From Chitose Abe’s hybrids for Sacai to Hedi Slimane’s school girl nightlife at Saint Laurent and Yiqing Yin’s  sculptural print drapes for Leonard fashion thrives on the irresistible attraction of opposites.

Chitose Abe is going from strength to strength in the collections for her label Sacai. Starting out in the design team at Comme des Garçons, she has taken her collage approach from a shy twist to this season’s full blown, triumpant morphing. Abe’s clothes  present one look from the front, another from the side with a surprise in the back. A sober, plaid overcoat is topped by slices of a leather perfecto and  poufs of Mongolian lamb and a floaty dress in a cut velvet pattern is tailored with a solid coat style skirt. The clothes are twisted around every which way in a mix of colors and textures which throws grey flannel, black crystal pleats, shocking pink chiffon and royal blue cable knit together for hybrid style. This collection has wonderful scarf dresses and a mix of Mongolian fur and down for great, voluminous coats.

Hedi Slimane’s night for day, day for night Saint Laurent girl never loses sight of the fact that she’s the one who wears the clothes, not the other way around. She’s a girl like Clementine Creevy, the front woman of the three piece Cherry Glazerr whose song “Had Ten Dollaz,” served as the original soundtrack for the show. A reefer slim mixed black and white houndstooth coat over a black sequin dress with a silver turtleneck and triple strap patent leather Mary Janes is a look tinged with 60s rock, but nevertheless throughly modern. Slimane mixes school uniform tailoring: blazers, red plaid kilts, bow blouses, fair isle sweaters and a wardrobe of short capes with nightlife shifts in silver and black sequins and leather, a silk leopard spot dress with a studded dog collar, a mink cardigan jacket and glittery, low heel boots. Slimane’s homage to Yves Saint Laurent shows in a “Belle de Jour” black velvet dress with white satin shirt collar and three abstract sequin shifts, a limited Saint Laurent couture edition with the artist John Baldessari.

The idea of Yiqing Yin, the talented young French designer known for her complex cutting setting her mind to the  tired but true print house Leonard did seem like a stretch. Yin is a promising, but still fragile, talent and the jury is still out if the house of Leonard will heed the call of change, but this was a start.  Complex Asian figurative and floral patterns flowed like scarves, edged giant capes, showed in body stockings and leggings, and even on soft rabbit hair cardigans in an exotic combination with Yin’s sinuous shapes.

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