Paris Fashion Week has officially come to an end, and with it, the entire fashion month. After the debuts (Drew Henry at Courrèges, Kai Nesselrath at Carven), the returns to the calendar, and the flock of birds swooping over the Chanel set, it’s time to figure out what will stay on the runways and what will end up in our wardrobes.
Here, then, are five trends from the SS27 season in Paris.
Sportswear as everyday clothing
“I was mainly interested in working for people right now,” said Miuccia Prada at the end of the Miu Miu SS27 show. In an attempt to elevate sportswear, the designer deployed Prince of Wales blazers over checked drawstring skirts, tied at the waist like sweatpants; technical running tops paired with tweed trousers, with shoelaces used as a drawstring at the waist. In this context, the collaborations with Wrangler (represented by jeans laced up at the front with visible gym laces above the underwear waistband) and with New Balance reflect the brand’s interest in a more everyday wardrobe.
Similarly, on the Loewe runway, an oversized check blazer was paired with a zip-up sweatshirt and a puffed taffeta miniskirt, held at the waist by an elastic that looked as though it had been knotted in a hurry. A sporty look for the men too, with a short leather bomber worn with wide pleated trousers, blending the codes of formal dress with more casual ones.
The sportswear thread runs throughout the entire week, infecting even the most unlikely brands. In an attempt to democratise the Maison’s codes, Daniel Roseberry proposes separates for Schiaparelli that are easier to mix and match and to buy: among them, the famous lace dress worn by Bella Hadid at the Cannes Film Festival (inspired by the celebrated dress created for Jane Birkin), reinterpreted as shorts, tops, and knitwear that echo the original broderie anglaise motif. If, at Valentino, Piccioli had us fooled with jeans entirely covered in beading, at Balenciaga he strips away all artifice, sending out a white tank top with a pair of ripped jeans.
Maximalist jewellery
Looking at the Paris runways, it’s clear that accessories will be the stars of next summer. Alessandro Michele’s baroque sensibility has spilled over into Valentino, concealing the neck beneath a cascade of pearls in every size, flowers encrusted with crystals and coloured stones in a play of volumes that calls to mind a tangle of necklaces intertwined inside a forgotten jewellery box. At Dries Van Noten, the layering evokes a granny chic aesthetic: over two layered cardigans sit two two-tone pearl necklaces, paired with large stone earrings. Matthieu Blazy turns Chanel‘s gaze skyward, with showers of pearls at the lobes, necklaces featuring mother-of-pearl clouds, and earrings with swallows in flight whose structure recalls the works of Alexander Calder.
Embracing a more chunky aesthetic, Balenciaga opts for wide-link chains with dangling spheres, worn at the neck and wrist over a black leather shirt (the same chain reappearing as an anklet above a transparent sandal), as well as combined ear cuffs and earrings connected to long chains with gold pendants. Givenchy does the same in silver, with enormous chrome spheres as earrings and bangle bracelets worn the way we would have in the 2000s. Louis Vuitton also aims high, with a visor of crystal fringe above a powder-pink dress. Even The Row, the kingdom of minimalism, incorporates wooden bead necklaces into knitwear panels and stone necklaces over knotted tops.
Fabrics and embroideries with a vintage feel
And if styling is something of the protagonist of the Paris shows, lace and upcycled fabrics are the most recurring details in the collections presented. The romanticism of Chloé invades lingerie and becomes a dress: a white organza nightgown with puffed sleeves, the smocked detail of a lace bralette bodysuit in powder pink, a top with ruffle trim peeking out from the edge of a belt. But also retro details like the cascade of tassel fringe bordering capes and dresses. The Row works by subtraction: a linen handkerchief with a lace border is worn over a black jumper, while an asymmetric crochet and vintage lace top ties at the neck over wide trousers with a fabric belt. The prints, usually very minimal in the brand’s collections, make way in this collection for geometric motifs reminiscent of certain vintage wallpapers.
This trend also looks to countries far from Paris: for Jean Paul Gaultier, Duran Lantink draws on traditional German fabrics to create a very short bolero embroidered with red folk-inspired motifs. In other words, the past is the workshop where everything can be reinvented in a modern key.
Lightness and fluidity
After the backlash against the heaviness on display in Milan, Paris feels even lighter. Satin, duchess and silk in every possible variation become the fabrics of the season. Drawing inspiration, in all likelihood, from the Phoebe Philo archives, Michael Rider creates for Celine a glossy black dress that glides over the body with a clean-cut silhouette, while a champagne-coloured slip dress opens onto a lilac panel, with a bow tied at the chest. Schiaparelli breaks it up with contrast: a sculptural butter-yellow jacket paired with ivory satin trousers with ruffles that open with every step. Pale yellow tones also at Louis Vuitton, where a jersey slip dress is enriched with crystal-embellished straps. More daring is Julian Klausner who, picking up the legacy of Dries Van Noten, uses the most fluid fabrics as a base for colourful prints, mixing them together in vivid combinations. Prints also at Loewe, which ties printed silk scarves at the shoulders and hem of a black dress.
Lightness also means transparency and volume without weight. Chanel pairs a glossy, deconstructed jacket with a transparent skirt of sequin stripes, so sheer that the legs are left fully visible. Oversized volumes also at Chloé, which offers a white caftan embroidered with floral motifs and a ruffled neckline, and at Balenciaga, where a pale pink taffeta oversized t-shirt with a long train is layered over jeans.
Freaky shoes
Wild shoes continue to colonise fashion, cementing themselves as a trend season after season. Chanel has gone all-in on the category (especially following the success of the two-tone pumps launched at Matthieu Blazy‘s debut as the maison’s creative director last spring-summer season): the new collection features a plethora of embellishments and material combinations, from sequin-encrusted styles to metal applications and toe caps covered in buttons. On the sneaker front, the new collaboration between Miu Miu and New Balance influences even the most elegant shoes (in this case, slingbacks with sporty laces tied at the toe). Sarah Burton at Givenchy plays with zips and pompoms, while Jean Paul Gaultier presents acid colours, sculptural heels, and functional abstract shapes (such as petals that form flip-flop sandals).
The highest expression of this trend is represented by the boots from Valentino presented by Alessandro Michele: a riot of sequins and beading tracing natural and architectural motifs.
