Huddled outside a magnificent French building on a Sunday night in October, the fashion industry sat, encased in huge foil wraps, which had been given out to each guest. A 45-minute Instagram frenzy ensued. As the industry entered the last stretch of fashion month, our marathon-ready foil blankets were a metaphor for much of the respite we now sought.
Softly glowing globes of light provided a warm, moonlit hue on space age silver. The lights dimmed and a low, reverberating sound made way for some melodic percussion. 'Inspired by the spirit of nature', blown up prints of agate opened the collection. Last season's offering had been very much based around print pieces in jersey and silk - and this looked set to be a continuum. The prints saw beautiful hues of shell pink and violet intensify into shades of deep purple, orange and granite red. Actual agates were also worn around the neck on long resin chains, and teamed with masculine tailoring. A popular stone within the jewellery market, it has been used on accessories by the likes of Calvin Klein and Hermès within the last couple of seasons.
Seventies style paneling saw the patterns of the agate stones morph into a construction technique. Arch Latino hair, polka-dot ruffles, cartoonish plackets and oversized collars - together with brown, boot-cut trousers - saw us in almost Prada territory. What was different here was the long line, the military pocket detailing, rendering the eponymous Givenchy peplum - and the sexiness. Sporty sweetheart necklines were layered over athletic slip dresses, which peeped out from below the hem. Things got super trippy when some patterned, fingerless gloves were layered over flower-power tops and shirts. Coral red socks 'popped' in gorgeous criss-cross shoes. Print and pattern interplayed with ruffles on fluro-panelled dresses, creating a trompe l’oeil effect of otherworldy leaves blowing across a technicolored tundra. Mandalas were also printed onto black jersey. For the final section, mirrors and crystals were sewn onto suiting. Combined with the new-age lift music, which played throughout the outside show venue, they became constellations against the night sky.
