PFW AW15 Day 3

Wearing House of Holland jacket & dress with French Connection boots, Thakoon bag & PRISM sunglasses
Image by The Urban Spotter

You know what? Time may fly when you’re having fun but that sure as hell doesn’t make it easy to get stuff done! There was no rest for the wicked when I got back from Paris and over the past week I’ve been very busy indeed, what with McQueen Savage Beauty opening, Balmain’s big bash on Monday night and various shoots, meetings and dinners, I’ve had a very good time but got woefully behind. This weekend I’ve swapped the city for my family home in Sussex where I intend to work non stop, aside from the odd break to play with the puppy, so next week I will have TONS of new content for you including some exciting new projects. But for now, let’s talk PFW AW15 day 3…

Image by Fashionistable

Thanks to a malfunctioning phone alarm – ok, I just forgot to set it – I woke up horrifically late and found myself without enough time even to shower before heading out. I know, gross, but I wasn’t about to miss the Kenzo show! I then took a very expensive Uber to entirely the wrong place and it was only thanks to my very kind driver waiting while I ran around asking random Parisians for directions (evidently he realised early on that I was a clueless fool) and then whisking me off to the correct location just in the nick of time. Not for the first season, I mentally cursed Carol Lim and Humberto Leon for holding their show in far flung locations. But of course, not for the first season, the show they put on instantly vanquished that angst.

Lim and Leon are nothing if not marketing masters and their shows always involve an element of Instagram friendly spectacle. This time around it was six separate holographic columns that emerged from what initially appeared to be the warehouse’s read wall and moved through the space, rotating as they did so. There’s always the worry that such spectacle can detract from the actual clothes but happily this couldn’t have been further from the case at Kenzo.

Kenzo AW15

The press release promised a a “celebration of a collective; togetherness through camaraderie, ceremony and protection” and, after seeing the sartorial realisation of this sentiment, I seriously want to be part of the gang. Lim and Leon are masters of the mash up and their AW15 fare saw dizzying patterns combined with clashing highlighter brights, precisely deconstructed silhouettes, layering galore and haphazard (but obviously not) clothing combinations. As expected, it was a sporty, sleek and achingly cool aesthetic with tech fabrics alongside textural knitwear, bold floral jacquared and nomadic head wraps. Heavily Embellished trousers peeped tantalisingly from enveloping blanket coats and I loved the chunky wedge sandals combined with acid bright sport socks. As for the oversized shearling lined motorcycle jackets, a guaranteed cult hit come autumn.

Kenzo AW15

After the show finished up, culminating in the pillars moving into a different formation while the models took their final walk, I headed out into the deliciously Spring like morning and promptly got lost, again. I promise I do actually know Paris quite well but as we all know, Kenzo insist on showing in the back of beyond and my knowledge of the 19th arrondisement is limited to say the least. Eventually I managed to find the Metro and headed home for a much needed shower and far less essential outfit change before heading to the Grand Palais for the Chloe show.

Wearing 3.1 Phillip Lim jacket & Erdem skirt (via THEOUTNET.COM) with Karen Walker glasses, Dsquared2 bag and Whistles sandals
Image by Marie-Paola Betrand Hillion

Not to start banging on about the laptop debacle again, but it had rather thrown off my scheduling and I arrived an hour early. This turned out not to be a bad thing and I enjoyed a leisurely glass of rosé in the Petit Palais gardens before venturing inside the venue for what would be one of my absolute favourite shows.

Chloe AW15

Oh, to be a Chloe girl. So girlish and pretty yet insouciant and effortless, just simply gorgeous. I adored Claire Waight Keller’s SS15 collection so much and she followed up with a real winner for AW15. Opening with a floor sweeping, wide lapelled black coat layered over an unbuttoned white blouse and carelessly wrapped skinny black scarf, Chloe’s new muse has lost none of her prettiness but gained, perhaps, a shaper, more urban polish. There was of course fluid chiffon galore; loose silhouettes, drop waists, lazily trailing hems; but it came married with borrowed-from-the-boys (but reworked for the languid limbed girls) tailoring in menswear fabrics, bringing all that serene dreaminess down to earth. Patchworked velvet and Luxe bohemia and mix n’ match 60s/70s referencing has permeated the AW15 collections and, given that these are inherent in Chloe’s brand DNA, it’s no surprise that their show was a masterclass in both. Inside out shearling coats and cornflower blue corduroy suiting vied with an alligator skin mini dress layered over a billowing blouse for my attention. I’m not sure how else to describe the whole thing than as complete and utter perfection.

Chloe AW15

Given that my schedule had been ever so slightly shot to shit, I spent the next couple of hours pootling around the showrooms at a leisurely pace and then popping into Valentino’s magnificent Place Vendome HQ for a fitting. Not a bad way to spend a sunny afternoon in Paris I’m sure you’ll agree! One venti skinny extra hot no foam latte later (yep, Starbucks in Paris, shame on me) it was time to whizz back to the Grand Palais for my final show, Akris.

Akris AW15

This was sports luxe at it’s most luxe, opening with hooded, dove grey cashmere paired with thigh high leather boots in the exact same shade. Sculpted outerwear in what appeared to be stiffened wool jersey moved into cigarette pants and waistcoats in ice white leather, mottled grey and black speckled prints layered in contrasting patterns and high shine fur applies to slouchy, utility parkers. Shoulders were razor sharp, silhouettes rigid and super sized envelope clutches cool, if wildly impractical. The brand’s stark aesthetic might not be my personal cup of tea but Creative Director, Albert Kriemler’s skill with fabric is seriously impressive. The laser cut suiting could be achingly chic on a certain kind of woman and how anyone comes up with the idea of embroidering patched of wool onto silk tulle is beyond me. One particular semi sheer, plastic effect coat that appeared to have slivers of silver encased within it proved a particular hit on my instagram feed.

Akris AW15

Exhausted by this point, having not really managed to catch up on sleep since New York Fashion Week started, I got my tired limbs home as quickly as humanly possible for a solo evening working vedging out with take away sushi.

Love Ella. X