Miu Miu and Louis Vuitton

A fashion norm is to create a look that people want to wear instantly. I’m not talking about a one-off design like Jonathan Anderson’s shrunken polo dresses for Loewe, playful as they are, or the novelty of Daniel Roseberry’s gold-embellished denim for Schiaparelli, relatable as they are.

I mean an entirely new proposal that takes shape and considers everyday fabrics. It’s actually something difficult to achieve, but two designers have done it this season: Junya Watanabe, with her belted poncho coats in light masculine fabrics like gray stripes, and Miuccia Prada, with a dazzling Miu Miu collection. based on a T-shirt.

It’s unclear how many women, of any age, will look at Pradas triple-layered T-shirt mini dresses in shades of gray or beige and shown with low-heeled, peep-toe boots and say, I want to look like that. Prada expanded the proposition to include zippered windbreakers worn as dresses or as a loose, non-zip layer over a set of t-shirts and a tube skirt.

One of the reasons why Miu Miu, as well as the Prada brand this season, are so quickly noticed is that it does not design collections around a theme. Rather, she designs with a woman in mind. This has long been his approach, but lately it has given his collections a disarming breath of reality. Director and performer Miranda July took to the Miu Miu show with a pixie haircut, dressed in a distressed brown leather car coat with kangaroo pockets (these have appeared on many catwalks) and a mini t layered t-shirt. Another older woman, also with short hair and wearing sunglasses, wore brown leather pants with an old-rose button-down shirt, also made of leather. They looked cool, as did the models in faded gray or brown denim pantsuits or bra tops and slung skirts with wide leather belts. But the thing is, they could all get off the runway and onto the street and still look interesting and, most importantly, themselves.

In a reflection of that quality or its genius practically or Patrizio Bertellis for retail, Prada repeated the penny loafer it first showed a season or two ago with socks.

Costume curator Olivier Saillard once observed that the t-shirt is the most ubiquitous and contemporary, even modern style, and yet he wondered why high fashion designers didn’t embrace it instead. wacky styles they usually adopt. Prada has provided the modern answer to this question.

The Spring 2023 runway shows ended Tuesday with the gift of a blue sky day and irresistible fashion from not just Miu Miu but also Louis Vuitton and Los Angeles-based label CO, Justin Kern and Stephanie Danan, who set up a showroom in Paris a block or two from The Row rather than New York. Danan says they’ve won new customers from all over Europe, especially in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, where CO’s minimalist aesthetic seems to fit.

Among the best looks in the collection were a textured black crepe suit, the jacket with a slightly fitted waist and the simple and slightly loose skirt. It’s getting hotter and hotter, Danan said, and we want looks that don’t feel so heavy and structured. Still, the beauty of the costume is that it had just enough structure one way or another. A black knit tank dress was also strong, accompanied by a spare black leather jacket and a strapless crinkle ivory crepe sundress.

From certain angles, the Nicolas Ghesquires Vuitton fashion show set in a courtyard of the Louvre looked like a carnival merry-go-round or the Tilt-a-Whirl, two apt metaphors for the fashion world. The set, which featured video cameras spinning along wires and huge spinning mirrors that looked like DirectTV dishes, was the work of artist Philippe Parreno and Hollywood production designer James Chinlund.

The clothes were pure Ghesquire. This collection was a powerful retort to a frankly confused teenage spirit show last season and a decadently lavish storm of historic clothing a year ago. Ghesquire kept things short, youthful and futuristic with open styles in a black and white (or maroon) pleated fabric with sci-fi tube pieces appearing at the hips or framing the neck. Think of a collarette or perhaps a traditional African collar.

Scale manipulation was a common thread in the collection. There were also zippers and pullers of different sizes, bows and pockets. But Ghesquire used scale smartly and minimally, and seemed aware of reflecting the current trend of elevating ordinary objects. Indeed, the clothes and accessories had a strong sense of being treated like precious objects, which is a valid expression. The fabrics were quirky and distinctive as you’d expect from Vuitton, and the accessories were a feast for the eyes with great little clutches (with the LV logo) and a fabulous rather large envelope style bag to slide under your arm. I don’t remember when Ghesquire showed so much big jewelry, big bracelets and necklaces with multicolored stones, but that too was forward looking.