Wild Paris ride for Aussie sisters and Ye faithful
From Zimmermann’s city of light debut to Kanye West’s catwalk shenanigans, we chart the week’s sartorial highs and lows.
Fashion is nothing if not a rollercoaster ride. Australian designer Nicky Zimmermann was one of those enjoying the highs as her and sister Simone’s namesake label debuted on the Paris Fashion Week schedule on Monday, local time.
A colour-filled spring/summer 2023 collection oozing Australian optimism was in step with the overall buoyant mood of the shows. She had reason to feel positive. Enjoying a day off before jetting to Florence to open the 53rd Zimmermann store, she said Paris had always been part of the plan.
“This has always been in the back of our mind. It’s that thing of learning and moving and progressing the business. And we have a lot of momentum here,” she said.
On the runway, the rollercoaster was literal, with Zimmermann drawing inspiration from a little-known fun park called Wonderland City on Sydney’s Tamarama beach that opened in 1906. Circus-tent stripes on billowing maxi dresses, a profusion of rainbow brights, including fairy floss pink, and a custom-made lace on an undulating “rollercoaster hem” completed the fairground feel.
Underpinning it was the label’s signature beach-inflected ease in wetsuit-inspired bodysuits and fluttering applique dresses like pieces of beautiful flotsam and jetsam.
It chimed with an overall mood of positivity. Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccoli, known for his joyous all-inclusive showcases, embraced a sparkling outlook. Disco-ready cocktail dresses and floor-skimming gowns were dripping in glitter.
As with any rollercoaster however, what goes up must come down, and the darker path was trodden at Balenciaga. Models trudged through a man-made mire, complete with the smell of decomposition. Battle-ready utility (many read echoes of the war in Ukraine) met evening gowns sloshed in mud.
Creative director, known only as Demna, chose the similarly briefly titled Ye, formerly Kanye West, to open the show in a battle-ready flak jacket and mouthguard that he later sported at Givenchy.
Ye then went on to stir up controversy at his Yeezy show, arriving with US conservative activist Candace Owens in “White Lives Matter” T-shirts.
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