A year on from the mass game of musical chairs in which almost every major luxury fashion house changed creative director, things are feeling good in fashion.
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things → change → fashion
More designers – chief among them Michael Rider at Celine, Julian Klausner at Dries Van Noten and Jonathan Anderson at Dior – are joining Matthieu Blazy at Chanel in finding their stride, and the clothes are better for it.
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clothes → join → it
There have been countless bras (worn under jackets, as tops or styled like tops) and abs-forward looks (if you weren’t doing your daily sit-ups, perhaps now is the time).
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time → wear → ups
Nicole Kidman, a woman who understands the power of embracing your inner freak, modelled the feeling perfectly at the recent Chanel show in Paris – which she attended with daughter Faith Margaret Kidman Urban – in a blazer dress worn with sheer tights and heels.
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she → understand → tights
In Australia we’re in a unique position where the current fashion month collections are well suited to the seasons we’re presently enjoying: spring and, soon, summer.
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we → ’re → seasons
Rather than wait six months to consider the ideas designers are wrestling with on the runways, we can do it in real time.
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we → wait → time
Here are three ways you can apply lessons from the runways to your spring wardrobe.
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you → apply → wardrobe
Pull out your skirts
For years now, Miuccia Prada’s usual uniform has incorporated an A-line skirt with a simple shirt or jumper and a kitten heel.
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uniform → pull → shirt
Backstage after the Prada show she explained she prefers skirts to dresses because they allow for an element of contrast: “The way I think and feel is complicated, contradictory.
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I → explain → contrast
If I wear something feminine I want to wear something masculine, too.
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I → wear → something
So, with co-creative director Raf Simons, they demonstrated the versatility of the skirt by presenting 63 different kinds, all in various styles and styled variously.
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they → demonstrate → styles
They mostly fell to the knee.
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They → fall → knee
Beyond Prada, skirts have been a recurring motif on recent runways.
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skirts → recur → runways
At Dior, Anderson sent down fluid, feminine styles with layers of silk chiffon, while Anthony Vaccarello bid (an alleged) farewell to Saint Laurent with a collection rendered almost completely in gilded gold, including wrap skirts, often sliced open at the front.
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Vaccarello → send → front
Zimmermann had a denim circle skirt with butterfly embellishments, and more relaxed, asymmetrical ones that draped across the legs.
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that → have → legs
Then Blazy continued his charm offensive at Chanel with a collection that riffed off the classic skirt suit and offered plenty of choice with sheer, leather, tweed and relaxed styles all included.
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all → continue → styles
Prada had a point: you really can choose your own adventure with a skirt.
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you → choose → skirt
Go practical and utilitarian to project a sense of seriousness, or choose one that feels fun and fanciful to make an otherwise pretty plain outfit interesting.
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outfit → go → one
Invest in a tailor
While oversized suiting has reigned supreme for a while now, designers are tightening things up this season.
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designers → invest → things
At The Row and Jil Sander, suits were tailored perfectly and, at times, cinched at the waist.
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suits → tailor → waist
Strong suiting was also a big theme at Celine, Dior, Chanel, Tod’s and Dries, which encouraged going all-in on embellishments.
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which → encourage → embellishments
Plus it’s never too late to remember tailoring can entirely change the way an outfit looks and, more importantly, how you feel in it.
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you → ’ → it
Choose your fighter: belt edition
Belts of all types have been the “it accessory” this season.
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Belts → choose → types
At Celine alone Rider gave us exaggerated black buckle belts, a brown leather belt with a double buckle and one as dainty as a filament.
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Rider → give → filament
Blazy, too, had skinny belts, fat belts and faux croc belts holding up hip-grazing skirts, while Klausner offered belts in snake, crocodile and leopard prints, as well as shades of blue, brown and butter yellow.
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Klausner → have → blue
Max Mara opted to keep things streamlined with a solid, practical leather style, and at Balenciaga, Pierpaolo Piccioli asked: why have one belt when you could wear two?
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you → opt → two
Meanwhile at Miu Miu, Mrs Prada seemed to suggest anything can be a belt if you’re creative: a drawstring, for instance, will do just fine.
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drawstring → seem → instance
The Aporia
