief that for once she was not cancelled out of a show for her skin color, “Ahahahahahaha I just (got) cancelled from Dior because of my boobs! I❤ fashion.” She added in another tweet, “I'm normally told I'm cancelled because I'm 'coloured' so being cancelled because off my boobs is a minor.”
Simons decided to make his runway racially diverse by adding six black models to his runway to debut his collection, taking away the label that the house gave itself for a long time as an “all white” house.
James Scully, a modeling scout and director, told Buzzfeed, “I feel the Dior cast is just so pointedly white that it feels deliberate. I watch that show and it bothers me — I almost can't even concentrate on the clothes because of the cast."
In an attempt to wash this stigma away from them, the house decided to encompass the exotic and global views of fashion by adding colors that are characteristic to each culture and styles each culture can be known to wear, such as kimonos and bold, colorful prints.
Paris Fashion Week ended on a good note this year. The vibrant colors, geometrical patterns, and oversized belts that were seen at the women’s Chanel show are surely what will be seen on the red carpet soon. This year marks a very special year, as the public is guaranteed to be seeing a lot more diversity at these events, thanks to Dior, which started to break down the walls that make fashion a one-way street, instead opening up new opportunities for international markets and models.
Reach the reporter at Rosalito.Lopez@asu.edu
