Paris Fashion Week – September 25th

Roland Mouret

The Roland Mouret show was full of colour and clean lines, fun designs & patterns and vibrancy from open to close. The French designer kept to his aesthetic with clean, slicked back ponytails, neutral makeup and red lipstick.

Carven

For Guillaume Henry and the Carven SS15 RTW collection, it was all about speed, speed racing and Formula 1 in Japan to be exact. And as a personal fan of Formula 1 racing, I was very excited to see this sport come to fashionable life. From the monochrome and striped designs and high necklines to holding handbags like racing helmets, the collection was colourful, well patterned and just a lot of fun!

Manish Arora

A pink & blue confection is what first came to mind upon seeing the Manish Arora show. Flower motifs on jumpers, pants, shorts, skirts & dresses along with crystal & sequin embellishments, reflective materials and clear PVC, neon flashes, facial prints, headwear and tall flatform sandals on just about 60 looks. It was very expressive of the designer’s Indian background, and was one show you don’t want to miss out on.

Balmain

Last season’s after party was the inspiration for this season’s collection, as designer Olivier Rousteig put it. There were sexy cut outs, geometric mesh patterns, colourful stripes and a lot of leather. Female empowerment was strongly conveyed throughout the fashion for this show. I was also happy to see British beaut Rosie Huntington-Whiteley walk the catwalk as I have missed her dearly this season.

Sharon Wauchob

Comfort was key for the Sharon Wauchob show, with silk & lace pieces dominating the runway. Though there wasn’t much colour, keeping with the monochrome trend, it was made up for with sexy necklines & patterns that also had an aura of lingerie as outerwear.

Nina Ricci

Peter Copping delivered a beautiful collection for what might be his last one for the fashion house. The show opened with romantic pink & beige-gold tones that transitioned to brown & pale blues, introduced mustard hues then into the classic black, white & red palette. It had a bit of everything pattern-wise, from studded embellishments, to petal-like appliqué and abstract floral prints.

Barbara Bui

When it comes to working from a blank canvas, Barbara Bui did an amazing job for her Spring collection. There was a lot of black & white basics, in cuts both beautiful and sexy, which some looks amped up the volume with fully embellished & embroidered patterned jackets that really stood out, as well as gold or silver metallic & leather accents. The closing section of the show were four fully orange looks that really shone, along with gold rimmed eyeliner, claw headbands that created faux cornrow looks and chain necklaces throughout.

Zadig & Voltaire

Designer Cecilia Bönström put on a great show for French label Zadig & Voltaire with very little colour mixing, and clean to-the-point styles that were comfortable, chic and still sexy, courtesy of the leather pieces but also crop tops. I particularly liked the dots of silver on the lower waterline with the barely-there makeup, adding to that relaxed and fun look.

Lanvin

As classic as French fashion houses go, Lanvin is one of those we all look forward to seeing what they’ll roll out for each season. And for their Spring collection, Alber Elbaz did not disappoint with a beautifully elegant line that turned into a fun & flirty collection nearing the closing of the show. There were full-length dresses, plunging necklines, chic blazers, lace, floral & animal prints and sheer materials. It was just fabulous! (Alber Elbaz also designed some concert looks for Rihanna whilst on her Diamonds World Tour.)