Monday kicked off at Ungaro, where Caroline had one look. Giles Deacon has been set the task of rebuilding the house after it has seemingly fallen into disrepair (remember La Lohan?), and this seemed like a step in the right direction. The collection screamed "predator!" with a heavy dosage of high collared leather, lace and long scarlet fingernails, but this theme was also to be noted in the stitched wolves and owls on sweaters and a dress, close captioned by Hanne Gabe Odiele. Interestingly, Ungaro was not so far off trend: Givenchy featured similar sweaters in their show just the night prior (Albeit, Tisci's designs were adorned with pinup girls).
Next was Giambattista Valli, who seemed to be, like Alber Elbaz, a little on the modest side this season. We have come to expect a more party-goer aura from the designer, and while there were certainly elements of that, it seemed to be exercised with greater restraint, akin to what we saw at Lanvin. However, unlike Lanvin, where we saw a gradual and then booming release, Valli's collection seemed to weave between minimalist chic and rich colours, textures, and patterns sinusoidally.
Chloe and Celine are my two favorite shows for Caroline in Paris (and perhaps across all cities), and I was deeply disappointed when she didn't show up at Celine on Sunday (Phoebe, we need to have a talk). She was at Chloe, however, which pleased me very much indeed, despite Hannah McGibbon's insistence on the overuse of snakeskin. I really wish that I note had been taken from the books at Giambattista Valli and Lanvin, because restraint seems a necessary observance in the use of animal prints (at least in this case). Julia Nobis' (a.k.a. Julia Attenborough) look was the only one that I looked at and felt it to be a proper illustration of Chloe ft. snakeskin. For most of the looks, the overload was easily avoidable by simply pairing sweaters like Freja's opener with a plainer pair of pants. So the good news is, that the collection is excellent. So long as the styling is on par.
Sophie Albou's collection for Paul & Joe was very playful and colourful. With Black Swan clear at the back of my mind, I found myself reminiscing over Jackie and Donna of That 70s Show, among other (non-fictional) inhabitants of that time period. It was a funner show than we usually see in Paris, though no less serious for the fact: one might also draw connections to vintage Yves Saint Laurent when examining the collection.
Tuesday dawned amidst the volcanic ashes of the Grand Palais. Okay, so it didn't actually burn to the ground, but it was certainly another way of saying Karl brought down the house. The Chanel show is always the biggest of all the shows for fashion week, and while we accord this honour to the historical background of the house and it's feminist values, it is hard to see Chanel's modern success as separate from the influence of Karl Lagerfeld. He may not stitch the clothes himself, but the vision of the Kaiser has been instrumental in revamping the house for a more modern, and younger audience. That influence was no less this season, though one can't help but notice that the collection was rather distinctly Freja-esque in it's palette and frequent inclusion of skinny jeans and moto boots. The thing about Lagerfeld's genius though, is that he has a talent for Chanelifying just about anything. Those cropped tweed and hounds tooth jackets so emblematic of the house took on a whole new cool factor when paired over boyfriend blazers, and I don't doubt that the oversized leg warmers drooping about the ankles will be a hot topic come September. Some people have been complaining about how 'masculine' the collection is, but I'm not getting the comparison. Well, I get it, but to me, this is a modernized concept of the same chic, 'masculinized' woman that Chanel has always represented. And before I end, allow me to nominate Jacquelyn Jablonski's look as the most epic outfits of fashion week. Well, except for Karlie's opener at Dior.
Valentino was next up, where Caroline had two looks. I was really hoping for an opening or closing here, but, sadly, it was not to be. Having said that, I was rather taken by the collection. While maintaining all the ladylike elements of the house, Chiuri and Piccioli added a sensuality to the collection by using sheer fabrics and lace strategically. In many ways, the collection was older and more reserved than it's predecessors, but these elements added a subtly coy nature to the clothes, a small wink, hinting that there's more to this demurely clad woman than meets the eye. I cannot, however, wrap my head around the finale dress. It looked limp and shapeless. And something tells me this wasn't solely because of who was wearing it.
The Brasch ended her long and illustrious season with one look at Louis Vuitton's fetishtastic show. Shiny patent leather was all over the place, from dominatrix boots and hot pants to short skirts and loooonnng jackets. In case anyone was wondering, I've changed my mind: Kate Moss takes the spoils for most epic moment this season. Strutting about irreverently on the runway puffing on a cigarette, she cut a striking image. My personal favorite incident was during the finale walk, when she cut clear across the floor, leading a trail of models in her wake. While she was off touring the facility in such a fashion, Natasha Poly picked up the slack and took the correct, but long, way around. Oh Kate Moss.
And so ends another season in fashion for Caroline, who's had an exhaustive run indeed. In Paris, she walked no fewer than 20 shows and 24 looks. I had hoped for more opens and closes in Paris, but in this respect, I was left disappointed. However, when looking at her total for the season, The Brasch has had one of the most impressive showlists of everyone, with a stunning 73 shows. This included 104 looks, 5 opens, and 1 close. As if that wasn't crazy enough, if we take into consideration Berlin and Barcelona fashion weeks as well, Caroline's tally elevates to a dizzying 81 shows, 6 opens, 2 (3?) closes, and 119 looks. (Not to mention, Haute Couture was sandwiched between those, where she walked 4 shows and had 7 looks.)
At only 17, one would imagine the poor girl has been quite run off her feet. But with the sudden appearance of a number of March editorials (I will be getting to these soon, pinky swear!), and the promise of more to come, who knows when she'll have time to rest her weary head. Congratulations on truly fantastic season Caroline, I couldn't be more proud!
(CAROLINE BRASCH! woowoowoowoowoowoowoowoowoowoowoo...)
Photos courtesy of vogue.it
