It feels like spring in Paris and there was no better place to catch the
early sun yesterday morning than the Maison de la Radio with a wall of
windows which open up to the Seine. Christophe Lemaire had already shot
the look book for his men’s collection here and the setting was an ideal
place to present his timeless clothes for women. Even Lemaire’s show notes
are a cut above with a name for each look like Diana, Emma and Xiao
followed by a description of the specific pieces and what they’re made of.
There are denim cabans, cotton gabardine trench coats, pullover sweater
dresses in cashmere, wadded blousons in cotton bachette and something
Lemaire calls gaiters which are actually sleek knitted leg warmers to
layer over boots in yak wool. The colors are sober with an accent on camel
to bring out the beauty of the individual. There’s no stylistic tricks
here, just perfect proportions, and an ideal combination of masculine
military tailoring and feminine softness.

Dries Van Noten is the man of the moment this season offering
“Inspirations,” an exploration of his design process which opens at Les
Arts Decoratifs this weekend. Fashion is a spellbinding business and Van
Noten’s collection looked like a comment on that in a mix of patterns and
intense colors from kaleidoscopic stripes inspired by 1960s  Op Art star
Bridget Riley to bicolor florals rendered like stencils or shadow prints.
Van Noten turned his tailoring into canvases with swirling stripes in
combinations like silver grey and ultraviolet giving a square cut coat a
curvy look while mixtures of florals with ruffles looked like a Hawaiian
vacation on acid.

Damir Doma has a strict, almost monastic approach, but this season he
enriched it with luxurious fabrics for a style he calls “frayed
classicism.” Opening with a crossover robe coat in denim blue and red
jacquard, Doma topped tunics with black velvet yokes, combined much of the
collection with turtlenecks in nubby rib knits, put intriguing eyelet
holes into crunchy sweaters and and offered swirling dresses in cut velvet
stripes.  The best piece here,  a superb man tailored coat in ombré brown
alpaca which looks like the boyish Doma and his cool gril customers are
growing up.

Marie-Christine Statz, the talented German designer of the Paris-based
Gauchère, does her presentations in the Marias where you can see her
accessorizing the looks herself  behind a transparent screen. Removing
excess lapels and pockets, Statz layers asymmetrical tunics and tailoring
with a play on contrast fabrics and masculine/feminine juxtapositions.
Shown here are some images from her look book shot by Anushka Blommers and
Niels Schumm.

article : Rebecca Voight http://www.superfluparis.com/
Photos: Style.com