Paris Fashion Week: From Hermes’ polished fashion to Yamamoto’s unconventional style

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PARIS — Hermes artistic director Nadege Vanhee-Cybulski seized on the vibes of the Burning Man Festival, adding swirls of color and utilitarian touches to a sleek spring and summer collection sent down the runway on Saturday to techno beats.

“A rave in the desert,” announced show notes which were handed out by attendants in suits who also greeted guests with glasses of champagne. (View the show here: https://bit.ly/Hermes100322).

The audience was seated on risers facing a hulking set in the shape of a mound of desert sand — a white form that came alive with moving colors when the show started.

Models marched around the plushly carpeted set on cubist-style platform sandals.

The first look was classic Hermes: a pale, tan leather shirt and trouser ensemble, the top with a collar and wide sleeves, while pant legs were gently cinched at the bottom.

A burst of russet-colored looks came later, followed by silky dresses in large patches of orange and pink, garments crafted from perforated leather and slightly bolder, graphic prints outlined with black.

Tent-like straps lifted panels from hems and decorated bared midriffs, while laces ran up and down seams and a minimalist military-style leather vest had a slim backpack pouch.

VICTORIA BECKHAM
Victoria Beckham marked her debut on the Paris Fashion Week calendar with a chic lineup on the catwalk, drawing paparazzi photographers and celebrities including her own family, along with the fashion set. (Watch the show here: https://bit.ly/VictoriaBeckham100322).

The designer emphasized her label’s elevated side, with sleek dresses and suits, mixing light pastels with all black ensembles, and adding silk fringes, with leading models Bella and Gigi Hadid walking in the show.

YAMAMOTO
Models draped in asymetrical outerwear, loosely tailored dresses and ruffled detailing showcased Yohji Yamamoto’s spring summer collection on Friday in Paris, his latest lineup of poetically unstructured designs. (See the show here: https://bit.ly/YohjiYamamoto100322).

The 79-year-old Japanese designer’s hypnotic voice rang out from the soundtrack as models slowly paraded his signature color: black.

Fabrics varied from pleats to knots, with draping and cutouts even on flat shoes, while oversized hats added dimension to the monochromatic silhouettes.

The designer’s singular aesthetic, which does not follow any trend, is built with floating draperies and complicated constructions and has drawn a close following of aficionados of his work.

Front-row guests including American rapper Tyga took in the show in the Paris city hall, where models presented floating blouses with uneven hems, lace tops crossed with zippers and puffy skirt with matching jacket under rows of dangling chandeliers. Known for playing with gender codes, Mr. Yamamoto, emphasized the woman’s body with corseted jackets.

Some looks featured white and bronze graphics, conjuring traditional Japanese calligraphy and baroque artistic prints.

ISSEY MIYAKE
Issey Miyake designer Satoshi Kondo showed a collection of light, sculptured silhouettes built from technical fabrics, nudging the label’s signature approach forward with looks that varied from futuristic to romantic at Paris Fashion Week on Friday. The first show since the death of its namesake founder, the presentation began with a projection of Mr. Miyake’s portrait on screens around the room. (View the show here: https://bit.ly/IsseyMiyake100322).

Mr. Miyake, who died in August at age 84, was known for developing a new way of pleating fabrics — making garments that held their shape but allowed freedom of movement. Over the years, the label has been known to demonstrate the ease of its often seamless garments by presenting them in movement, on dancers.

There were dancers in Friday’s catwalk show, in dresses with intricate pleatwork that looked like delicate knitwear from a distance, marking a softer contrast with sharper looks, that were punctuated with spikes.

At the end of the show, a pack of models in peach-toned garments broke into a run, leaping into the air, and the audience erupted into claps and cheers.

“The finale performance is an expression of the way I see how people can be connected regardless of their gender, skin tone. They should all be together,” Mr. Kondo told Reuters, speaking through a translator.

“Every collection I created is always a reflection of what I learned and what my team had learned from Issey-san,” he added.

SAINT LAURENT
French fashion house Yves Saint Laurent took to an open-air runway facing the glowing Eiffel Tower to showcase designer Anthony Vaccarello’s summer collection of sleek eveningwear. (Watch the show here: https://www.ysl.com/en-en).

Models emerged from the dark, making their way slowly down a broad set of stairs before marching around the fountain on towering heels.

They wore sheer, slim-fitting dresses topped with sleek leather coats that had prominent shoulders and swept the ground. Chunky bracelets and earrings rounded out the looks, a key signature of the designer.

Sticking mostly to monochrome looks — the first model was dressed in olive tones — Mr. Vaccarello threw the spotlight on the silhouettes. They were slender with no frills, just touches of draping and the occasional assymetric cut. — Reuters