Paris Diaries - The shows part one

​With all the glitz and glam that goes on around Fashion Week, from stars setting trends to fabulous parties, the clothes presented at shows may not be what you are seeing on your Instagram feed. However, even though no one is wearing the clothes off the runway just yet what is presented at Fashion Week sets the tone of what will be worn this coming fall and winter. Buyers and press flock to the shows to view the newest and brightest innovations in fashion in order to sell and report to you the ‘trends’ for a season. I was lucky enough to be one of the special people to see these shows and be able to share my opinion on what is coming next season.

Issey Miyake

​My first show of Paris Fashion Week was Issey Miyake and it was also my most in-depth experience with a collection. Due to some apartment mailing troubles I had to pick up my invitation from the show room, and when I say have to I mean I was thrilled to. 

In the glamorous square of Place des Vosges was a large old wood door and a shiny silver plaque reading ISSEY MIYAKE, for someone like me this was the lost arch of entranceway, known only by invitations and ‘by appointment only’. 
​Inside the studio was a frenzy of model fittings, last minute stiches, and buyers getting an early look. No dress looks as good as it will on the runway but its okay to have a little peek first. My invite was handed to me quickly upon being greeting and to save some face a ripped it open after leaving the show room. 

​One of the wonderful things about Paris Fashion Week was that all the shows were very closing located to one another. All centrally located where you could casually walk by the Louve or the Eiffel tower on your way. And while for most Uber tabs were flying, I did try to walk to all my shows in order to get some Paris sightseeing in.
 
The Issey Miyake show was presented in one of the official Paris Fashion Week’s tents in the Jardin des Tuileres, with the Roue de Paris as the perfect street style backdrop.

​While sitting and waiting for the show you could see the metallic runway through the plastic covering and the wall of fans, literally wind-making fans, behind a DJ booth, and you knew something was coming. 

​If you follow me on snapchat (@shopieb) you might have heard some of the show or on the Issey Miyake website where you can watch the whole thing. However, no video does justice to the music that was created. The whole room shook with the classical music played with a techno edge, it was truly enchanting. The garments reflected this futuristic magic, with bright colours made in the techniques of ‘Baked Stretch’ and ‘3D Steam Stretch’.  Baked stretch is exactly what it sounds like; they literally bake the cloth after it has been printed on with special glue, which then expands to create flowing patterns and geometric lines. 3D Steam Stretch is a form of stitching that when steamed creates optical illusions with curves and spirals to give it a 3D, popping out, effect. 

​With these techniques the collection was a sensation of colour and pattern. Closing the show were four red pieces standing strong and bold on the runway, as a girl in a flowing red geometric cape floated in between them, as the music reached a bellowing climax, it was truly the stand out moment of the show. 

  

Andrew GN

​My next show took me to the second main location of Paris Fashion Week the Palais de Tokyo, a classic building with a hip inside dedicated to modern and contemporary art. One of my most excited little girl moments happened when a lovely French man holding an umbrella walked me to the entrance of the show. Turns out he was working with a different show than I was going to and I had to walk back in the rain, however just for that moment I was an elite Parisian socialite. 

​The Andrew GN show had a regal military theme. To me it seemed like if Napoleon was a princess who would destroy the battlefield just by walking through it. Bold shoulders and military pleats were constant throughout the collection, but it was also extremely feminine with lace and sheer. 

The collection seemed to represent a series of strong women. One wearing greens and manly silhouettes, the next a duchess like woman in gowns, then a fiery vibrant women dressed in reds and furs, closing with a mysterious and flirtatious girl wearing black and sheer. All separate but cohesive under the theme of the collection. 

​Every collection has stand out pieces and if I have to call what I think will be the top seller from Andrew GN, by my personal opinion and what other viewers were most snapping pictures of, it would be the beautifully embroidered military jackets. The “Pret-a-Porter” jackets were works of couture that were also incredibly wearable, and I know I would kill to get my hands on one.