SOMETIMES fashion’s mood can be distilled into one picture. After a month of runway shows proposing trends both subtle and decidedly unsubtle, that picture was a snapshot of two chic potted trees at the base of a spiral staircase in Céline’s Paris headquarters. It was posted mournfully across the Instagram feeds of fashion fans to mark the end of the brand’s Phoebe Philo era. Such simple trees, often featured in Céline stores, symbolize the minimalist sensibility of Ms. Philo, the label’s outgoing creative director—an aesthetic that will likely be displaced now that rocker-cool Hedi Slimane has taken the reins at the French house. The buzzy question through fashion month: What will thoughtful, design-loving women with plenty of disposable income wear in a post-Phoebe world? While the jury’s out, designers from New York to London to Milan to Paris had ideas.
Take Valentino’s showstopping gowns with overscale floral motifs in hues like poppy and peridot. Designer Pierpaolo Piccioli’s flair for color may find its way to our closets in quieter incarnations. At Chanel, models wore elegant black lace dresses and tuxedo jackets, updated staples you’d be wise to invest in. More ephemeral Fashion with a capital “F” pushed boundaries and took up space:
Marc Jacobs
showed exaggerated 1980s couture shapes and Balenciaga presented massive anoraks, while Rei Kawakubo made zero concessions to common sense with enormous layer cake dresses for Comme des Garçons. In uncertain times, fashion can still protect, comfort and, yes, divert us.
Great Scots
(See above). Kilt suits plucked straight from Cher Horowitz’s automated wardrobe in 1995’s ’Clueless’ appeared in versions both cute and chaste. From left: Prada’s Fair-Isle layered combo; an appealingly modest iteration at The Row; full-onmid-90s nostalgia at Versace; an ankle-grazing ensemble at Max Mara; Dior’s rouge 1960s revival.
The Dark Night Rises
Inventive black evening wear was rife on the runways, providing options for those who love both drama and a degree of discretion. From left: distinguished shoulder embellishments at Chanel; Loewe’s extravagant cloaking; a neckline to die for at Saint Laurent; silken volume play at Giorgio Armani.
Khaki Capers
While capes of all shades came down the runways, beige ones particularly appealed. From left: a twist on the trench at Clare Waight Keller’s tour de force collection for Givenchy; Little Beige Riding Hood at Valentino; a long and snappy version at Salvatore Ferragamo.
A Change in the Leather
Moving beyond the tried-and-true biker jacket, designers embraced leather (and leather alternatives) in dress form. From left: autumnal splendor at Bottega Veneta; a citron coat dress at Hermès; leather and lace at Christopher Kane; a blue vegan version by
Stella McCartney
.
Winter Is (Really) Coming
Designers were big on massive overcoats for fall. Corollary trend: dwindling interest in visible or functioning hands. From left: a layered parka effect (actually one coat) at Balenciaga, which partnered with the World Food Program for a charitable initiative;
Raf Simons’s
outerwear idea for Calvin Klein 205W39NYC included reflective strips and a silver hood; a big-buckled shiny green coat at Marni; Marc Jacobs’s mega-shouldered graphic silhouette.
Print’s Not Dead
With new designers eager to mine the archives of classic fashion houses, retro, graphic prints on silk and synthetics clamored for attention. From left: a wallpaper-ish wonderland at Dries Van Noten; Chloé’s seductive mix; swirls echoing a dress’s drape at Givenchy; Louis Vuitton’s blown out houndstooth.
Things We Loved
Moments from the fall 2018 fashion shows
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