Skirt suit

Was he last seen worn by his mother or grandmother?

Saint Laurent has made the skirt suit the centerpiece of its collection.

Dior show in Paris, February 28, 2023 © Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT / AFP/Archives

Slit pencil skirt, jacket with oversized shoulders and plunging neckline: inspired by Yves Saint Laurent's 80s archives, this powerfully feminine ensemble has returned to the forefront.

Dior drew on the aesthetics of the 1950s, when Christian Dior invented the New Look, a silhouette for post-war women symbolized by fitted jackets with rounded shoulders, over loose skirts below the knees.

In 2023, the waist is marked and the mid-length skirt has a punk twist thanks to a fabric with a crumpled effect or mottled floral motifs to erase the contours of the body.

Givenchy fashion show in Paris, March 2, 2023 © Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT / AFP/Archives

Young designer Charles de Vilmorin also revisited the 1950s for Rochas, "with vinyl pencil skirts, wasp waists and a repimped mermaid silhouette".

Givenchy redefines elegance through a tailored jacket with sculpted shoulders that can be worn without a skirt or with a transparent mini.

Vivienne Westwood fashion show in Paris, March 4, 2023 © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

At Vivienne Westwood, the gray suit is knitted, worn with a hat and golden boots.

Red

Total red dominated the clean, monochrome silhouettes for a "powerful and sensual" Hermès woman.

Lanvin accessorized a sequined dress with a red balaclava, Issey Miyake declined it in coats.

Hermès fashion show in Paris, March 4, 2023 © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

For his first collection for Ann Demeulemeester, Ludovic de Saint Sernin included in the minimalist chromatic palette the burgundy qualified as "false black".

Red has no negative connotation in any culture and is accepted even for those who don't wear colors, Christian Louboutin, who is celebrating 30 years of his iconic red sole, told AFP.

Lanvin fashion show in Paris, March 5, 2023 © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

heels

Needle at Balenciaga, Ann Demeulemeester or Saint Laurent, "clou de forge" on waders from Hermes, "comma" for platform shoes at Dior: the heel is even essential for Maria Grazia Chiuri, stylist of Dior who found it previously anti-feminist.

Christian Louboutin does flat and all heights but admits that it is the pumps that sell the best.

Show in Paris to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Christian Louboutin's red sole © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

"Feminist, anti-feminist, I hope we are no longer there. Women have won, you are in control of what you want to do with your body, to (you) perch or not", summarizes for the 'AFP Pierre Hardy, shoemaker for Hermès and his eponymous brand.

"Several things coexist and that's part of modernity. We won't see all the girls in heels, nor all the girls in + combat boots + or in sneakers", he adds.

"Before, it was something imposed. Today, it's an intimate and personal choice".

Vivienne and Paco

"You told me one day that I could take anything, anything but your platform shoes (...) Perhaps the most important thing you taught me was to put women on a pedestal".

Vivienne Westwood's stylist and husband, Andreas Kronthaler, and his granddaughter, Cora Corré, at the Westwood fashion show in Paris, March 4, 2023 © JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Andreas Kronthaler, husband of Vivienne Westwood who died in December and designer of her brand, celebrated the queen of punk in a fashion show in Paris.

Cora Corré, the granddaughter of Vivienne Westwood, in a white lace body worn like a wedding dress, closed the Parisian tribute parade.

The sound of dresses made with improbable materials and the voice of Paco Rabanne resonated during the parade in memory of the "fashion metalworker", so called by Gabrielle Chanel.

Breakup at Balenciaga

At Balenciaga, on the other hand, the emotion was not at the rendezvous during a parade in a refined setting sharp with the previous shows.

For the stylist Demna, weakened by the scandal of the sexualization of children in an advertising campaign, fashion is now only a question of "clothes".

"The house no longer needs" a show, "especially when these elements may not be well understood or misinterpreted," said François-Henri Pinault, CEO of the Kering group, which owns Balenciaga.

© 2023 AFP