The forces of fashion in the French capital rounded off an extraordinary fashion month with an inventively artisanal edge. If you’ve been suffering from WFH comfortwear fatigue, Paris’s leading creative minds might just have the antidote.
Here’s your breakdown of the standout trends from Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2021.
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1. The trend: the return of the miniskirt
Where we’ve seen it:
Miu Miu, Chanel, Coperni
What you need to know:
“The Miu Miu show read like the Euphoria generation’s guide to effortless dressing,” Vogue reported in the hours after the live stream. The youthful energy—especially that of model Lila Grace Moss, who made her blockbuster runway debut on Miu Miu’s spring/summer 2021 catwalk—was dialled all the way up. In Mrs Prada’s hands, the miniskirt (a statement of the original 1960s ‘youthquake’, a term coined in 1965 by Diana Vreeland, then Vogue magazine’s editor-in-chief) was remixed within a collection that buzzed with optimism.
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2. The trend: poetic armour
Where we’ve seen it:
Nina Ricci, Patou, Loewe, Ellery
What you need to know:
As Vogue’s Sarah Mower noted, Loewe’s ballooning proportions “quite literally speak volumes about women taking up space in the world.” JW Anderson’s shorthand? “Poetic armour,” and the route by which we might find ourselves “escaping into clothes.”
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3. The trend: slouchy tailoring
Where we’ve seen it:
Louis Vuitton, The Row, Balenciaga
What you need to know:
While the blown-up silhouettes of bygone seasons spotlit the angsty side of oversized fits, the incoming mood holds a more meaningful approach. For spring/summer 2021, Louis Vuitton’s capacious tailored trousers are symbolic of unifying freedoms. “My question this season was less about one theme; it was about this zone between femininity and masculinity,” Nicolas Ghesquière told Vogue’s Nicole Phelps days before the show.
“This zone is highlighted by non-binary people, people who are taking a lot of freedom dressing themselves as they want, and, in turn, giving a lot of freedom to all of us. I found it inspiring to explore what the items are that represent this wardrobe that is not feminine, not masculine. I wanted to zoom in on that section in-between.”
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4. The trend: sheer theatricality
Where we’ve seen it:
Maison Margiela, Givenchy, Loewe, Christopher Esber
What you need to know:
If you (like us) had missed the pulse-racing theatrics of fashion during the mid-section of 2020, Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2021 was a milestone to remember, with Maison Margiela and Loewe showcasing collections that abounded with resourceful drama. Spot the new silhouettes proposed from sheer layers—a part of the craft-heavy approach that Loewe’s JW Anderson is continuing to reinject into fashion. “We were all in confinement when we were doing this,” Anderson told Vogue. “We had huge issues getting fabrics, so we used what we had. My brief was: just make your fantasy of what you want! It was a massive team effort. Each look is to show craft and fashion.”
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5. The trend: lingerie details
Where we’ve seen it:
Paco Rabanne, Balenciaga, Kwaidan Editions
What you need to know:
“I heard a quote from Martin Margiela when I was working there, about the value of ‘the trace of time’ in clothes. That touched me deeply,” Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia told Vogue’s Sarah Mower over the phone from his home in Switzerland. If there’s a nod to the antique about Gvasalia’s reference to classic Parisian lingerie, as if lifted from another era, it’s underpinned by an unwaveringly modern outlook.
The accompanying collection notes stipulated that “93.5 percent of the plain materials in this collection are either certified sustainable or upcycled. 100 per cent of the print bases have sustainable certifications”—a fact that’s inextricably linked to Gvasalia’s own worldview.
“When thinking of the future, it’s not a Stanley Kubrick space-age vision for me. Mine is very much down to earth. Ten years from now, everything in fashion will be sustainable. No discussion, right? I think we will be reusing the clothes we have,” Balenciaga’s head of house said. “Time makes things beautiful.”
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6. The trend: draping
Where we’ve seen it:
Altuzarra, Yohji Yamamoto, Y/Project, Balmain
What you need to know:
After a season of exposed bras and peek-a-boo underwear, you can trust Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing to articulate what we’ve all been thinking. There is, he told Vogue, “a touch of sex in fashion now”—something the drapery trend, that’s more than a little reminiscent of coverups hastily fastened from bed sheets, masters in one fell swoop.
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7. The trend: fishnet
Where we’ve seen it:
Dries Van Noten, Rick Owens, Hermès, Balenciaga
What you need to know:
In lieu of a runway show, Dries Van Noten enlisted Dutch artist Viviane Sassen to photograph his SS21 lookbook and accompanying film. The result? An uplifting, beach-bound vacation (even via the laptop screen) that captures the often illusory essence of summer style—happiness. In addition to moreishly crisp-cotton shirting and appealing new iterations of the Bermuda short, there’s a hint to the pleasures of seaside life through elegantly playful layers of fish netting.
