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Kenzo
Once upon a time there was a young girl who got caught up by chance in a series of extraordinary adventures, in a temporal space turned completely upside down. Changing dimensions ruled over by talkative animals and surrealist vegetation plunged the little girl into fantastical situations.
Antonio Marras's spring-summer 2009 collection for Kenzo featured fringing, folded Chinese crepe, frilled chiffon, linen and tulle, all illustrating the crazy aerial slide of the young girl into wonderland.
It all started with a little girl called Alice on a beautiful summer afternoon, who took a dizzying slide to the centre of the earth.
And it all ended with bouquets of flowers, foulard prints, wool embroidery with small flowers on botanical motifs, satin and gabardine in mossy and pastel shades. For the finale of the show, the oversized books that formed the backdrop opened to reveal giant flower pop-ups, to the delight of the children that several guests had brought with them to the show.
Marras said he had wanted the colours to evoke Alice sauntering dreamily through a sun-withered garden, while also giving some of the outfits a sensual edge.
"I wanted it to be more natural, to use these colours that might be the ones that she might encounter on this voyage. The idea was Alice meeting Leonard Cohen's Suzanne," he told reporters backstage.
Paul & Joe
Instead of an electric guitar, the Paul & Joe spring-summer '09 show featured an acoustic guitar. After a week of heavy metal and rock ‘n' roll shows, it was like a breath of fresh air to see relaxed, romantic pieces again.
Washed-out blue denim jumpsuits were paired up with slightly over-sized jackets in khaki and high-heeled ultra-feminine strappy sandals.
Models strolled down the elevated runway in silk capri harem trousers, more jumpsuits, one-shoulder dresses with long sashes, diamante and lace jeans and sultry one-piece swimwear.
Also featured were high-waisted mini skirts, flouro-pink, green and turquoise long summer dresses, dungaree shorts in denim, cropped leather trousers and frilly blouses in see-through chiffon and sexy lace.
Backstage at Paul & Joe
I wondered behind the black curtain to witness models getting hair tossed and teased. Make-up artists were working their magic brushes and liquid liners to the max.
Models sat around in groups of twos and threes chatting and chain-smoking as they waited for the show begin.
Raw broccoli, red radishes, Coke Zero, black coffee and gallons of mineral water were laid out on a table in the corner, but, funnily enough, nobody seemed interested.
Nestled comfortably on her mother's knee I spotted American model Chanel Iman. The runway beauty had just finished the circuit of fashion shows at New York, Milan, London and now Paris.
The soft-spoken model said she was exhausted but really grateful to be doing the fashion weeks. Some of her favourite shows were Dsquared2, D&G and Gucci in Milan and Sonia Rykiel in Paris.
"Chanel loves the shows where she can really let her hair down and have fun," added the model's proud mother.
- with inputs from AP
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