Fashion Week Fall/Winter 21/22 has confirmed that digital fashion shows can well and truly dazzle, with a good dose of cinematic and spectacular staging. Our favourites (in order of appearance) had to be Chloé, Lanvin, Chanel and Vuitton, which chose to set their shows in a Paris just itching to start to live again, on the Left and Right Banks alike.
It has not escaped attention that fashion weeks worldwide have had to mix things up a bit in recent months given the restrictions on the usual runways attended by the public. After a bit of trial and error, the fashion world has settled into its rhythm thanks to digital shows enabling each House to showcase its creations in new and innovative formats. Paris Fashion Week, from 1 to 10 March, is a blazing example with its short films worthy of the 7th Art. Yet another reason to applaud the work of the brands that chose Paris as their backdrop. Starting with Chloé, which presented a high calibre show shot in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, in which the models set off from renowned brasserie Lipp and cross Boulevard Saint-Germain before convening at Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés, passing in front of iconic brasserie Les Deux Magots:
The first collection from Chloé’s new Creative Director, American-Uruguayan Gabriela Hearst, who features at the end of the film setting a samba/march-like pace at the head of her army of models. A nod to 8 March and International Women's Day?
Let’s switch scenery with Lanvin, which takes us to the Shangri-La Hotel at the top of Paris’ Chaillot hill. The Creative Director of the oldest French fashion house presents the glamorous and fabulous Lanvin woman getting down to the soundtrack of ‘Rich Girl’ by Gwen Stefani. With a surprise guest appearance:
You’ll no doubt have recognised the rapper Eve, who performs her solo on the 2004 hit from the back seat of a limo. Special mention to the young Israeli actor Tom Mercier, the man behind the mischievous smile of the receptionist overwhelmed by the arrival – and departure – of the Shangri-La girls. Almost as if Lanvin wanted to remind us that, despite everything, things aren't yet back to how they were before...
And now back to the Left Bank and Saint-Germain-des-Prés with Chanel, which was forced to forego its traditional runway show under the glass dome of the Grand Palais due to the start of renovation works scheduled to last four years. Instead it has chosen the Parisian late night institution, Castel, the destination of the black and white strolls of the models following the walls of Rue Princesse:
This virtual runway ends outside in the street, presumably in the early morning after a night of partying.
To round off Paris Fashion Week, Nicolas Ghesquière, Creative Director at Louis Vuitton, chose to take over the Denon wing of the Louvre, the models snaking between Greek and Roman statues to Daft Punk’s Around the World.
What better setting to unveil the bags in the capsule collection produced with Italian artistic design atelier Fornasetti and featuring motifs inspired by ancient Rome.
We at SoBARNES particularly appreciated the nod to Daft Punk, who recently announced their split. Around the World… A far from benign choice of music, given that it aptly expresses the major revolution in fashion over the last year: catwalks are no longer reserved for the happy few, but are aired worldwide thanks to digital technology.
Photo @Chanel
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