The Three Best Collections from Paris Fashion Week

Berluti

If you have the means and desire to look like the physical manifestation of wealth next spring, Berluti is here for you. But beyond the easy elegance of the collection, there was the artistic touch of Haider Ackermann, who made LVMH’s upper-crustiest label look as fresh and modern as anything in Paris. A few of Ackermann’s signature design flourishes were present in the slouch and sheen of the clothes, but mostly it felt breezier and more accessible than his namesake line, which strikes a surprisingly compelling balance of ‘70s rockstar and 1700s pirate. For Berluti he’s simplified the shapes (handily showing the best bottoms of the season, whether they’re slouchy track pants or cropped tailored trousers), eliminated patterns, and calmed down the color palette. It was like a cool cucumber spa treatment during the unprecedented, abysmal Parisienne heat wave.

Comme des Garçons Homme Plus

Rei Kawakubo put on by far the most uplifting show in Paris. Models came out in groups, dancing and flailing on a square stage as colorful disco spotlights twirled over them. It was erratic and weird and totally invigorating—the kids had all the grace of the midwestern mall rats you see crowded around a Dance Dance Revolution Machine, but there was was too much energy and charm to let the awkwardness of it get you down (you gotta wonder what kind of direction they were given backstage). The clothes were equally uplifting and undeniably cool, even with the sparkles, animal prints and faux fur. And there were pieces that will have plenty lining up at Dover Street Market to cop—like the baggy shorts, inside-out jackets and Nike Air Max 180s made exclusively for Comme des Garçons. The title of the collection was “What’s on the Inside Matters”—a pretty straightforward reference to those jackets, but also a bit of encouragement from Rei to remember next time you hit the dance floor.

Dries Van Noten

Dries Van Noten picked up where he left off for fall with the proportions, only this time he made it about color and pattern, and how the two can tweak the slightly “off” oversized, boxy, and voluminous silhouettes he’s been pushing. The patterns were both muted and powerful. The colors, too, were toned-down, but felt immediately like the hues of the season—and came with names like lettuce, mushroom, chestnut and plum. It was fascinating to see how he could take these not-bright shades and make them feel as urgent and striking as the vivid pinks, blues and yellows seen elsewhere on the runway. It was the richness of the colors and how they evolved with each look, from solids to—eventually—multiple patterns mixed together, that drove the collection. For some, it may have been too subtle, but it put one of Van Noten’s most underrated and greatest strengths on brilliant display, and for that will be remembered as one of his best.

Rick Owens

Rick Owens said he wanted to “evoke a reductive, eternal, and blunt answer to our temporary chaotic human condition” in the notes for his show. Temporary? The collection is titled “Dirt,” as in where we all end up eventually. And there was a lot of awesome black, sculptural, monolithic clothing on the runway—but it was the runway itself that stole the show. He had a massive spiraling scaffold built around the perimeter of the Palais de Tokyo’s interior plaza. It’s his favorite building in Paris, and, well, he wanted to get intimate with it: “It’s kind of a way of caressing its inner walls and licking every inch,” Owens said, “of a building that’s only purpose is as a temple to beauty.”