Loewe mixes fashion with giant confetti cubes at Paris show

PARIS (AP) – Delicate half-ton cubes of colored confetti littered the white runway at Loewe at Paris Fashion Week. Usher desperately tried to guide guests including Jamie Dornan, Naomi Campbell and Catherine O’Hara around the block, fearing the decorations would shatter at the slightest brush. Sometimes, it was partially.

The highly creative show by Jonathan Anderson – which used feathers, and satin and velvet – continued the theme of scarcity and ephemeral impressions.

Here are some of the highlights from Friday’s Fall-Winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear show in Paris.

lowe is sublime

For fall, the brand’s acclaimed Northern Irish designer continues her exploration of pared-down and reductive styles—where a single garment often encompasses an entire look.

Lowe described it as “an idea of ​​a priori: a piece, and that is it, reduced to the smallest size possible”.

The touch of the Old Master painters, as seen in Anderson’s men’s collection, was realized here again with the use of crumbled leather Renaissance boots and satins, silk duchess, velvets, crystals and feathers.

The feathered pieces of the pastel-rich collection were among the most original: The feathers were unusually wide and housed in a shell-like drape. They came in the form of a plunging neckline over an off-white top with a few feathers fanned out randomly, or thickly textured blue-gray flared pants evoking an anthropomorphic bird.

A pale blue gown resembled a length of satin draped across the chest with a large gold ball. Elsewhere, the idea of ​​fashion or life was expressed through hazy prints on ephemeral and ever-lasting loose gowns, which sometimes resembled X-rays.

They were, House said, “about focusing on what seems to be unclear right now.” It’s clear that under Anderson’s creative eye, Loewe has become one of the most anticipated collections in the industry.

color blocking

In perhaps the most original take on color blocking ever seen at Paris Fashion Week, Loewe collaborated with Italian artist Lara Favaretto to create literal blocks of color. Twenty-one confetti cubes standing 90 cm (35 in) high and netted in deep red, blue, yellow and green impressed the guests.

O’Hara, who watched the show with US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, said “look at the blue” as a guest was escorted by a cube to safety – triggering a burst of confetti. Doing.

O’Hara told The Associated Press, “I was hoping there would be a breakup in the show, because there’s really nothing to keep them together.” “Isn’t he crazy?” O’Hara said that Anderson’s designs show a “completely original idea, fresh, without being new for new’s sake”.

“They were the most unusual silhouette and shape but still flattering,” she said.

Issey Miyake’s Square

A fusion of music, dance and theater awaited in the Japanese techno-clothing-savvy household.

A live marimba percussion performance opened the show at the Châtelet Théâtre, one of Paris’ most iconic stages. The show took the idea of ​​a musical score, or a canvas, or a piece of fabric being square – and explored this theme of squareness.

“The collection deals with this rational shape … to develop garments of striking forms,” ​​explained the house. It said its beauty was based on “a new iteration” of the unfinished space.

The three-dimensional “canopy” gown is folded like paper origami. Square motifs were woven in horizontally and vertically—hitting a high front in a stretchy lozenge shape on a plunging green gown. The creative look includes gowns made with state-of-the-art technology to shrink the woven threads into a unique texture.

Valli gets generous

A Balkan and Eastern aesthetic fueled a dazzling, and at times boisterous, performance from Italy’s Giambattista Valli.

Tight ethnic waistcoats with ruffles, gold buttons, 60s minidresses, florals, floaty tulle, thick tweed, black leather biker boots, shades, gold banded vests and even menswear looks.

The best designs were those that had a simple Balkan flavor—such as a fluttering, off-white column dress with oblique banding. It was accessorised with ethnic pear-shaped earrings.