Parisian chic, seen through the eyes of Coperni, Victoria/Tomas
A wave of uniquely recognisable Parisian chic swept the catwalks in the French capital on the second day of the Paris Fashion Week. Starting from Dior, where it assumed the mildly rebellious, gamine look of a young woman standing tall. Notably also at Coperni, whose everyday Parisian chic was at once smart and casual, and at Victoria/Thomas, ready for a night-time romp in the City of Light.
On Tuesday morning, the spotlights were trained on the show by Coperni, the label that was successfully relaunched last year by Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant, who first laid its foundations between 2013 and 2015. Their maiden catwalk show won the critics over, presenting a well-honed collection with a futurist twist. The cuts are razor sharp, as though carved with a scalpel, hugging the silhouette and playing with asymmetries.
The models seem to come straight from visionary sci-fi film ‘Gattaca’ featuring Uma Thurman, their hair gelled and swept back, eyes hidden behind futuristic glasses from the label’s first eyewear collection, sporting geometrically shaped handbags and clad in mini dresses or tight trouser suits in grey and black.
The looks are uber-clean and the colour palette subdued, with navy blue, khaki, black and grey, plus the occasional flash of red and a few pale-yellow outfits. The wardrobe consists of essential garments with a highly contemporary feel, designed with a diagonal vanishing line.
Meyer and Vaillant took special care in the details. Double straps are used to fasten an overcoat or attach a clutch bag to the waistband of a pair of trousers, buttons are positioned in undulating rows, laces are used to accent a blouse or an open-work dress, and fabric bands do the same on a braided one.
The looks are either very, very short or much lengthier, with long, straight ultra-fitted trousers and sleeves whose ends drop down almost to the ground in some jackets and shirts. Coperni, whose e-tail site is launching this week, is distributed via some 50 directional multibrand retailers worldwide, and seems to be well set up to accelerate and grow further.
For the Fall/Winter 2020-21, Victoria/Tomas drew its inspiration from Parisian night life, transforming its sleeved tops into sexy night-out outfits. Jewellery, chains, crystals, gems and golden buttons take over clothes and accessories, as in the golden-tipped boots trimmed with chains, to make them glimmer until dawn.
Here too, a designer duo is in charge: Victoria Feldman and Tomas Berzins. They revisited all their great classics, from trench coats to shirt-dresses and flared skirts with pointed hems, adding all kinds of glam details and glittering decorations but always managing to avoid mawkishness. On the contrary, keeping punchy Parisian chic firmly in their sights.
A large chain morphs into a golden necklace, attached with rings to the tips of a shirt-dress’ collar; minuscule metallic chain tips float feather-like on a quilted gilet or a pair of ample leather trousers. Crystal drops rattle at the tips of safety pins stuck to the pockets of a jacket and a pair of red trousers.
A cardigan worn as a short dress is made up of different swathes of knitted wool held together with rows of golden buttons. The hems of some overcoats are trimmed with long fringes, and so are the flowing skirts worn under leather jackets. An envelope crops up as a surprise pocket slotted diagonally at the bottom of an ample turquoise jacket.
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