Paris Fashion Week kicks off with Weinsanto and Maitrepierre’s untamed fashion
After the Milanese week, the fashion marathon continues in Paris after a short stopover in London for the Burberry show. On Monday's opening night, creativity was unleashed with Victor Weinsanto and Alphonse Maîtrepierre’s unbridled shows, two promising new names, who freely revisit the codes of couture.
Coincidentally, both of them have been honored by Jean Paul Gaultier, with whom they studied. Elements of the "enfant terrible de la mode" could notably be perceived in the two collections. Like Weinsanto's signature corset, which he reworked into strapless mini dresses in cotton or satin, laced up at the front and back. We also noted some accessories that both collections had in common, such as these glamorous transparent tulle gloves.
With his flair for the stage, Victor Weinsanto put on a true show. In the premises of Dover Street Market’s creative hub at number 35-37 the designer welcomed to his podium fellow stylists, LGBT performers and other entertainers from the parisien nightlife scene. Drag queens Paloma and "La Grande Dame'', in camel suits that unzip and unbutton, are among the performers, as well as Australian artist and fashion designer Michaela Stark, who shows herself almost naked under a thin transparent veil, her body tied up in a long braid. Allanah Star, the luscious former showgirl, was in a flesh-coloured "deshabillé".
His fellow designers also came to help. Charles de Vilmorin, Rochas’s young creative director, did not go unnoticed. He was dressed in black, with a book in his hand, and a huge metal sculpture hanging above his head, via metal wires harnessed to his torso. Just like Florentin Glémarec and Kévin Nompeix, the duo at the head of the Egonlab label, who come out embracing each other, hand in hand, one with a mesh net slipped over a trouser leg and the other in white dungarees lined with press studs that can be completely decomposed. Vincent Pressiat, another young prodigy of the Paris fashion scene, was also spotted on the runway.
The atmosphere is festive with colorful characters, from the nymphomaniac bimbo with a bare breast and a skirt slit all the way up to the thigh to baroque silhouettes in old-fashioned basket dresses, reviewed in an asymmetrical version with a half-open wicker cage. This extravagant wardrobe is hardly lacking in oversized accessories, such as rigid oblong or triangular bags like an umbrella, and huge headdresses made from several dozen meters of tulle fanning out over the head.
Alphonse Maitrepierre has the same desire to have fun, but with an extra touch of poetry. For spring-summer 2023, the young designer was inspired by the tale of Peau d'âne and Jacques Demy's famous film, but again with a very unique interpretation. The donkey has disappeared and been replaced by a horse recreated in a flowery fabric, which can be worn as a cape or shawl over a tight-fitting suit with the same motif. The horse's mouth is also found in the shape of the handbags.
The "weather-coloured" dress from the famous fairy tale is in fact a pretty ensemble of sky-blue trousers showing the belly and the "sun-coloured" one, a long flowing dress in golden silk. The fairytale dress has a balconette neckline and a more modern and almost sportswear feel to it. Ultra short, it almost becomes a top.
The designer alternates between tight-fitting sportswear and highly structured garments, creating new volumes, notably through short flared or reshaped jackets with a slight waist. He also has fun sliding the garment off the shoulders - sometimes it's just the straps that fall off - to recreate the silhouette of Peau d'âne covering herself with her fur coat. "I always start from old archives to recreate something contemporary. Here, I wanted to rewrite history in my own way," says the designer backstage.
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