Paris Fashion Week: The Final Review

Buckle your seatbelts, KRNL readers. Paris Fashion Week is over and well, it was trés cray. Let’s go ahead and get the non-fashion stuff out of the way. Despite Paris being THE fashion capital of the world, the robbery of Kim Kardashian-West completely stole the show. Whether it was real or not, Kim’s robbery was a shock to everyone, sending media into frenzy and displaying at least one downside to so much social media exposure.

Keeping up with the rest of the family, Kendall Jenner has been noticeably out of the spotlight since NYFW, only walking in one Paris show and then rushing to Kim’s side after the incident. But no fear, social supermodels like Gigi Hadid and Taylor Hill were kept busy in not just Paris but London, Milan and New York, as well.

Now on to the fashion. While corsets weren’t the most obvious trend, they were still favored by collections from Alexander McQueen and Fenty Rihanna x Puma. While an exposed corset is certainly a statement piece in today’s style aesthetic, other shows like Dior and Vanessa Seward made actual worded statements using t-shirts and graphics.

Texture was a huge factor at Paris Fashion Week, with velvet, suede, leather and animal skin in a variety of shows. Fringe and ruffles were obvious favorites, with shows from Vionnet, Rahul Mishra, Dior and more displaying these dimensional assets. Silky, shiny fabric was popular at shows like Saint Laurent and Sonia Rykiel. Denim was another favorite among designers, with collections at Kenzo and Veronique Leroy displaying denim on denim looks, manipulated color and fade, and colorful appliques.

As has been huge since athleisure made its debut, athletic inspiration was also evident at the PFW shows. Isabel Marant and Chloé favored drawstrings and loose clothing, while of course Fenty Rihanna x Puma combined the modernity of athleisure with the romance of Marie Antoinette, with some even suggesting this collection was inspired by what Marie Antoinette would wear to work out.

Stripes in shows from Nina Ricci and Giambattista Valli created elongated lines and movement while other shows like Elie Saab, Givenchy and Miu Miu used bold prints to stand out. Giambattista Valli and Elie Saab were also apparent fans of showing skin either blatantly or through sheer fabric. John Galliano, Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton joined the party, too, with cutouts and lace to highlight key areas.

While there were plenty of looks borrowed from the boys (like at Lanvin and Dries van Noten), sophistication was incredibly influential as could be expected from Paris fashion. Hermes and Pascal Millet showed off the softer side of the working woman, while Givenchy and Maison Margiela were all about power.

Finally, we can always count on Paris Fashion Week to deliver just that: true, artistic fashion. Junya Watanabe displayed silhouettes with sheer, spikey sleeves, while Comme de Garçons gave a new definition to the word “boxy.” Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel opened his show with two Daft Punk-Coco Chanel lookalikes. With matching skirt and jacket sets, sideways ball caps, and prints that resembled a coding system, the Chanel collection was a mixture of Clueless, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and the 21st century.

Check out some of the looks and trends of Paris Fashion Week in the galleries below.